The best beans

I love my pulse recipes, delicious, filling and a real money saver. This one is an adaptation of the wonderful Gennaro Contaldo’s recipe for Zolfino Beans. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to find Zolfino beans, so used instead Cannellini beans (or failing that haricot beans) using dried pulses, you’ve just got to remember to soak them the night before….

350g Cannellini beans 3tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves 3tbs white wine vinegar
4 sage leaves about 1.4 litres veg stock.

Soak the beans overnight.

Drain and place in a saucepan with the garlic, (I leave them whole, squashing them slightly) sage leaves, olive oil and vinegar. Cover with the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 2 hours or until the beans are soft. If you find there’s a lot of liquid left, drain it and reduce it by cooking it in separate pot, then add it back to the beans.

Cannellini beans are an excellent source of Iron, Magnesium and Folate.

Today’s illustration is a monoprint ‘haricot beans’ © Lois Blackburn. Please visit http://www.loisblackburn.co.uk for more images.

hummus or humus

What a necessity! It delicious, cheap and easy to make, it goes with so much (filling for jacket potato, pita bread, sandwhiches, dip for veg, or sauce for falafel… children love it and its very healthy!

Ready made hummus will cost you about £1.00 for 100grams in the shops. To make it yourself, will cost you a fraction of that, and you will feel you can be very generous with it, as you will make a big tub! : Your main ingredients are chickpea’s and tahinni, In Unicorn, http://www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk/ 1kg of organic dried chick peas costs £1.35, Tahini (useful in so many recipes) £2.02 in my local ‘The Organic Shop’. These quantities will make a very healthy amount of hummus) If you decide to buy your chickpeas in a tin, you can still make dramatic savings… plus making it yourself, you will make it to your taste.. a little more garlic? a little more lemon? you decide.

I like to add the ingredients as I blend, tasting as I go, and add more garlic or tahinni or lemon…I can’t say I measure ingredients, but do it by feel, however if your new to making it here is a guide:

250g (9oz) chickpeas, soaked overnight
juice of 2-3 lemons
2 or 3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 tablespoons Tahini
4 tbs olive oil
1 tsp paprika (optional) (some people use cumin)

Boil the chickpeas in fresh water until very soft (50mins upwards, depending on the age of them) add a little salt when they begin to soften. Reserve the cooking water and blend the chickpeas with a little of the cooking water. Make a smooth paste. Add two tbs olive oil and the other ingredients (except the paprika) and more cooking water if necessary, to make a soft creamy texture.

To serve, spread the hummus on a plate, sprinkle with remaining oil and the paprika.

And I hope you don’t mind smelling of garlic!

A note about the illustrations, 'chickpeas' mono print please go to http://www.loisblackburn.co.uk/ for more, and 'beer tea trifle bovril' an arthur+martha collaboration. http://www.arthur-and-martha.co.uk/ This is part of a collection called 'scotch terrier, bulldog and a moggy' investigating stereo types of the people British and Israel I hold © to both images.