Nine Bean Pork Stew

 

Every now and then I have enough foresight to presoak the handy nine-bean mix from Costco. And then I decide what to do with it the next day. In this case, it was another cold day, and a stew was in order. This was super simple...and quite tasty...

 

Pork chops cubed

Costco nine bean mix - soaked over night, cooked ~40 min, drained
Veggie stock - I used the Trader Joe low sodium one
Thyme
Sage
Onion

Quinoa

The onion and herbs were sauteed together first...then the pork cubes added. Once sufficiently browned, I took the pork out. Then I added the stock and scraped the charred bits off the bottom of the pot. I figure that adds flavor. Once the stock came to a low boil, I added some quinoa for fibre. Once the little curly tails of the quinoa was visible I added the pork back, then I tipped in the cooked beans and simmered everything until the pork was cooked through. My husband added extra heat (i.e. sirracha) to his bowl. Served with a dollop of  sour cream made it so nice.

Variation - don't add pork...and just enjoy a bowl of vegetarian stew. 

Variation - add way more stock...and make it a hearty soup.

Leftover Makeover: Kimchi Edemame Fried Rice

Apologies for the half eaten bowl of rice....I forgot to take the photo first. I've mentioned before how I hate wasting kimchi juice left after eating a tub of the spicy goodness. Well here's another way to use it up. Use it in fried rice! Fried rice is also a great way to use up hard leftover rice. Instead of adding water to reconsitute the rice, I poured in the kimchi juice. I also had leftover buckwheat. And leftover cooked edemame beans. Perfect. For added protein I cut up a medium firm block of tofu into strips...you can't really see them in the photo though.

I let everything simmer under a lid, then stir every now and then until the liquids have dried up and the rice gets a little browned. Yum.

Leftover grains
Kimchi juice
Edemame
Tofu
Salt/Sugar to taste

Bean Patties

Yup still going strong on the vegetarian kick. I still really love a good marbled piece of rib eye steak, med rare with a nice sear...but a much smaller piece now. Less is more! Anyways, as summer is swinging in, visions of bbq's and grills and burgers and wings start to float in. I realize the picture is of patties in a frying pan, but that's really only because we hadn't filled up our propane tank for the bbq yet.

So, patties...I've tried veggie burgers and I really don't like the ones that imitate beef patties. If I wanted beef patties, I'll eat beef patties. In this case, I wanted to try making bean patties....see if it can taste good. And also because that huge tub of nine-bean mix I bought at Costco isn't being used up fast enough.



I kinda followed this recipe for a Black Bean Veggie burger. I used a nine bean mix instead of just black beans. Sriracha instead of chili powder. Added paprika to the mix. And used flour instead of bread crumbs...because I didn't have any and didn't want to waste my bread to make some.

Everything was mashed/mixed by hand because we don't have a food processor. And maybe it could'e used more flour (or bread crumbs) because it wasn't holding together very well. The cooked result was quite crumbly too so it's a good thing I didn't put it on the grill. BUT, it was very tasty indeed. Yay!

Pinto Bean Stew

I think I've mentioned that we're trying to reduce our meat intake...so we were doing Meatless Mondays before but have also added Vegetarian Vednesdays. I'm never full enough just eating vegetables so I'm learning to capitalize on the filling potential of beans. I know, beans are the magical fruit that makes you toot. It turns out the chemical factor that makes you socially unacceptable is found in the skin of beans...and it's water soluble! So, I just soak the beans for at least four hours if I forget to soak them overnight. Then drain the water. And we're good!

This stew is basically pinto beans plus whatever I could find in my fridge.

Pinto beans
Trader Joe's vegetable stock
Onion
Carrots
Cumin
Garlic
Some leftover butternut squash soup
S&P to taste

9 Bean Squash & Spinach Soup

 

We're trying to reduce the amount of meat we consume...because it really is way too much for our physical systems that really are built more for herbaboires than carnivores. This is coming from someone who LOVES her meat. Especially red meat, medium rare. Sigh.

So...taking Meatless Mondays more seriously...I'm venturing into vegetarian cooking territory and making a hearty, high protein, high fibre soup.

9 bean mix (from Costco)

Butternut squash

Spinach

Oregano

Basil

Celery seed

Paprika

Garlic

Turkey bones (for the broth, I know, it's not vegetarian but I didn't have vegetable stock handy. Baby steps)

And you know, it's pretty tasty! And filling! I do burn it off faster than a heavy meat dinner, but then I reach for some almonds or fruit to take the edge off and just go to sleep. And my GI is happier for it.