Nosugarrecipe.com Dried Beans taste better

Cool Beans

So everyone says, "Don't soak - just throw them in the Instant Pot."

"Certain food (such as applesauce, cranberries, pearl barley, oatmeal, split peas, noodles, etc.) may foam, froth, or spatter, and can clog the steam release pipe and/or steam release handle. Extreme caution must be used when cooking and venting these foods—do not fill the appliance over “— 1/2” line. When cooking foods that expand such as rice or beans, do not fill the appliance over the “— 1/2” line, as indicated on the inner pot."
Instant Pot Page

Dried Beans
Dried beans are
much tastier
than canned beans,
like eating at an Italian restaurant vs.
eating grocery store freezer lasagna.
Buying beans from the bins
has worked well for me as
the expiration dates are plainly displayed.
Here's an article about which beans are the healthiest.
Beans
Why Soak Beans?

1. If you don't soak beans, they take twice as long to cook.
2. Beans are dried, so they need to be rehydrated.
3. Soaking beans solves the gas problem and the bloated stomach.
4. Soaking removes most Phytates, which act as anti-nutrients and prevent iron, zinc, and calcium from being absorbed into the body.

More on Phytates

Should I use the soaking water for cooking? No.

Reasons to Toss

1) The liquid will contain some dirt which is why you are washing it. Manufacturers can't wash before shipping as the beans would get moldy. Black bean soaking water looks really bad as the pigment flows into the water.
2) Indigestible sugars in the water.
3) The phytates or anti-nutrients will be in the soaking water.

Reasons not to toss:
1) Some people disagree and believe that you should cook in the soaking liquid as nutrients could have leaked into the water.

2) We watched a "Rawhide" rerun - the round-up cook used the cooked bean liquid to soak his feet as it contained vitamins.

Mung Bean Quinoa Bowl

This makes 4 quarts so freeze or halve the mung beans and quinoa.

High on the Fabulous Rating

Future Bean Sprouts

Bean sprouts come from Mung Beans. Every bean sprout I have bought in the store has been bitter. Why not grow your own? Since they go bad so quickly, only do a small amount. Just watch this video from Jag Singh: Growing Bean Sprouts

Phosphorus

Mung Beans have 20% of the Daily Value (DV) of Phosphorus. Phosphorus aids in the formation of bones and teeth, helps Vitamin B work, reduce cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar.

Vitamins Daily Value

Mung Bean Soup is offered in the East as a cure for sunstroke - as a redhead I can't stand the heat so this should help with body temp regulation.
Mung Beans are also used as a body detox, so some claim it helps to clear up acne.

Sort

Pick through beans for rocks on a baking tray with a parchment paper lining.
Use the parchment paper to get into a large bowl, or you'll be finding Mung Beans everywhere.
Soak

Soak 2 cups mung beans in 6 cups of water overnight in a big bowl.
Soak 1 cup quinoa in a different bowl overnight.
Quinoa has a natural coating, called saponin, full of bitterness & anti-nutrients. It appears as a white foam on top and I skim that off occasionally and toss.
When I soaked the quinoa overnight, my husband liked it for the first time.
Cook Mung Bans
Cook Mung Beans:
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil.
Dump in Mung Beans.
Let the Mung Beans boil for a minute. Reduce heat to medium low. I use a thermometer with a probe and alarm to tell when the temp goes above 180 degrees. Simmer for 45 minutes.
Skim off that white foam. (I do not know if Mung Bean foam is considered Aquafaba.)
Cook Quinoa
Rinse the quinoa.
In another big pot add 2 cups water, no salt, and bring to a boil. Add quinoa. Stir. Lower heat and cook covered for
15 minutes.
Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let stand for 5 more minutes, covered until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork.
Saute Celery
In the saucepan:
Warm 4 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat.
Cut 3 long celery stalks into ½ inch segments. Saute for about 10 minutes - it will start to brown and carmelize.
Sprinkle in a pinch of salt.
Stir in the spices below:
Saute Celery with Spices

I doubled this:
½ teaspoon red chile flakes
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 large clove garlic, very thinly sliced
[stirring, so garlic won't burn]
big handful of dill, chopped
1 teaspoon Curry Powder
Smells so Good!

Rinse Mung Beans
When the beans are done, drain and rinse.
Tomatoes & Soy Sauce
Combine the Quinoa & Mung Beans into the same stockpot. Burner is on low.

