Help with Cooking Mixed Dried Beans

17 years ago

I bought lots of different dried beans and lentils that I want to combine to use in soups and salads. I'm not sure how to cook them as a mixture. Lentils aren't supposed to need soaking and require 30-45 min of simmering. The larger beans need to be soaked and require longer cooking times.

Should I cook the lentils separately or add them to the larger beans during the last 45 minutes?

If the larger beans are mixed during cooking, will they keep their color or blend into a nasty gray color? Some of the beans are dark red, some tan or cream colored. I'd like them to look pretty when they are cooked :) I hope I don't have to cook them all separately and mix them after they are cooked.

I wanted to cook a big batch to freeze in recipe size portions. I've had some great tasting cold mixed (dried) bean salads from salad bars that have just a bit of chopped onion, red or green pepper, garlic, herbs and oil and vinegar and I want to try and duplicate them at home for a lot less money.

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Comments (6)

lindac
17 years ago
No beans need soaking....just cook them longer.
Or you can cover with boiling water....soak for 10 minutes and drain.
The lentils will tend to fall apart before the black beans are quite done....but I have used mixes of 8 beans and 6 beans abd probably other blends and just put them in a pot with some cut up onion and a ham hock and they are wonderful!
Linda c
bunnyman
17 years ago
It depends on how long you cook them if they will fall apart. I sort of like when they disolve into a mash but I use most of mine in soups. Lentils I've had good luck cooking in the microwave. Cover them with water and nuke for 10 minutes, cover with water again, and nuke another 10. That makes a nice firm lentil that might do well in the salads you are working on.

Last week I made a navy bean soup with nothing but a drop of liquid smoke and a shake of black pepper for flavoring... very good! Just tired and didn't feel like chopping an onion or carrots or dealing with ham.

: )
lyra
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I pick and sort for stuff in my dry beans. Much cleaner then they used to be I've noticed. Used to be a pebble in most every bag but I've not found a rock or dirt clod in years. Still a weed seed now and then. I rinse them to remove dust. Chop up an onion into a pot of water and add the beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a couple hours. Got beans! More gas then those that soak them but gas is good for your digestive system. After two hours you have cooked but firm beans. Six or eight hours and you have soft beans. Reheated the next day and you have bean mush... my favorite! When they break down they take on lots of liquid. Use low heat and stir often when reheating soft beans as they burn to the bottom of the pot. In a hurry? Nuke them with some water for about 20 minutes for a pound package with two cups of water. Check after ten minutes and add more water if needed. Use fresh beans! After a year beans take on a bitter flavor. My grandfather taught me to throw out last year's beans as they are not worth eating. Watch where you buy them... I grabbed a package without looking at Meijer's and they were over a buck a pound! Local grocer is about half that price... not that fifty cents kills my budget. I'm eaten several pounds of dry peas recently cooking them the same as the beans. I'm using up some ham but a couple drops of liquid smoke would do as well for flavor. I love a sliver of habenera pepper... not enough to make them hot but it gives a nice tangy note. I think dry lentils are my most common food of these types. Just lentils and an onion makes a good filling energy providing food. A side note I just past the 15lbs lost mark from about the start of last November. A couple holidays and many beers so I'm really happy with my diet. Beans, peas, lentils, and rice have been major "filler" foods that help me feel full with lots of energy for work. Wing your chili and never look back! I love kidney beans and cabbage with hot peppers... some cumin and you could call it chili. Garlic if you want it sweet. Good tomatoes really help but I've used a squirt of ketchup when in a hurry. Either I've got a magic touch or chili is really hard to make bad. I make everything from skillet chili which has almost no liquid to chili soup that is mostly liquid. If I made vegatarian chili for someone I'd probably go a half pot of tomatoes, quarter pot of beans, some onion, squash, couple mildly hot peppers, bit of garlic, few shakes of cumin, tablespoon of chopped cumin seed, and maybe a handful of corn. I salt and black pepper it to taste at serving time. Making for just myself I pour on the hot peppers but that is my taste. good luck! : ) lyra
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grainlady_ks
17 years ago
I'm not a fan of mixed dried bean mixtures for just the reasons you brought up - some end up partially cooked and others turn to "mush".

I "cook" beans (as well as oatmeal, rice and other grains) in a Stanley Thermos (see link below) to save on utilities. I keep cooked "firstovers" or leftovers in the freezer. You can easily make a "mixed" bean container. When you have some cooked leftovers, just keep adding it to the container in the freezer. I do the same thing with leftover vegetables to be added to soup.

Other links with more information:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2275972_cook-thermos-save-energy-money.html

http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2008/09/vacuum-bottle-cooking-cheap-wholesome.html

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooking with Stanley (thermos)
lov2garden
Original Author
17 years ago
All great help! I used a bit of everyone's advice and wound up with 3 burners going with beans!

I cooked the 3 kinds of lentils separately along with some other smaller grains I can't name or say. The red lentils were split and disappeared during cooking.

The adzuki beans were cooked separately because I was afraid they would turn everything pink (rightfully so!)and they were an in-between size. The other small red beans, garbanzo and navy beans were cooked together and kept their color.

I froze most of them and used one batch of larger beans in soup and tried to make a cold salad out of the lentils, smaller beans and grains. Overnight, they became too salty! Am adding more cooked beans to them to dilute the salt. I added pressed garlic, chopped sweet onion, vinegar, lemon juice, oil and herbs but I'm not impressed yet. I'll have to keep working on getting the taste balanced better.

If you have a favorite dressing for a cold bean salad like this, please share!
lindac
17 years ago
The beans I love sow ell, were sold by a group as a fund raiser....they were a mix of red and green lentils, split peas, both green and yellow, navy beans, garbonzos, baby limas, black beans, kidney beans, canollini beans....and a few black eyed peas.
The directions said to wash well and put into a pot with a certain amount of water ( think it was 2 qts for 1/2 a pound of beans) with a ham hock or 1/2 pound of diced ham and one small onion diced.
Cook for an hour and add a 16 oz can of canned tomatoes, broken up and the juice of half a lemon and simmer another hour ( maybe it was longer) until the beans were done.
Yes, some were mushy, some were not, but it made a wonderful wonderful soup! Thick, beany, hammy and flavorful!
Linda C
grainlady_ks
17 years ago
Lentil lesson:

Lentils come in various sizes and colors. Brown and green ones are larger than the redish-orange variety and the brown ones hold their shape better and are generally the lentil of choice for using in salads. If you substitute brown ones with green ones, cook them for less time. The redish-orange ones readily fall apart.

I love the tiny green French lentil - wonderful texture and a slightly spicy flavor.

Another thing going for lentils, they have no sulfur and so produce very little (ah-hem) "wind". ;-)

-A Q&E dressing is just good old bottled Italian Dressing and the ever-popular McCormick SALAD SUPREME. It's my go-to for many salad variations.

-Citrus Dressing
1/2 c. oil
1/3 c. fresh grapefruit juice
1/3 c. chopped green onions
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

-Cumin Dressing
(I use this in Black Bean Taco Salad.)
2 T. lime juice
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

-Grainlady

Help with Cooking Mixed Dried Beans

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lindac

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Help with Cooking Mixed Dried Beans

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lindac

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