Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers (20 page)

BOOK: Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers

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BEAN-COOKING TIPS

Let the beans properly soak for 8 hours instead of using any “quick soak” method. And always drain the soaking liquid from the beans and cook them in fresh water; the soaking liquid can contain the complex sugars that our belly has a tough time digesting (tough digesting now equals gassy times later!).

To avoid hard and grainy beans, never cook raw beans with an acidic food such as tomatoes, vinegar, peppers,
sofrito
, beer, wine, or citrus juices. It’s okay to add these ingredients only after the raw beans are cooked and completely tender.

It’s a myth that cooking beans with salt will make them tough. Cooking them with a little salt enhances the flavor and may even help tenderize the beans just a little faster.

For hard-core vegan bean cooking, try adding a 3-inch strip of dried kombu seaweed to the beans while they’re simmering. Kombu is said to help keep bean gasses in their place and hopefully out of your tummy. Or try adding a big pinch of dried epazote to beans while they’re cooking; epazote is the Mexican answer to bean-gas control.

Canned Beans

H
ome-cooked beans are best but canned beans also work in most of these recipes. It’s hard to deny the convenience of canned cooked beans, especially if you need only a handful for a salad or stuffed into
pupusas
. I try to switch calling for home-cooked dried and canned in these recipes, but really, you can always substitute canned for dried and vice versa.

As a general rule: Three 15-ounce cans of beans equal 1 pound (16 ounces) of uncooked dried beans. Of course, this can vary according to the size of the bean and variety; generally speaking, if I’m using smallish beans and it’s a big soup, I may increase to four cans of beans, but if I’m making refried beans for a dinner for two, I might start with just half a pound of dried pintos. Experiment and listen to what your beany sense tells you.

An easy home-cooked bean recipe is Onion-Flavored Beans: Ever have those very simple beans in Latin restaurants that don’t have a chunk of vegetable in sight but are still sweet and flavorful? Try this technique for vegetable-free but tasty beans. Pour about 3 cups of beans into a large, deep skillet. Add 4 cups of liquid: either bean-cooking liquid, water, or a combination of the two. Peel a large yellow onion and slice in half, then place both halves, cut side down, into the beans. Bring the beans to a boil over high heat, lower the heat to low, and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the bean liquid has thickened to your desired consistency. Remove the onion and season the beans with salt and ground pepper to taste. You can discard the onion but some cooks consider the tender, juicy onion a delicacy . . . you might decide to slice it and serve on top of the beans!

HOME-STYLE REFRIED BEANS

•
Makes about 4 cups
•
Time: About 35 minutes, not including the precooking time needed if making from dried beans
•
Gluten Free, Soy Free

In any
lucha libre
battle, Home-style Refried Beans will always drop-kick the canned stuff and win the championship belt of Best Refried Beans Ever. Homemade refried beans made with your favorite beans—pintos, black, or pink—are hall of fame-level comfort food. And they’re relatively fast, leaving you with enough time to make some rice, heat some tortillas, and toss together a simple salad. Refried beans are simple to reheat, so make a double or triple batch for easy weeknight meals. Of course refried beans make an excellent à la carte dish paired with casseroles (any enchilada, for instance) or as a filling or topping for tacos or
sopes
.

2 tablespoons corn, peanut, or
olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion (about ¼ pound),
diced small
1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano chiles, seeded
and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground chile powder,
such as ancho or a blend
2 (15-ounce) cans pinto or black or pink
beans, drained and rinsed, or 3½ to
4 cups of cooked beans
1 bay leaf
2 cups water
Salt and fresh pepper

1. In a large, heavy cast-iron skillet, combine the oil and garlic and cook over medium heat. Allow the garlic to sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the onion and jalapeño. Using a wooden spoon to stir occasionally, fry until the onion turns translucent, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the cumin, oregano, and chile powder, and fry for another 30 seconds.

2. Stir in the beans, bay leaf, and water, and increase heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium again and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, or until more than half the liquid has been absorbed but about an inch of liquid remains.

3. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Use a potato masher to mash the beans smooth, then stir to form a thick, moist paste, anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. If refried beans appear to dry out, add a little water a few tablespoons at a time, until your desired consistency is reached. Serve immediately.

Make-ahead Tip:
Make refried beans on the weekend and they’ll keep tightly covered in the fridge for up a week. To reheat on the stovetop, place in a saucepan and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water. Stir over low heat until hot and creamy. Reheat in a microwave the same way, adding a little less water and stirring occasionally until hot.

RED BEANS WITH DOMINICAN-STYLE SAZÓN

•
Serves 6 to 8
•
Time: About 2 hours precooking the dried beans, then 35 to 45 minutes cooking the dish
•
Gluten Free, Soy Free

These red beans have a lively tropical flavor, thanks to a Dominican-style
sofrito
known as
sazón
, typically made with tons of finely chopped fresh sweet peppers, herbs, and vegetables. A little bit of fresh orange juice provides a sweet tangy twist, but leave it out if you prefer less fruity beans. If you can find them, use Dominican red beans, which look like a dark red, rippled version of pinto, or use Roman, cargamanto, or in a pinch red kidney beans.

Make-ahead Tip:
You can freeze the freshly pureed
sazón
in a large resealable plastic bag for weeks prior to making these beans. To use, add frozen chunks of
sazón
to heated oil and proceed as directed.

Red Beans

1 pound dried red beans, such as
Dominican red, Roman, or kidney
1 bay leaf
¾ teaspoon salt
4 ½ cups cold water

Sazón

½ large green bell pepper, seeded
½ large red bell pepper, seeded
1 Cubanelle or yellow bell pepper,
seeded
1 small yellow or white onion
6 cloves garlic
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, lightly packed
1 stalk celery
½ cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves,
lightly packed, thick stems removed
2 tablespoons white or red wine
vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon hot sauce, or to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup water
¼ cup orange juice (optional, replace
with water if desired)
Freshly ground pepper and salt

1. Prepare the basic beans first. Sort the red beans for any stones, broken beans, or random particles. Place the beans in a large glass or plastic bowl; add enough cold, fresh water to cover by at least 2 inches and let soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the beans of the soaking liquid. Place the beans and the 4½ cups of fresh water, bay leaf, and salt in a large, heavy pot and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer, skim off any foam, and partially cover the pot. Cook the beans for 1½ to 2 hours, until tender, very soft, and easy to mash. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

2. While the beans are cooking, prepare the
sazón
. Chop the peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, celery, and parsley into pieces small enough to lightly pack into your food processor bowl. Pulse until very fine, along with the vinegar, oregano, cumin, coriander, and hot sauce, doing so in two or more batches if it all doesn’t fit at once.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the
sazón
and fry for 12 to 14 minutes, stirring constantly, until the color darkens and the mixture reduces by about a third. When the beans are tender, stir in the fried
sazón
(scraping in all of the juices), water, orange juice, freshly ground pepper, and salt.

4. Bring the beans to a boil again, lower the heat to a simmer, and partially cover. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until your desired consistency is reached. Add up to ½ cup of water to the beans if they appear too dry during the cooking, or continue to cook them for saucier, less soupy beans.

5. Serve hot with any flavored or plain white rice. Like many a bean dish, this tastes better the next day and reheats well in the microwave as well as on the stovetop.

The Perfect Pot

T
o ensure that your beans are as gorgeous tasting as they look, consider the material and sturdiness of the pot you’re using. Cast iron is fantastic for grilling and frying, but don’t use it to cook beans if you’ll be adding acidic ingredients (tomatoes, vinegar, citrus juices, beer) later, as they’ll react with the uncoated iron to create undesirable off-flavors or color. Instead, use a stainless-steel pot for best results. To ensure even cooking, look for a pot with a thick, solid bottom. Avoid nonstick; it’s not necessary as the beans contain so much water.