• About Me
  • About Me
  • Meal Plans
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Travel
A Kuk's Kitchen

Vibrant health, one bite at a time.

  • About Me
  • About Me
  • Meal Plans
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Travel
Vegetarian  /  May 5, 2020

Cooking in Confinement: Vegetarian Recipes + Beans

by Rebekah Kuk
My favorite black beans. Use them for anything.

Hello my friends. How are you holding up? Last time I shared some hearty carb-y recipes. Today I have some vegetarian links at the bottom of some of my favorite veggie heavy recipes, but first I have a recipe for black beans. Let’s get started.


I like to eat meat and seafood, but I also recognize it’s good to take breaks from it, whether in the form of a vegetarian day a couple of days a week, or by only having meat at one meal a day. Black beans are nice because you can do so much with them. Have them over rice, in a tortilla, in soup, or on a salad. I will share with you my basic recipe, plus my favorite ways to eat them.

Beans after having been soaked for about 24 hours

Start the day before by soaking your beans in acidic water. Cover the beans by a few inches with water, and add about a tablespoon of whey, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice. This helps break down the anti-nutrients in the beans and makes them easier to digest. After they have soaked, they will have increased in volume and some may start to split.

Skim the foam

Drain the water. Either refill with water to cover by a couple of inches, or use broth. Bring the water or broth to a boil. I like to skim the foam. I have read in some recipes that this is the impurities coming out of the beans, but other sources say it’s just the protein foaming in the water. At any rate, it helps to see how things are cooking when the foam is out of the way.

After skimming the foam, add about two teaspoons of salt. Lower the heat to medium or medium high and cook the beans for about one hour. The water should be bubbling along happily. Check them after about 45 minutes. They may be soft enough to eat, but be sure to cook them long enough that they are creamy. I like to cook them the day before if I can and let the liquid reabsorb to really make them soft.

Saute together one onion and three cloves garlic, minced, in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. When it is soft, add one teaspoon each of smoked paprika and oregano, plus two teaspoons cumin.

Black beans with onions and seasoning

Add the cooked beans plus about one cup of the cooking liquid to the onion mixture. Stir together to mix the flavors. Taste and add salt if necessary, but keep in mind you will be adding vinegar at the end. When everything is hot, turn off the heat and stir in a tablespoon of acid: this could be apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, lemon or lime.

That’s it! Here are my favorite ways to eat black beans:

– With homemade sourdough tortillas, sour cream, avocado, and red onions
– On a salad with cotija cheese, tomato, corn, and black olives
– Over soaked brown rice with guacamole and cheddar cheese
– In a soup, but usually with chicken…so not vegetarian 🙂

Here is the Basic Black Bean Recipe:

1 pound dried black beans

Put beans in a pot cover by a few inches with water. Let soak 24 hours. Drain water, and refill again with either more water or broth. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, and reduce heat to medium or medium high so the water is bubbling happily. Add:

2 teaspoons salt

While the beans are cooking, prepare the other ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Stir in:

1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin

When beans are soft, drain all but one cup of the cooking liquid. Mix in beans and liquid with onions and spices. Warm through until flavors have melded. Taste and add salt if needed, then turn off heat and add:

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, lemon, lime or red wine vinegar

Now how about some other vegetarian options? Perhaps some that focus more on vegetables as the main component. Here is what I have been enjoying lately.

Greek inspired salad with chickpeas and eggplant spread

– The salad above used smoky eggplant dip, which really carried it to the next level. The salad itself had a mix of Romaine and spring mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, avocado and red onion

– A favorite Spanish dish is Espinaca con Garbanzos which is spinach and chickpeas. Don’t underestimate this dish. It is a deep complexity of paprika, tomato, almond, bread, and, of coure, the spinach and chickpeas. You can eat it alone, or on bread like a tapa. 
– One of my favorite ways to eat cabbage is roasted. Here is an excellent version that uses walnuts and Parmesan.
That’s all for today! Happy cooking.
Raw Milk Yogurt
A Kuk's Kitchen
Vibrant Health, One Bite at a Time

Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you.

Sign up to receive a Free Meal Plan featuring Five 30 Minute Meals, as well as awesome content in your inbox, every month.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

You're on the list! Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Tags

  • Beans
  • Salad

Post navigation

Cooking In Confinement: Carbs
Cooking in Confinement: Cookies

3 comments

  • Holly Turlington
    May 7, 2020

    I don't particularly like black beans but I am excited to try the chickpea recipes!

    Reply
  • Kate Angelella
    May 12, 2020

    Making this today! Looks delicious—thank you for sharing 💜

    Reply
  • Rebekah Kuk
    May 24, 2020

    @Holly – You don't like black beans! They are my absolute favorite. Justin and I both discovered on our first date that we both like black beans. It was one of those maybe-we're-soul-mates moments. Did you the try the chickpea recipes?

    @Kate – I'm glad you gave it a try and it turned out well! Once you figure out dried beans, it opens up so many possibilities, doesn't it?

    Reply

Share your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Recent Comments

  • Rebekah Kuk on Beef and Sweet Potato Saute – Low Histamine and Anti Candida
  • Kat on Beef and Sweet Potato Saute – Low Histamine and Anti Candida
  • Rebekah Kuk on Salad Dressing for Candida Diet
  • Stephanie on Salad Dressing for Candida Diet
  • Kimberly on Sweet and Crunchy Animal Based Granola

Pages

  • About Me
  • About Me
  • Meal Plans
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Travel

Categories

  • Animal Based
  • Appetizer
  • Beans
  • Beverage
  • Bread
  • Breakfast
  • Brunch
  • Cake
  • Casserole
  • Cheese
  • Chickens
  • Christmas
  • Condiment
  • Cookie
  • Dessert
  • Dinner
  • DIY
  • Egg-Free
  • Eggs
  • Fall
  • Garden
  • Gluten-Free
  • Grain Free
  • Gratitude
  • Healthy Habits
  • Jam
  • Kitchen Basics
  • Lunch
  • Lunch For the Week
  • Make Ahead
  • Nut-Free
  • Nuts
  • Paleo
  • Pest Control
  • picnic
  • Potatoes
  • Preserving
  • Road Trip
  • Salad
  • Sandwich
  • Side
  • Slow Cooker
  • Smoothie
  • Snack
  • Soup
  • sourdough
  • Spain
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Thrift
  • tortillas
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan
  • Vegetables
  • Vegetarian
  • Year End Review

Recent Posts

  • Simple Sourdough Bread for Busy People
  • Slow Cooker Beef Shank Stew
  • Simple Make Ahead Meals
  • Easy Thanksgiving Meal Plan
  • Butternut Squash and Ground Beef Casserole

Archives

  • October 2023
  • May 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2015
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • January 2014
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • March 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • Elara by LyraThemes
  • Made by LyraThemes.com
Cleantalk Pixel
RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Post on X