Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Abundance of Beans!!



My husband and I have talked of late of trying to get on a better diet and eating more Legumes and beans.  Getting away from the meats.  And that has been it, alot of talking. Not that we aren't trying. It might take us a while to get to the point where meat will not be in our diets much.  Anyhow the reason for my title picture Abundance, comes about when we went shopping one day.  My dear husband went to the aisle where the beans were, and decided to pick up every type of bean bag that they had there.


                                                        
These are some of the bean bags that he bought. Had to store some of the others in another place.
So.............what to do with tons of beans? 



I like Lentils, so figured I would start with them.  But thinking what shall I do with them with what I have here in the house.



Had some potatoes for a starter  so peeled them.  I used about 6 small potatoes.





A bunch of celery was my next find. So I used one stalk of celery.




Great!!! Some nice orange carrots. I am batting 100% here in finding things to put in with the lentils, to hopefully make it taste good.



Some garlic cloves that I had stored in my garlic saver.  It pays to check things out sometimes or you forget that you have them.  Yes, that is what I am saying,,,,,, I did forget I had them in there. I just like the garlic saver and  how it looks on my counter.  :-)     Used 1 clove of garlic.


                                                                         

Now this is one thing I always keep on hand. Cans of tomatoes. I put tomatoes in everything I can. Today I am using the diced tomatoes.




                                                     I have learned through the years to chop or slice onions, peppers, squash and some other vegetables ahead of time and freeze them in plastic freezer bags. This way when I need them to make a dish, I just pull the bag out of the freezer and in a split second I have the chopped vegetable all ready. Saves so much time.



 

Spices and herbs of your choice.  For this dish, I used Basil Leaves, White Pepper, Sea Salt, and Onion Plus.
 

 

Lentils are one of the few legumes that you do not have to soak first. You just have to check through them for stones or bad lentils .Than rinse them in cold water and drain.

This package called for 10 cups of hot water poured over the beans after being rinsed and when you have them in the pot.

                                                                          

I chopped the celery, carrots, potatoes and garlic and added them to the pot, along with the diced tomatoes .  I like to use potatoes or rice in my soups as the starch from them make the dish a little thicker.





Okay everything that I could find and think what would go together with the lentils is in the pot.  Started out on high temperature to get it to the boiling point. Than turned it down to medium and than simmer.  It took about 1 hour and 20 mins. I wanted to make sure all the vegetables and lentils were cooked all the way through.

Awww, the delicious smell just filtered throughout the house. My husband came in from working outside, I could tell by the way his nose was twitching that he was picking up on the delicious aroma.

                                                                          
He couldn't wait to dish out the lentil dish.  Whew, hope it taste as good as it smells.!

  Well, it looks good enough to eat.  Here's hoping I am right!!! I served it with a tall glass of unsweetened tea and a slice of white wheat bread. With Smart Balance butter and a tad bit of honey.

                                                                   
Yeah, success! As you can tell the bowl was empty.  And Hubbie enjoyed the meal.!!  Thank goodness, because now I have to think of other ways to cook the other 49 bags of different beans that he bought.!!

Even though the dish is healthy and delicious, there is always that taste of hamburger stuck in the back of  my  mind.!!
 
                                                                   Hugs, Eileen
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

10 comments:

  1. Your lentils looked good! I haven't been doing too much cooking lately. SO hot here! We don't eat a lot of red meat, but we do like a great steak every once in a while, and there is nothing like a grilled burger!! Hard to deny ourselves all of those good things. But eating more of the beans and such, is a great way to go too!!
    Hugs,
    Kris

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    Replies
    1. Lucky we have air-conditioning because making a pot of soup this time of the year would really heat up the kitchen. Just wonder on days like this, how our ancestors made out with all their cooking and baking. I guess they were used to it.
      I don't know how long the less meat diet will last here. There is always chicken, but to me that is meat also. And not a fan of fish that much. Guess we will have to compromise at some point.
      hugs

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  2. Looks delicious! If only I could get the girls to eat them like this ;-)

    Love, Jill

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    Replies
    1. Jill, maybe we can camouflage it some how. Do you think we will have any luck with that?

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  3. I love that last shot! Hilarious!
    And yes, that soup does look good. Now get back to your meat eating. You live in Pennsylvania not San Francisco!
    m.

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    Replies
    1. Mark,
      We are going to give it a shot at having less meat, but even though the lentil soup was good and healthy...... it is no comparison to Meat! Hard to change old habits that you have been used to since childhood.

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  4. YUM!!! That looks really good. I think I've only cooked lentils one time. I usually make beans with the 15 bean soup mix you can buy at the store though I do use other types--depends on my cooking mood=) I made a pot of black-eyed peas the other day and it sure hit the spot. I never thought to add potatoes to my beans--I'll have to give that a try. I hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend. Take care.

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    Replies
    1. Sheila, thank you for stopping by. I have a little story about the 15 bean soup mix. Years ago I was telling my friend I was going to make a pot of 15 bean soup. And she said "that sure isn't enough to make a pot of soup" At first I wasn't sure what she was talking about. She thought I meant, I was only using 15 beans all together. Every time I hear about the 15 bean soup I think of this converstaion and have to laugh.
      WE also have a bag of black-eyed peas among the abundance so I will have to find a recipe for that.
      The heat here is still impossible to enjoy the outdoors. We got some much needed rain, but it brought the humidity with it. Maybe in a few weeks, things will cool down. Have a great weekend.

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  5. Eileen, your lentil stew looks wonderful. Only thing that I can think of that would make it any better is a nice hamhock. Which sort of defeats the whole no-meat thing, huh? :-)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Patty,
      I am right there with you "girlfriend" a ham hock would have made it so much tastier.
      I think this bean thing is going to be a slow process.

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