Add in the Celery Sauce.
Taste and see if you like it just like this.
I added in a big 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes
5 dashes of Soy Sauce - to your taste.
Add tablespoon of curry.
Stir and taste... Let simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Spinach & Coconut Milk
Add in a can of Coconut Milk and stir.
Add in a handful of spinach without stems and cook until wilted.
[Optional] I added in a 1/4 cup of Hoisen Sauce/Plum Sauce because it was in the fridge.
Plum Sauce Recipe
I added yellow peppers for color.
For a thicker soup - simmer longer. Add water for a more watery soup. Taste, and add in more smoked paprika, tumeric, chile flakes, or curry, if necessary. Try adding a dollop of Plain Greek Yogurt on the top with a bit of dill and salt, if desired.

More mung bean recipes here

Flow Chart for Black Beans

Simmering the beans on the stove top produced the best results. Using the Speed Boil method produced beans with mushy texture. Simmering took two hours, but worth it. I tasted a bean and it tasted like candy. Try to maintain a temperature of 180°–190° F, as verified with my thermometer with probe and alarm.

Temperatures and cooking beans

Crockpot
The Crockpot first appeared in 1970 as a bean cooker. The device has two heat settings, high (typically 300°F) and low (200°F Instant PotBlows the beans to smithereens, but if you don't have time you can do this.
From the IP Duo Manual:
Working temperature: 239°F ~ 244°F (115°C ~ 118°C) at high pressure setting;
(229 ~ 233°F) at low pressure setting. (110°C ~ 112°C)
 “Keep warm” function: up to 99 hours 50 minutes, 145 ~ 172°F (63 ~ 78°C) ;
 “Slow Cook” function: 0.5 ~ 20 hours, at 190 ~ 210°F (88 ~ 99°C)
 “Sauté” function: “Normal” mode: 320 ~ 349°F (160 ~ 176°C);
“More” mode: 347 ~ 410°F (175 ~ 210°C); “Less” mode: 275 ~ 302°F (135 ~ 150°C).
 “Yogurt” function: up to 99 hours 30 minutes. “Normal” mode for making yogurt:96.8 ~ 109.4°F
(36 ~ 43°C);
“Less” mode for making Jiu Niang (fermented glutinous rice): 86 ~ 93.2°F
(30 ~ 34°C); “More” for pasteurizing milk: 160~180°F (71~83°C ).

How to Cook Black Beans

1. Buy Beans

Check expiration date on bins. Get 2 pounds.

2. Check over beans.

Spread beans on parchment paper on a baking tray. Check for pebbles and broken beans.

3. Rinse Beans

Rinse beans well in a colander.

beans in a colander taking down cholesterol

4. Soak

Allow the beans to sit for at least 6 hours, I soak them overnight. Soak in a big glass bowl or even the little used turkey roasting pan.
After soaking, strain beans into the colander and rinse very well with cold water.

Don't Boil:
If you want to 'quick-cook' just buy the can.

beans cooking in a pot no sugar cholesterol beater

5. Cook

a. Transfer beans, not the liquid, to big stock pot.
b. (Optional) Add a strip of Kombu to break down the oligosaccharides in the beans. It doesn't affect the flavor.
c. Add fresh water to barely cover.
d. Bring it to a simmer (180 F.) and partially cover with pot lid.
e. Use a thermometer and to keep the temperature at 180 degrees.

6. Add Salt

a. Wait until they've been simmering for a half hour before adding two teaspoons of kosher salt as these beans have neither acid nor calcium to protect them from cracking.
b. Check on the liquid from time to time, adding just enough to keep them covered. F. Cook until tender - it took 2 hours to cook 2 pounds of beans.

7. Freeze

Cool beans and freeze the excess beans in freezer Ziplock sandwich bags - they don't leak. I freeze in 1 1/2 cup increments. It is less messy to get those beans in the bag if you fold down the top like you fold up your jacket sleeves.

