Split peas and some new veggies

Hello, all you cheap eaters!

Today we'll be talking about split peas (lentils in the next post) and a couple new veggies and veggie combos:

Split peas, (green or yellow) will cook without soaking in 35-40 minutes.  Sometimes I'll go ahead and soak for a couple hours, if only to avoid having to involve the blender when I make soup.

A very basic split pea soup can be had with just split peas, an onion, and some herbs:

2 cups split peas (soaked for a couple hours if you don't want to involve the blender for pureed soup).
1 yellow onion, minced.
3 cloves of garlic, pressed.
1 teaspoon of hickory smoke salt.
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon of herb mix of your choice (my go-to blend is below).
Optional ingredients:  1 carrot,thinly sliced
1 medium potato, diced,
1 sliced rib of celery.

All I do is dump everything into the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8.  For a bit more flavor saute the onion in some butter or oil (or mix of the two) till they just start to brown.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two and then proceed with the peas and herb mix.

Please note:  If you intend to puree with a blender (stick or stand), make sure you take the bay leaf out first!  Little shards of dried leaf make for a very unpleasant dining experience.

Herb mix for split pea soup
Make a big batch and mix thoroughly, and use 2-3 teaspoons per pot.

Mix equal parts of the following herbs:
whole thyme leaves
dill
ground oregano
ground sage
black pepper
ground celery seeds
ground cumin
ground mustard seed
turmeric
and a half part of smoked paprika

If your "equal parts" is anything other than 1 teaspoon, be careful with the turmeric and paprika; experiment.

If your tastes tend more toward complex flavors and more veggies, try this version from The Dairy Hollow Country Inn Cookbook by a lady with the delightful name of Crescent Dragonwagon.  It's a bit more pricey than the basic soup but well worth the expense!

Spanish Style Split Pea Soup

Pam Cooking Spray

2 cups dried split peas  

2 quarts any well-flavored vegetable stock

1 large onion sliced

2 carrots, scrubbed and sliced

5 cloves garlic, peeled

2 bay leaves

1 box (10 oz ) frozen spinach, thawed

salt to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

3 onions, chopped

6 fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 T chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 t dried

2 T minced fresh parsley

freshly ground pepper to taste

1. spray a large soup pot with Pam and in it combine the stock, split peas, sliced onion, carrots, 2 cloves of garlic and the bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low, and simmer, partially covered, 1 hour.  Add the spinach and season with salt (at least 1 tsp).  Continue to simmer another 30 minutes.  Let cool slightly and remove the bay leaves, then puree the soup in a food processor.

2. Meanwhile in a 10-inch skillet heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and saute until they start to soften.  

Turn down the heat to medium-low and continue to saute until the onions are wilted, another  6-8 minutes.  Turn down the heat further to very low and cook, stirring often, until the onions are caramelized, about 10 minutes more.  (watch so they don't burn)

3. Add the tomatoes to the onions, increase the heat to med-low and cook down until very thick, reducing the heat as the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and put in the three remaining 3 cloves of garlic thru a garlic press and add to the tomato mixture.  Stir in the fresh herbs and plenty of freshly ground pepper.

4. Stir in the tomato-onion mixture into the pea puree and heat through. Serve at once, garnished with additional parsley or let stand overnight and reheat the next day.

Now, in my last post, I suggested moving beyond the same 4 veggies most of us probably depend on:  green beans, carrots, peas, and corn.  You can still eat these, but try some different preparations:  sauteed fresh green beans with garlic, pureed carrots and potatoes are two preparations I do quite often.  

There's a whole produce section to explore!  Cabbage, turnips, beets, kale, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, and more!  And the best thing about vegetables (if you have the space, time, and gumption) is you can grow them yourself!  I've done green beans mostly; I love fresh ones and it's much cheaper to grow them than to buy them at the store.  I've got turnips in the garden this year, and really want to try beets next year (roasted beets are an entirely different experience than canned!)

Here are some of my favorite preparations (specific prep for all of these can easily be googled):

Braised red cabbage with apples

Sauteed turnip and red pepper strips

Sesame asparagus (not really that cheap unless it's springtime and even then it's a bit pricier than other veggies)

Roasted broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (aka California Blend; I love this with an Arabic spice mix called za'atar)

Stir fried broccoli, carrot chips, and bok choi (another wonderveggie in the produce section; use the white stem and the green leaves)

For all sorts of ideas, visit this blog.  It's chock full of great veggie preparations.  Just put the vegetable name in the search box and go to town!  Promise yourself to try at least one new veggie per week.  You may find some new favorites!

Next time on Cheap Eats:  Lentils and dal (Indian style lentil and split pea stews).

