Cooking Beans and Lentils
I am quite fastidious about the way beans are cooked as I do not like experiencing the common thing we all associate beans with…GAS! So here is what I do:
Cooking Beans & Lentils
Ingredients:
Dried beans or lentils
Water
Directions:
1. Wash beans in cold water and soak overnight in three times the volume of water.
2. Next day, pour off the water.
3. Place beans in a pot and cover with water 1 inch above the level of the beans.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Let simmer with lid ajar.
6. Skim off the foam.
7. Add more water if necessary. Beans should always be covered with water while cooking.
8. Cooking time will vary according to the type, size and age of the bean.
9. Most beans will need approximately 2 hours cooking time. Lentils will take between 30 minutes to one hour.
10. Beans or lentils should be soft; this is when they are cooked. This is the stage that you can salt and other seasonings. Do not add salt while cooking as above.
For Vegan Chili recipe: http://realfoodforlife.com/veganchili/
For Aduzuki Bean Stew recipe: http://realfoodforlife.com/adzuki-bean-stew/
Copyright © Diana Herrington You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com or the direct link to this post.
About Diana Herrington
I am the head chef at Real Food for Life and author of the GREEN means LEAN and Balance Your Body e-books. I turned a debilitating health crisis into a passion for helping others with healthy, sugar free, gluten free eating and cooking.
6 Responses to “Cooking Beans and Lentils”
Leave a Reply
We post daily to twitter and facebook with lots of great information. Check us out!
Thank you for the great info again. I do love to eat beans and I'm getting used to them. My heath has improved and I'm taking less medicines. I've lost weight and feeling good, (I do eat lots more veggies too).
Thank you again. Henna
That is great to hear Henna. I love beans too. I made a big pot of my Chili con Vege this week and it was sooooo good. Filling is with the veges makes all the difference. Yes when we eat in a healthier way; we simply become slender.
The way I remove gas from beans is to add baking soda to the water they are soaking in. If you forget, you can also put baking soda in the pot while the beans are baking.
From prior post, I meant to say cooking,. not baking.
The use of baking soda in any kind of beans in NOT good as it destroys the nutrients.
The above method of soaking for 8 to 12 hours is enough time to change the carbohydrates to much more digestible form.
You are correct Linda about the baking soda. Laura give the recipe above a try.