The following recipe makes a great balanced meal for on the go. I make the paste in large quantity and freeze most of it, getting out a weeks allotment at a time. The reason for using dry beans and soaking, cooking and then softening them for so long is, first, best results for pasting, second, elimination of the stereotypical gaseous components of the beans.
Ingredients:
Bean Paste:
2 lbs dry black beans
2 lbs dry pinto beans
1 lb peanuts (unsalted, dry roasted)
1 heaping cup minced garlic
1 diced sweet onion
4 cups apple cider
Ground bell peppers (enough to coat the top of the beans)
Ground cayenne pepper (enough to coat the top of the beans twice)
Ground Indian paprika (enough to coat the top of the beans twice)
- not usually labelled such, you can tell it from other varieties by the quality of the grind (finer) and the color (slightly more yellow)
(optional: some sort of preservatives... I tend to use potassium salts - ie: cream of tartar - instead of sodium salts - ie: table salt, personally)
Additional sandwich fixings:
2 slices of bread of your choice (goes particularly nicely on whole rye)
a slice of cheese of your choice (goes particularly nicely with extra/super sharp cheddar)
any other fixings of your choice (I generally don't bother, it's already a balanced meal by this point)
Preparation:
Bean Paste:
1) rinse and sort beans (I take the lazy way out on this and put them in a big container filled with water, mix it around a bit, pick out any floaters, strain, and rinse.)
2) Soak them for ~8 hours in cold water.
3) Strain and rinse.
4) Simmer just below boiling (150 degrees F) for ~8 hours.
5) Strain and rinse.
6) Add peanuts, garlic, onion, and cider in a large roaster oven.
7) Use electric hand mixer to thoroughly combine and start breaking the beans.
7) Boil at 300 degrees F for ~8 hours.
8) Turn heat down to 200 degrees F.
9) Coat the top of the beans with ground bell peppers and use electric hand mixer to paste the mixture.
10) Coat the top of the beans with ground cayenne pepper and use electric hand mixer to paste the mixture. Repeat.
11) Coat the top of the beans with ground Indian paprika and use electric hand mixer to paste the mixture. Repeat.
12) Leave the lid to roaster slightly open and let the paste dry out.
13) Package it up and freeze/refrigerate to keep it for a while.
Sandwich:
1) Use a knife to spread the paste on both slices of bread.
2) Put slice of cheese and any additional fixings between the two coated slices of bread.
3) Put in toaster oven to desired toastiness.
Okay, Yum:)
Though I'd love to have this on some nice pumpernickle bread with maybe some caramelized or thin sliced pickled onions as a garnish. This would be good on cornbread too I suspect.
*Hugs*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
Yeah...
The paste probably has a lot more uses if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of nutrition...
The main reason I use whole rye is because that bread packs a tremendous amount of nutrition per serving compared with other kinds of bread, and tastes pretty dang good too. It's got a sort of sour taste to it that well complements the earthy taste of the paste.
Cheese is actually a pretty necessary component, not discounting the whole "ah, the power of cheese" thing, it's actually important to get a bit of dairy in your diet, and if you don't drink milk, and don't eat yogurt, cheese is the next best source as long as you keep other fats in your diet low to compensate.
I tend to stay away from "pickled" garnishes myself, I am predisposed to being hypertensive, so I try to keep my sodium low.
Anyway, the sandwiches are merely my use for the paste, I'm sure other folks can come up with some mighty good alternatives, and I welcome and even encourage recipe theft! The greatest complement imo.
Abigail Drew.
Burrito filling
With fresh cilantro, chopped tomato, white meat chicken and a dab of sour cream. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Mmm...
Sounds good, but I would change it slightly:
Substitute beans for ready-to-eat variety. Not necessarily more expensive, because you'll be spared the energy bill of boiling the beans for hours. Just use something else to adjust the consistency if you find it necessary. Much quicker and easier. Is excessive farting really a problem? If you have to be ladylike, just hold it in.
As for the additional sandwich filling... Prawns! ^_^
Have you ever read the labels on canned beans?
Eww...
I really don't need those unhealthy additives thank you very much!
And actually, even not factoring in the energy bill at all, canned beans ARE less expensive than dry beans, and I do use them for my chili, which I might post at some point.
The whole point of this recipe is to have a great tasting healthy sandwich and avoid all the unhealthy additives in things like lunch meat.
My chili is more about just straight up tasting kick-ass awesome, and screw your arteries. (it's actually not that bad, but it does have a heckuva lot of meat) ;P
Abigail Drew.