Anasazi and Navy Beans with Kale, Germinated Brown Rice, Avocado and Tomato Salad (No Added Fat)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Anasazi and 1/2 cup navy beans, rinsed and soaked overnight (I didn't have overnight, so used boiling water and soaked from 3:30-6:30 pIngredient 1
• Medium tomatilla cut into 1/4 pieces (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic finely (1/8") chopped
• 1 cup chopped kale (I used frozen, but fresh would be fine)
• 2 medium carrots cut into 1/2" cubes
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes (maybe 1/3 of a medium onion)
• 2t lemon juice
• 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/8 t turmeric
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1T fennel seed

Process

1. Soaked Ansazi beans take 10-15m to cook under pressure, while navy beans take 10m longer; I went with the longer 20-25m time by putting the beans, water, and bouillon cube into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooking for 22m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then opened and mixed in the onion, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, cumin, and fennel seed.

I also made germinated brown rice (1 part rice to 2 parts water simmered for 25-30m with a vegan bouillon cube and salt, then allowed to sit for 10m) and a nice cubed salad with avocado, tomato, a bit of finely chopped onion, garlic powder, salt, fresh oregano leaves, and ume plum vinegar.

Results

Dinner came out well. I enjoyed having the two kinds of beans. My daughter pointed out, and she was correct, that the two beans tasted the same, though they had slightly different mouth feels because of their size difference. The salad was a good combination and tasted great! I like germinated brown rice but have only bought it once or twice as it is expensive.

Ideas for the future

I should continue to experiment with mixed bean dishes. Chopped salads are great and I should make them more often. With lovely heirloom variety of apples now available to me this autumn, I should integrate some apples into my cooking.