Bean Burgers

Ingredients
30 oz (3.75 cups of beans)
For binder
1 large avocado - OR 2 eggs
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 of a red onion cut in 3/4 inch skinny chunks
Optional Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce - 7 oz.
-OR-
Hot Sauce, dashes of
I added in some rice and beans I had left over.
2 to 3 tablespoons olive or canola oil 1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor, pulse all ingredients except the avocado & mushrooms or tomatoes.
Add avocado in last, and either pulse gently or mash in with fork. [You may subsitute eggs for avocadoes.]
Form into patties and put some longer onions in the patties to add more structure.
Bake for 10 minutes, then flip. Bake for another ten minutes.
If you use Portabello mushrooms put on the same tray and flip at the same time.
Optional Mushroom Buns
You can lose 250 empty calories of hamburger bun, by putting portabello mushrooms on the top.
A portabello mushroom cap has 25 calories.
Remove the gills & stems from portobello mushroom caps.
Whisk together 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar & 1/4 cup olive oil and coat the mushrooms.
Place on the same tray as the burgers.
Store your mushrooms in a paper bag in the refrigerator before using.
Tomato buns Slice the top & bottom off heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes and use as buns.

Giant Lima Beans and The Tomatoes

I remembered having Gigantes (Big Beans) and tomatoes in Italy and I remembered a creaminess and simplicity that I wanted to replicate. I saw Giant Lima Beans in the dried bean bins, so I thought that would be a sufficient substitute.
Problem: After soaking for four hours - the lima beans soaked up all the liquid, got wrinkled and started shedding their skins. The expiration date was legit, so they weren't old beans.
brined white beans

America's Test Kitchen

did some tests and found that
a) soaking was the best choice,
b) cooking with salt turned the beans into a mealy mess,
c) but soaking with salt did not.
Brining the beans keeps the skins on according to America's Test Kitchen.
Video: Soaking White Beans

The Verdict

So I brined the beans - after the soak, they seemed to keep all their skins on.
Some take the skins off after the soak, but cooking with the skins seem to keep the beans from getting mushy.
I cooked the beans in the Instant Pot and half their skins came off.

How much sodium is absorbed into the beans?

Click

That was one of the benefits of the dried beans - no sodium. I dissolved 3 tablespoons of table salt into 4 quarts of water with 1 pound of beans.
America's Test Kitchen says there are 52 grams of sodium absorbed for 3 oz of brined beans.
This tripped me up as 4oz are a half cup, which is a standard measurement, so I assumed they made a mistake on their findings. Given 16 ounces in 4 cups would equal 17.333 in one ounce.| 52 mgs of Sodium * 16 oz = 277.3333333 grams of sodium in 4 cups of brined beans. Compare to 1155 mgs of sodium in a 3.5 cup can of Delmonte Lima Beans.

Cooking Instructions

1 pound of Giant Lima Beans
I didn't make any extra beans to freeze this time as the flavors are specific to this recipe.
Check Beans

Place beans on baking tray lined with parchment and shake. Toss pebbles, broken beans, or discolored beans.

The parchment paper makes the pebbles easier to see.
Rinse

Soak, Rinse

Rinse the beans, soak the beans for at least 6 hours with 3 tbps salt in 4 quarts of water. After soaking, rinse the beans well in a colander.
Do not fill Instant Pot past halfway line

Beans expand - and foam - which may clog pressure valve. I have a 6-Quart Instant Pot. I have not tried anything other than Lima Beans in the Instant Pot. I had no problems when I kept it under the halfway line.
Saute in the Instant Pot:

1 chopped onion and cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
3 large chopped carrots,
2 cloves smashed garlic
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes and cook, stirring about 2 minutes.
Add 14.5 oz of chicken stock, bring to a boil, and cook until pan is almost dry, for 5 min.
Add beans...
Add beans, 2 bay leaves, 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 tsp Oregano and 4 1/4 cups water. 1 Tblsp Olive Oil will prevent any loose skins from clogging the pressure valve according to Instant Pot. Beans should be covered by the liquid. I added a strip of Kombu (seaweed).
Transfer beans to Instant Pot.
Cook 18 minutes

Instant Pot is on Seal. Cook at 18 min High Pressure.
Let pressure release naturally.
Add one can of San Marzano whole tomatoes to a sauce pan and tear them apart.
Spoon some of the soup in and let thicken, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes.
Outcome

I drained the liquid into a 4 quart glass bowl that contained mostly a thin broth and lima beans. The four quarts contained a thin soup with a subtle flavor - perhaps too subtle.
Creamy
The bottom contained 1 quart of creamy, delicious lima beans - just cracking perfect. Perhaps the dictionary definition of 'creamy.'
I had garnished each bowl with a slice of mozzarella in a ball, and let it melt in the center. Feta would be good too. You can freeze the excess.