Cumin & Coriander Black Beans

Yesterday I featured cumin and coriander in a spiced lentil dish.

Today I'm featuring the same spices in a black bean dish.

Select lo0se spices are on sale at WFs this week and I made the most of that sale and bought several ounces of my two favorites.

I buy loose herbs and spices, ground and whole, in bulk, spooning just as much as I need into recycled Ziploc bags which I bring with me to the store from home.

I reuse those bags, over and over, washing them, drying them, and storing them in a utility draw in my kitchen.

I decant ground spices from my Ziploc bags into screw-top glass jars. Spices are best stored in the pantry away from heat and direct sunlight where they will stay fresh for 6 months to a year.

Once spices start to lose their aroma it's an indication that the aromatic oils in the spice, which give them their flavor, have evaporated and this means the spice is no longer fresh.

Ground spices with no flavor are not worth keeping. But throwing food out -- even spices -- is akin to tossing money in the trash.

This is why I buy spices loose, purchasing only a couple ounces at a time; it ensures that I use all my spices within months of their purchase and it ensures that I avoid throwing spices out.

I do tend to use ground spices more often with lentils and beans since pulses tend to be neutral in flavor.

Additionally, spices are pungent and thus as the weather fluctuates from cool to very cold, stews of spicy beans and vegetables are both warming while being budget-wise.

Cumin and coriander with black beans is one of my favorites. I like to add any number of root vegetables to the dish, but as you can see in the pics above this time around, I've simply added chopped onion, garlic and celery.

But consider adding diced potato, sweet potato, rutabaga, swede, carrots, leeks, cabbage to this dish. The addition of lots of vegetables stretches the beans further and gives the meal interest, texture and color.

Cumin & Coriander Black Beans
1) Chop half an onion a couple sticks of celery and a smashed clove of garlic. (Add additional vegetables if you wish.)
2) Toss veggies into a skillet lined with light olive oil; add a teaspoon each of cumin & coriander.
3) Saute over low heat, coating vegetables with spices.
4) Add a couple cups of cooked black beans, stirring into vegetables. Allow ingredients to simmer for a few mins and then add a little water or stock and simmer for a further 30-45 mins.
5) Taste test, adding salt if you wish; you might like to add a heaped spoon of tomato paste.

To Serve: As you can see in the pic below, I've used my black bean stew as the middle layer for a meal that consists of a bottom layer of rice, then a layer of black beans, followed by a fried egg, topped with chopped avocado and whole cherry tomatoes.















You could take the above combination and roll it into a flour tortilla, thereby creating a burrito. Or you could simply serve the spiced black beans with rice and a side salad or with a side of steamed greens.

Or consider popping your spiced beans into the blender with additional stock or water and whizzing them into a soup. Top the soup with banana sauteed in a little butter, a blob of yogurt and fresh chopped cilantro.

Experiment with serving your spiced black beans; they're incredibly versatile!

Spicy Chai Tea

Continuing this week's theme of brewing aromatic teas with herbs from the garden and tea and spices from the cupboard, today's cuppa befits the cooler fall weather we're experiencing in Colorado.

Chai, a spicy Indian tea, is one of those beverages that has become so mainstream in parts of the U.S. that you can now buy it made up in cartons, like juice or milk.

Though beware; the carton variety is very sweet.

The first time I had chai tea was in the early '80's in an Indian restaurant in my neighborhood in Melbourne, Australia. Chai and mango lassi were two of the reasons my friends and I chose to eat Indian on Friday night after work.

I remember both beverages being sweet. The lassi was cold yoghurt blended with fresh mango whereas the chai was hot, slightly spicy and milky. They're both great accompaniments to Indian food since the sweet flavor and dairy counteract the hot, drying spices.

The chai my friend Cindy has made me, and subsequently taught me to make, is far spicier and thus more warming than the chai available in Indian restaurants and now in cartons.

This is because she's heavier-handed with the spices and prefers a stronger brew of tea as well.

To the left you'll see the spices, tea and sweetener (sugar) used for brewing several cups of spicy chai. Milk is not in the picture but it is part of the recipe.

Spicy Chai Tea
1) If you're using cinnamon sticks (as in jar above), break one in half and grind in a mortal and pestle. Toss the ground pieces into a pot.
2) Do the same with 6-8 cardamom pods (or you can use cardamom seeds if you prefer).
3) And into the pot toss 6-8 cloves.
4) And 6-8 black peppercorns.
5) Add 1/2 inch of grated ginger root.
6) And then add about 2 cups of water to the spices and simmer for about 10 mins.
7) Now add 2 cups of milk simmer a little longer.
8) Turn heat off, add 2 tablespoons of Assam tea and sweetener--either sugar or honey--and steep 5 mins.

To Serve: Using a tea strainer, pour tea into cups. Add additional sweetener if you wish, or rather than adding sweetener, you might like to serve a plate of sweetmeats with your tea.

The platter to the left contains dried prunes, almonds, rice cakes, a date bar cut into pieces, and chocolate-covered raisins -- delicious accompaniments to chai on a cold day for afternoon tea.

Note: If you're storing whole cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods or any other spices, they are best stored in glass. You can save your glass jars and reuse them for storing or you can buy canning jars to store spices.