How To Cook Dried Beans in an EZ Bean Cooker or Pressure Cooker

Here I show you how easy it is to use an EZ Bean Cooker or digital pressure cooker to cook dried beans from scratch.

Please like, share and subscribe to my channel for more demos and healthy recipes! I hope you enjoyed my EZ Bean Cooker Tutorial, right now I’m running a contest for a FREE EZ Bean Cooker. Go here for details: http://www.plantbasedu.com/ez-bean-cooker-giveaway

Vegan Chickpea Quinoa Burgers with Lemon and Thyme (Gluten Free)

Summer is here and it’s the perfect time to be enjoying outdoor barbecues and picnics. Everyone wants to enjoy a freshly grilled hamburger or veggie burger. But making your own is quite easy and insanely tasty without using oils or refined soy products. My chickpea quinoa burgers are soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free so they will work for everyone no matter how they eat. If you’ve ever made homemade hamburgers or wanted to, you can make these.

A simple food processor is such a versatile tool for making your own chickpea quinoa burgers. Mine isn’t anything fancy, just a basic mid sized one and it’s perfect for pulsing various ingredients to use in veggie burgers.

I like to top my veggie burgers with some fresh hummus (see my chickpea hummus here or my yam/sweet potato hummus here), sautéed mushrooms and onions (I use a little soy sauce and maple syrup to flavor them), lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. Cucumbers also work well in place of tomatoes for this chickpea quinoa burger as well as spicy mustard.

Find a nice whole grain bun or roll, toast the insides and top your veggie burger with all your favorite toppings. I also highly recommend some of my Summer salad recipes to go along with it such as Avocado Dill Potato SaladStrawberry Spinach Salad, Shaved Asparagus SaladCosta Rican Cabbage Salad, Sweet and Savory Asian Salad, or Rock my Broccoli Salad. So now that your head is spinning with delicious Summer recipes let’s get grillin’! Mmm hmm.

Vegan Chickpea Quinoa Burgers with Lemon and Thyme

 
Makes 10-12 patties (depending on size)

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed yam/sweet potato, cooled (1 medium yam, cooked)
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup chopped red onion
2 cans chickpeas, drained and patted dry
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (stems removed)
2 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled (I used 1/2 cup dry mix of white and red)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp Herbamare or salt *or to taste

Directions:

1. Poke holes in your yam and bake at 400 F for an hour or until tender inside. Set aside until cool.

2. Cook quinoa with a 1:1 ratio of vegetable broth or water in a pressure cooker or on the stove. (See my directions here)

3. In a food processor, add the garlic and onion and pulse until chopped finely. Add the chickpeas, thyme, lemon zest and juice and pulse until chopped and well combined. Scoop out flesh from yam (discard peel) and to food processor along with quinoa, pepper and salt. Pulse until well combined.

4. Form into equal sized balls and place on a non stick sheet or plate lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until needed.

5. Pre heat a pan or barbecue and press patties gently until slightly flatted and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, flipping once. Be careful to move gently so they don’t fall apart.

6. Serve on buns or lettuce wraps. (I find using a bun slightly bigger than the patty works best as they will squish a bit when eaten.

7. Store any patties in an air tight container and refrigerate or freeze until needed. (Leaving them uncooked is best).

Variations:

You can also use fresh dill instead of thyme if you wish for variety.

Also check out my Smoky Yam Black Bean Burger Recipe.

Have you ever made your own veggie burgers? What do you like to top your burgers with?

Low Fat Yammus or Sweet Potato Hummus – Mmm Mmm Good!

Oh my goodness this yammus yam/sweet potato hummus is deeeeeelicious!

Now you may have seen this available at the store before but I have to tell you making your own is absolute heaven! Plus you get about double the amount for half the price and it’s super duper easy to make.

I love making hummus any time of year to eat with fresh crunchy veggies such as celery, cucumber, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers and more. Pretty much anything you love to dip, you can dip into this delectable yammus/sweet potato hummus recipe and I promise you that you will fall in love with it!



I’ve added some smokey savory spices to kick up the mild yam flavor such as roasted cumin, curry powder and smoked paprika which is a delight mixed with the sweet notes of the yams/sweet potatoes and the apple cider vinegar.

Especially if you are not a fan of traditional lemony/garlicky hummus I know you will like this because it has a lot of flavor without any of the harsh bite. It’s also great to use to slather in vegetable sandwiches, wraps, pitas and more instead of high fat mayonnaise.



And best of all because it’s low in fat, it’s lower in calories so there’s no guilt if you eat a bowl of it with a plate of veggies for a meal or snack. All you need to make your own yammus/sweet potato hummus is a food processor or high powered blender with a plunger (such as a Vitamix). The natural moisture in baked yams/sweet potatoes makes it easy to cream together with chickpeas and just a touch of tahini.