Cheap Eats tip:  My local stores often have 10 lb tubes of 80% ground beef on sale for 19.99, which is 1.99 per pound, an unheard of price!  If you like pork (and especially if you're in Iowa), ground pork is usually quite a bit cheaper than beef; at my local store, it's 1.99 a pound, vs. $3.50 to $4.00 per pound for beef.   It's usually around 70 to 75% lean, so use it in recipes that you can drain the fat off.

  

Beans, beans; they're good for your heart!  The more ya eat, the more ya.................

....well, you know!

When you have a food budget of 40-50 bucks a week per person, it means you're pretty much going to be eating a whole-foods, veg*n diet. and that means beans for protein.  

Let me join the chorus of people who try to dispel the protein deficiency myth when it comes to veg*n eating:  There is no such thing as long as you eat a varied diet.  And by "varied diet" I don't mean the same 4 veggies you've always eaten.  You gonna need to branch out!  I'll write about veggies in my next installment.

Anyhoo, beans do have a minor glitch:  They are deficient in one of the essential amino acids, but as luck would have it, grains and nuts have this amino in abundance!  This is the reason behind the beans and rice of Louisiana, Puerto Rican, and Cuban cuisines and the refried beans and corn tortillas of Mexico not to mention the treat from Italy, Pasta e fagioli!

But I'm here to talk about cooking beans.

If you're eating on the cheap, the best option is dried.  For those of you whose bean experience has been strictly canned or frozen green beans and canned kidney beans for your chili, there's no need to be afraid of dried beans.  Just make sure you soak them before you put them on to cook.  Here's a basic bean prep that covers most beans (I'll discuss chickpeas in my hummus post, later on).

1.  Place a pound of dried beans into a pot and fill the pot with water, at least 8 cups.  Let them soak overnight/8 hours (in the fridge during warm weather).  At the end of the soak, split a bean and if you see a white speck in the middle (this is just the part that's still not rehydrated), that means you need to soak longer; give it another couple hours.

2.  Pour off the water (unless you LIKE the "musical" aspect of beans!) and rinse, then add in fresh water to about an inch or two above the beans, usually another 6-8 cups.  For soup, you'll want to add 8-10 cups.

3.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook them with your choice of non-salt, non-acidic seasonings till the necessary softness, again depending on what you're using them for.  Once they're as soft as you like, THEN you can add salt and acidic stuff.  (NOTE:  There is a debate whether salt affects the tenderness of cooked beans.  Some people have a hissy about salt being put in before the beans are done; others say it doesn't matter.  The only bean I've added salt to at the beginning of cooking is the large lima bean and they come out fine.  Maybe one of these days I'll do some experimenting)

4.  If you want to have no-fuss beans, put them in a crock pot after soaking.  Just drain and rinse, and chuck them in the crock with the seasonings and 6-8 cups of water, and turn it on low and cook till soft.
   
IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you're cooking dried kidney beans (red or white) in a crock pot, make sure you pour off the soaking water and then boil them for at least 10 minutes at a rolling boil on the stove before you transfer them to the crock.  Let's let the author of this blog explain:  "Red kidney beans contain high levels of a toxin that occurs naturally in beans, Phytohaemagglutinin (also known as Kidney Bean Lectin.) If raw or undercooked red kidney beans are eaten…well, bad things happen. Let’s just say you’ll be getting to know the pattern of tiles in your bathroom very well.  For all the gory details, check here."  And believe you me, they're pretty gory!  I can tell you from first hand experience, it is NOT a fun way to spend the evening after dinner!
If you use canned kidneys, you'll be fine without boiling; the processing takes care of the lectin.

As I said, the above method will do for most beans you're likely to be cooking.  The amount of time needed varies with the bean, but usually around 45 minutes.  If you're in a hurry, do lentils or split peas; they don't need to be soaked and cook in 35-40 minutes.

Once your beans are cooked, they can be used for just about anything:  soup, salad, side dish.  My favorite bean for side dish (or even main dish) is the huge lima beans I mentioned earlier.  When you cook them in the crockpot, they break down and create a gravy-like broth that is heaven.  Cooked with a bay leaf and hickory smoked salt (or salt and a DASH of liquid smoke) and you'll swear they were cooked with a ham hock.  They're even thicker the next day!  A beloved aunt, now deceased, had these on the table for every dinner, no matter what.  Every time I cook and eat these, fond memories come flooding back.  Thanks, Auntie J.!

Salad beans need to be a bit firmer than soup beans and so will need to be cooked for less time.  Just drain the beans (save the cooking water to make veggie broth!!) and use according to the recipe.  

To freeze beans, just drain (again saving the cooking water for broth) and then place in freezer bags in 1 3/4 cup batches (the usual equivalent of a can of beans, but without all the sodium and other additives).   I use freezer bags rather then those square freezer tubs because flat bags are much easier to store in the freezer and also thaw much quicker.

Well, that's it for now.  I'll start with recipes in my next post.  See you then!