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!

Spiced Lentils with Pistachios & Berry Jam

You may recall from past posts that I advocate buying dry goods in bulk.

It's a great recession-strategy grocery shopping tip because you pick and pay for only what you need.

In addition to the savings on dry goods purchased in bulk, buy in-season fresh produce; it's plentiful and thus often on sale.

With these points in mind, today I'm offering a meal idea that makes the most of buying in bulk, buying seasonal produce, and buying loose spices, like cumin and coriander, which are on sale at WFs this week.

Spices are a great addition to fall / winter meals because they're warming and invigorating to the system, and if you're chilled this is exactly the effect you want your meals to have.

Spiced Lentils with Pistachios & Berry Jam
1) Buy your choice of lentils in bulk, and then once home, store them in a screw-top glass jar. For this dish, use about 1/2 cup per person.
2) Peel and chop an onion. Smash a clove of garlic and a chunk of fresh ginger; toss into a skillet lined with light olive oil. Add a heaping teaspoon of cumin and one of coriander.
3) Peel and chop a small butternut pumpkin and the same of an acorn squash. Both pumpkin and squash are plentiful throughout fall and winter and often on sale. Pick them up when they're priced low and then make this dish. You could also include sweet potato, yams, and potato, swapping out one for another or using a combination.
4) Toss your choice of vegetables into the skillet with spices and onion and gently stir over low heat so that spices coat vegetables (pic above).

5) Pour lentils into skillet with vegetables (pic to left).
6) At this point you could add water or you could use stock, such as chicken or turkey.
7) Simmer lentils and veggies with water or stock for about 30-45 mins or until lentils are tender but not mushy.
Note: As we head into the holiday season, look out for great deals on turkey wings and drumsticks both of which make great stock.
8) Taste test and add salt if you wish.
9) If you made turkey stock to prepare this dish, you might like to remove the meat from the wings or drumsticks and add it to the spiced lentils.

To Serve: I served this meal as a vegetarian dish which means I didn't use stock or meat. I spooned the spiced lentils and veg over brown rice and I topped my bowl with salted pistachios. You could swap these out for cashews.


Along with the nuts I added a spoonful of raisins which I'd blanched quickly in a pot of boiling water to plump them up.

I also added a blob of yogurt and the same of berry jam, which could be a cranberry jam or any dark berry or dark cherry jam.

With the addition of all the toppings this is a hearty meal, which if you're vegetarian, you might consider serving at Thanksgiving.

Otherwise, it's a great budget-wise fall / winter meal worth serving any time.