Black Bean paste recipe for layered dip, nachos, burritoes, tacos, etc

freemotion

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My favorite way to eat beans is as bean paste, which is a dip kind of like re-fried beans but without the fat. I am not opposed to lard (pork fat rules!) but I like the bean paste better. You just cook up some beans with onions and garlic and mash 'em up and serve in burritoes or with nachos as a dip. We had some for supper tonight with tortilla chips with melted cheddar, salsa all from the garden, and strained goat kefir flavored with garden herbs....I usually use sour cream, but recently discovered that strained kefir is a perfect substitute.

Here is what I did...I always double or triple this, but I will give you the one-bag version:

You will need....

One pound of dry black beans
One medium onion
2-3...or 5 or 9......cloves of garlic

Pick through the beans to sort out any debris or small pebbles. Soak the beans for 12 to 24 hours in a gallon of filtered water to which you have added a glug of whey or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. This will make the beans much more digestible. Don't use the "quick soak" method that will likely be listed on the intructions on the bag.

Rinse the beans, and put in a crock pot on low overnight with enough water to cover by at least a half inch. Add the diced onion and garlic. NO SALT yet!

In the morning, drain any excess liquid, reserving a cup or two just in case. Run the beans and onions/garlic through a food processor or mash with a potato masher, as smooth or as chunky as you like. Add some of the reserved liquid to get a consistancy that you will like. Think dip.

That's it! Simple, simple, simple.....and cheap! And nutritious!

Serve it as a dip by itself, with grated cheese on top, hot, in burritoes or tacos, with nachos, etc. Include anything you like to go with these items....diced tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cooked sausage, etc.

You can freeze or refrigerate leftovers. I ferment it for longer storage in the fridge and a slight sour flavor that I like, and increasing the nutrient density and the digestibility....no acid reflux after a meal with fermented foods. You can ferment the salsa, too. If this intrigues you, check out the thread on fermenting.

Then I pack it in jars with LOTS of head space....3-4 inches, as it can really rise up....and add a glug of whey when I mash or blend it. Then I let it sit, covered, at room temp for 2-3 days. 3 days if the temps are in the 70's F and less if hotter. Then repack into appropriately sized jars if desired and put in the fridge indefinitely. You can also just mash up a jar of the seasoned beans and use these, unfermented, in the same way. There. No so much of a hijack now! tongue

eta: If I remember, I heavily salt the surface to help prevent mold. Forgot this time. Just scraped it off. What is underneath is still perfectly good, but once it molds, it will probably mold again, so scraping before using each time will be in order. No problem, as we eat it up pretty quickly in the summer when we don't want to heat up the kitchen by cooking and there are lots of fresh tomatoes to eat with this.
 

Wifezilla

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You CAN add salt to the cooking beans. It used to be believed the salt kept the beans from getting soft, but that isn't the case. It's the water that determines whether or not your beans will get soft or end up like warm pebbles. If you use filtered water like freemotion said, no problem. If you don't, and you have hard water, the beans will not soften. You can add a little baking soda to counteract the effects of the water, but too much and you destroy the B vitamins in the beans.
 

urban dreamer

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I'm glad I poked my head back in for a minute. I tried following the NT recipe but my dip was wayyyyy too salty. I'm glad you posted much better detailed instructions. :)




BTW, HI FREEMOTION!!!! :D
 

calendula

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urban dreamer said:
I'm glad I poked my head back in for a minute. I tried following the NT recipe but my dip was wayyyyy too salty. I'm glad you posted much better detailed instructions. :)




BTW, HI FREEMOTION!!!! :D
I made the fermented bean dip using the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, and it tasted like I was eating an onion. I don't know if my onion was just really strong or what, but I didn't care for it. But, I've been mixing it with the salsa that I made, and that's very yummy.
 

Wifezilla

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I have noticed that fermenting onions and garlic really make those flavors STRONG. I cut mine to about half of what the recipe calls for.
 

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