babs@ursa-major.spdcc.com (Babs Woods) (11/23/90)
I love to play in the kitchen and invent new ways to use foodstuffs up, but I also like to find new foodstuffs to work with. Well, I went away to a Retreat at the end of last month and they serve vegetarian and macrobiotic fare. This time my friend Russ was the co-cook with one other person and they made plain black beans, among some other dishes. Well, I thought I'd try them and to make them more interesting I came up with this: Babs Woods ca. Nov. 6, 1990 Black beans and stuffed green olives 1C dried black beans (Soaked 4hrs. in 4C water) 1C chopped onion 2 cloves minced garlic 1t chili powder 2 small bay leaves 1C chopped celery 1C chopped carrots 1/2t black pepper 4C water 1/4C green olives, stuffed with pimientos (salad olives are fine), rinsed and drained (if desired) Combine drained soaked beans and everything but the olives in a pot. Bring to a boil and hold there about 10-30 minutes, cover. Simmer about 2 hours. Stir in the olives. (Or stir in olives about 15 minutes before serving.) This should not be soupy, nor should it be too gloppy. Watch it carefully in the last 45 minutes of cooking (30 minutes before you add the olives). Serve with rice or corn and whatever you want. Serve hot. Serves about 4. This dish goes well in tortillas with salsa, cheese, veggies; much as you would fill a taco. Serve rolled and filled tortillas on a bed of lettuce or cooked cabbage (below), topped with melted cheese, salsa, chopped tomatoes and anything else you want to add. Experiment. Enjoy! --------------------- Cumin and garlic cooked cabbage 3C shredded raw cabbage (red or green) (about) 1t cumin seeds 1-2 cloves garlic 2T oil some hot water Heat the oil in a hot wok. Slice the garlic and toss it in the oil about 5 seconds or so. Add the cumin seeds, stir about 2 seconds. Throw in the cabbage, stirfry to coat well. Stirfry about 2 minutes. Add about 3/4-1C hot water or so. Cook until almost dry (it's important not to add too much water). Serve hot.