If you’re looking for something fun yet healthy to serve this summer at potlucks, barbecue or dinner parties, this yammus is sure to be a hit. No need for the standard ranch dip and veggies or bland and oily store bought hummus. Plus when you make your own dips, you can control the amount of fat, salt and spices you put in it and come up with your own perfect combo of deliciousness to dip your veggies into!

Check out the recipe below…



Low Fat Vegan Yammus or Sweet Potato Hummus

(yields approx 3 cups)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups mashed yam/sweet potato (1 lb/454g yam/sweet potato; I used 2 small)
2-3 cloves garlic (roasted garlic is even better, I used previously frozen garlic cloves as its not as strong as raw garlic)
1 15 oz. can sodium free chickpeas/garbanzos, drained (reserve some liquid and set aside)
2-3 tbsp chickpea liquid (or as needed to cream hummus)
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tahini
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4-1/2 teaspoon Herbamare or salt (or to taste)
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Poke holes in yam/sweet potato and bake at 400 F/205 C for 45-60 minutes (depending on size). Set aside when cool.

2. Pulse garlic in food processor until chopped and then add remaining ingredients. (Make sure to slice open and peel yam/sweet potato and scoop flesh out, don’t use the peel.)

3. Process until smooth and adjust consistency as desired with reserved chickpea liquid. Adjust seasonings to taste.



4. Serve with veggie sticks, veggie rounds, pita and more!

Enjoy 🙂

Have you ever tried yammus or sweet potato hummus? What do you like to eat it with?


Sweet and Savory Asian Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing

Often when I make salads at home I toss whatever I have in the fridge into a bowl and make a homemade dressing for it. This is a giant salad I made one night for dinner and it was so filling I didn’t need anything else! But I kept it lower fat by not adding anymore nuts or avocado to it and added chickpeas instead for calories and protein.

I also like to add apples and dried fruit to salads to give them more flavor and calories as opposed to lots of nuts or seeds. Salads can be much more appetizing when you make a fresh homemade dressing. Store bought dressings often contain a lot of junk and it’s super easy to make your own at home. I usually make my dressing recipes up as I go along and season them to taste. This one is no exception and I think you’ll like it!

Sweet and Savory Salad Ingredients:

6-8 cups of salad greens like spring mix, or baby greens
2 apples, peeled and diced
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced *optional
2 tbsp dried cranberries

Orange Sesame Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp tahini (sesame seed butter)
2 tbsp orange vinegar (or other fruit vinegar)
8 dates, pitted and chopped
1/3-1/2 cup water (as needed for consistency)
Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Arrange salad ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Combine dressing ingredients in a blender or VitaMix and blend until smooth.
3. Serve and drizzle with dressing.

Additional Tips:

Use dressing within 3-4 days and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Mix up your dressings by purchasing a few different types of fruit vinegars. Trader Joe’s makes a few varieties and so does Dr. Fuhrman (sold on his website). Having a little variety makes creating different tasting dressings so easy.

What’s your favorite salad dressing recipe?

Fat Free Vegan Spaghetti Marinara With Chickpeas

So this is a recipe I made one day when I wasn’t sure what to throw into the spaghetti… I thought why not try a bit of chickpea for something to chew on. The results were not bad, but you definitely need a lot of sauce to add some flavour.

I used whole wheat pasta in this recipe, you can use gluten free or another variety if desired as well. Feel free to add some chopped steamed veggies to your marinara sauce as well if desired.

I just thought this vegan spaghetti recipe was too pretty not to share!

Spaghetti and Chickpeas With Marinara Sauce

Marinara Sauce:

Yields 50 oz/1.5 L of sauce

1 large onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
5 cups canned tomatoes, diced whole or crushed (about 3 14 oz/396 g cans)
1 6 oz./170 g can tomato paste
3 tbsp sugar or sweetener (or as desired)
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tsp dried basil

Spaghetti:

1/2 box whole wheat or gluten free spaghetti
1/2 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot with cool water and bring to a boil. Add salt if desired and then add pasta and cook until desired tenderness.

2. Meanwhile prepare the pasta sauce. In a large non-stick skillet or saucepan add the onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or two. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and cook for 5-8 minutes until the tomatoes break down a little. Add sauce to a Vita-Mix, food processor or blender and then blend until smooth. Return to pan to keep warm.

3. When pasta is cooked, drain and then combine with the pasta sauce. Use whatever pot is bigger and toss the pasta with the sauce.

4. Plate and then garnish with chickpeas and additional basil if desired.

What’s your favorite addition to vegan spaghetti?

