Snow, it’s now everywhere in Ottawa. It’s beautiful. And it made for a heck of a bike ride last Monday! With the arrival of winter, I am now switching into winter craving mode. I want my meals to warm and rich, enough to fuel me through my long days, and to keep me warm on the cross-country ski trails.
A few weeks ago I did my quarterly Bulk Barn run, to get my granola ingredients. As I was strolling through the isles trying to remember all the things I had once said we needed but had yet to get around to getting, my eyes were caught by a beautiful dried bean I had never seen before, Appaloosa beans. I couldn’t resist, so I bought a few cups and threw them into the pressure when I came home. Later that night, I had ended up making a bean stew inspired by the flavours of beans I’d had in Belize. They are delicious on their own, with nachos, or with rice!
Ingredients: for a meal that serves 6-8
- 2 cups Appaloosa beans, or any other dried bean, cooked in the pressure cooker (or you can skip the cooking and use 4 cups cooked beans)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 scotch bonnet or other red hot chili pepper (optional, choose one that is within your taste of spice – scotch bonnets are very spicy!)
- 4 cups broth (chicken or veggie), simmering
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
Directions:
- Cook beans in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes in a 3:1 ratio of salted water:beans
- In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. In a medium size saucepan, bring broth to a simmer and leave covered.
- Add ground coriander, chili powder, and nutmeg. When it bubbles (after a few seconds), add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes, until everything is well sautée’d and the mixture is fragrant
- Add the garlic, hot pepper and Bay leaves and sauté for another minute
- Add the beans and stir, coating them in the oil mixture
- Add the hot broth and bring the whole mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Uncover, stir, and taste. Remove the hot pepper if it is spicy enough. Add the juice from the lime and the chopped cilantro. Simmer for a further 10-15 minutes uncovered, or more, until desired consistency is achieved
- Season with salt and pepper, and serve with nachos, rice, or tacos!
Sitelle
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