Soy Curls With Chickpeas In Tomato Sauce

Soy Curls with Chickpeas and Tomato Sauce

I would say this recipe reminds me a bit of chicken cacciatore and it’s one of my favorite ways to make Soy Curls. I find Soy Curls need to be seasoned well and it’s nice to have a sauce to cook them in for better flavor. Sometimes I add sautéed eggplant to this recipe, but I didn’t have any today, so it’s just onions, soy curls and chickpeas in tomato sauce. I served mine with multigrain rice from Trader Joe’s but you can also serve this over pasta, couscous, quinoa or another rice of your choice.

Soy Curls are a non-GMO product made by Butler Foods and come from Portland, Oregon. So if you’re in Portland you will find them at Food Fight Vegan Grocery, Whole Foods and other health food stores. You can also sample them in dishes at places like Homegrown Smoker Food Cart, A N D Cafe, Blossoming Lotus Restaurant and many more.

There are a lot of different ways you can prepare Soy Curls. I like that they are a dry product that you can keep in the cupboard as opposed to having to refrigerate it or freeze it and it’s unflavored so you can season it however you want.

Here is what the package looks like. One package will make 3-4 recipes for 4 servings.

If you don’t live in Portland you can buy Soy Curls online and have them shipped anywhere in the continental USA (my mom orders these and has them shipped to her place in Texas).

I prefer to not use the chicken style seasoning they sell as it contains hydrolized soy protein which is another term for MSG. (For more info on food ingredient terms that contain or mean MSG check out http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html)

Here is one of my favorite ways to prepare Soy Curls. You can use this recipe or adapt it to contain whatever seasonings you desire. You can even turn it into a curry if you want to add cayenne pepper or hot chilies too.

 Soy Curls With Chickpeas In Tomato Sauce

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic)
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained (I use Eden Organics Salt-Free)
1 – 1 1/2 cups Soy Curls (buy on Amazon here)
Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute to taste (or other salt free herb seasoning)
Herbamare or salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Soak Soy Curls in a large bowl of warm water and sprinkle in some salt and 21 Seasoning Salute. Adding some salt will help give the soy curls some flavor. Leave for 8-10 minutes while you chop your onion and garlic.

2. In a large non-stick skillet or wok sauté onion and garlic dry for 4-5 minutes until soft.

3. Drain the Soy Curls, season with more 21 Seasoning Salute or salt free seasoning and add to the pan and sauté until the soy curls dry out a bit (4-5 minutes.)

4. Add tomatoes and drained chickpeas, and stir. Break up the tomatoes and season to taste with Herbamare or salt and pepper and any other desired seasonings.

5. Cook until tomatoes are soft.

6. Serve with rice, quinoa or pasta.

Have you ever tried Soy Curls before? What’s your favorite way to cook them?

How To Cook Dried Chickpeas On The Stove Or In A Pressure Cooker

How To Cook Dried Chickpeas From Scratch

Tuscan Roasted Tomato and Chickpea Soup from my Comfort Soups ebook

In my recipe books I cook all of my own beans from scratch because it’s less expensive and overall tastes much better. It’s also a good way to control the amount of sodium in your diet and you can cook your beans with or without added salt. For those of you interested in cooking your own chickpeas/garbanzo beans, it’s probably because you’ve gotten hooked on how amazingly delicious (and cheap) it is to make your own.

I recommend making a big batch if you are going to go to the trouble of cooking chickpeas/garbanzos yourself. You can save any leftovers in containers or bags and freeze them for later, or you can just make a double batch of your recipe to use them all up and have meals for the week. The best tip I have for flavorful chickpeas is to use a bay leaf and some seaweed like kombu. When you’re not using salt, (or much at all) beans can taste very bland and these seasonings will greatly enhance the flavor of your chickpeas over the canned versions.

(If you’re looking for directions for cooking non-soaked chickpeas, scroll to the bottom)

Stove Top Directions For Cooking Chickpeas:

Step #1: Pick through your dried chickpeas/garbanzos and remove any bits of rock, broken shells, gross looking chickpeas, random other beans etc.


Step #2: Rinse your chickpeas and place into a large bowl or container. Add 3 cups of water for every 1 cup of beans that you are making. Let the beans soak overnight, or first thing in the morning so you can make them for dinner. I find that chickpeas are fine if they are soaked 5-8 hours, but when I soak them overnight they get overcooked really easily and are disappointing. Try not to soak your beans more than 8 hours if leaving them overnight. If you you do, it’d be better to cook them over the stove as there is less risk of overcooking when you use a pressure cooker.

Step #3: Drain and rinse the chickpeas again in a colander.

Step #4: For cooking the beans on the stovetop add 3 cups of water for each 1 cup of dried chickpeas and bay leaves and/or a kombu seaweed strip for flavour. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium-medium low heat for 1-2.5 hours until they give to pressure. (it depends on size, small beans cook faster) Make sure they are not crunchy inside and are cooked through. Since each bean has a different size, the cooking times will vary. You can add salt or additional seasonings if desired part way through cooking, but this is optional.

*Non-Soaking Method For Cooking Dried Chickpeas In Pressure Cooker:

If you have an EZ Bean Cooker or digital pressure cooker you DON’T HAVE TO presoak your chickpeas.  You can just rinse them and put them in a pressure cooker and 3 cups of water to every 1 cup of dried chickpeas. Season if desired. Choose the garbanzo (80 min) setting on your EZ Bean Cooker or program for 80 minutes on a digital pressure cooker. Once the timer goes off release the pressure from the valve and let the pressure continue to drop. Drain and use chickpeas as desired.

Regular Pressure Cooker Directions For Cooking Pre-Soaked Chickpeas:

Step #1: Pick through your dried chickpeas/garbanzos and remove any bits of rock, broken shells, gross looking chickpeas, random other beans etc.

Step #2: Rinse your chickpeas and place into a large bowl or container. Add 3 cups of water for every 1 cup of beans that you are making. Let the beans soak overnight, or first thing in the morning so you can make them for dinner. I find that chickpeas are fine if they are soaked 5-8 hours, but when I soak them overnight they get overcooked really easily and are disappointing. Try not to soak your beans more than 8 hours if leaving them overnight. If you you do, it’d be better to cook them over the stove as there is less risk of overcooking when you use a pressure cooker. *Note see below for Non-soaking method for cooking chickpeas.

Step #3: Drain and rinse the chickpeas again in a colander. When using a pressure cooker use enough water to just cover the beans beans and add bay leaves/kombu/a little salt or baking soda if desired and cook for the recommended time on a pressure cooker timing chart. For chickpeas it’s around 5-7 minutes at high pressure in a stove top pressure cooker. (Less if you soaked them 8+ hours) Ultimate Pressure Cooking Chart is a good starting point of reference, but I find their times to be a little high for my gas stove pressure cooker. Always start with a lower time the first time. Once you figure out your perfect time, it’s best to write it down so you remember for next time. (Like the amount of hours you soaked the chickpeas and the number of minutes cooked at high pressure.)

When pressure cooking, keep it on high heat until it reaches full pressure (a steady stream of steam coming out), then reduce it to medium-medium high heat (depending how hot your stove is) and cook for the time indicated in your manual or the pressure cooking chart. I like to play it safe as cook a at least a minute or two less than the charts stipulate. Turn off the heat as soon as the timer goes off. Once the pressure has been reduced and it’s safe to open the lid you can check the beans and see if they are cooked enough.

Note: I do not use oil when cooking my beans with a pressure cooker myself. Most companies recommend that you do so that you don’t get bean foam clogging up the pressure release valve and make a mess. I prefer to cook everything without oil.

To alleviate this foam problem, I use what’s called the “Quick Release Method” by turning off the heat once the timer goes off and then move the pressure cooker into the sink and run cold water on top of the lid until it cools down and the pressurized release opens. This way I do not get any bean foam coming out or making a mess. (This works only for stovetop pressure cookers.)

For the electric pressure cookers it can be a little trickier. You can unplug it and place it in the sink and run cold water on it, or you can put a towel over the top and turn the valve and let out the pressure that way, but there will be bean juice and foam coming out of it and it will soak your towel.

For most things I let the pressure come down naturally, but especially when cooking black beans you need to do the quick release method or else they will be mushy and overcooked. They are very finicky and can only be pressure-cooked 1-2 minutes maximum.

Quick Soak Method For Beans: 

If you forget to soak your chickpeas or beans the night before or in the morning and you want to make a recipe that day you can do the “Quick Soak Method”.

Place your dried beans into a pot and fill with water 3 inches above the beans. Bring to a full boil and then turn off the heat and remove from the stove. Cover and let the beans soak in this hot water for 1 hour. Drain and then cook as above, and your beans should be similar to beans soaked for 8 hours. Please make sure you cook them afterwards, this is just a quick soak method and not a quick cooking method.

Additional Tips For Cooking Chickpeas:

Once your beans are cooked, you can drain them and use them in a recipe, or you can save them in their cooking water and freeze in smaller portions.

Bean cooking liquid is great served over rice or potatoes (if it’s a little seasoned) so don’t just throw it away.

For the best taste in your chickpeas I always recommend using 2 bay leaves, kombu seaweed (if you can find it) and seasoning with a little salt or kelp. If you don’t season the beans at all they will be very bland and probably taste dry and pasty! So I don’t recommend this. Fresh thyme is another delicious suggestion.

Kombu is available at Asian markets and health food stores beside the Nori seaweed. But you probably won’t find this at a regular grocery store though.

Have you ever cooked your own chickpeas before? What’s your favorite chickpea recipe?