httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmAp9zxhxD8

Hello, Culinary Playmates:

It is I, Helenka, your fearless advocate of gustatory creativity (aka I eat weird but really tasty food and think you should, too). So you may be wondering just what could be weird about a Greek inspired salad? Well … Brian decided to throw in a whole bunch of other colourful ingredients. Greek, according to Brian? Or Mediteranean, according to me? In any case, I’ll stop pouting about the fact that there was no chopped green bell pepper included. Or being jealous that Brian went away on a lovely Mediteranean vacay and is reminiscing through food. But does it really matter if it ends up tasting so good? I’m sure you know the answer to that question. Though I’m equally sure Brian will laugh (or groan) when I mention that my church brunch bunch used to frequent a Greek restaurant on Sundays. Its Greek salad contained the usual ingredients, but also lettuce (well, it was a cheapo place). That wasn’t the truly weird thing, though; it was the garish, yellow salad dressing poured too liberally over the entire plate. Um … waiter, could I have tzatziki instead?

We both considered our version of this salad to be a brilliant reflection of the bounty of summer. Amazingly enough, even though it’s the first week of November, we’re still enjoying mostly bright and sunny days in Toronto. And, when there are clouds in the sky, they’re more likely to be the cute puffy kind instead of the dishwater dreary why-don’t-you-take-over-the-entire-sky kind. Mind you, it’s a bit chilly to think of al fresco dining. So, let’s just eat this healthy and hearty supper indoors!

Two of the ingredients that made this salad very satisfying and filling were the proteins, namely the rotisserie chicken (often featured in our recipes) and the garbanzo beans(which you may know better as chickpeas). We’ve used beans before in a couple of recipes. The most notable use was in Episode 22 (Seared Scallops with White Beans and Spinach). We also used beans as a side dish in Episode 30 (Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and Pinto Bean Side Dish).

Beans are extremely nutritious and cheap, with so many varieties, sizes and colours, that it’s worth taking several trips through your grocery aisle to test the various kinds that you may find there. If the only beans you know are the kind found in cans (and served in a three-bean salad at what most restaurants present as a sorry excuse for a salad bar ::rants for a moment::), then you don’t know what you’ve been missing. I used to eat canned beans … years ago, including a tasty (but overly oily and preservative and sodium-laced) canned Italian bean salad. I would end up dumping the beans in a colander and rinsing them thoroughly. So I thought to myself: Self, what’s the point of buying canned if you’re just going to rinse off the gunk anyway? [I love it when I make sense, I do.] Even if the beans were pretty much unaltered (as plain chickpeas are), I gave myself the challenge to … cook my own.

Currently, I have three large packages (kept in sealed outer bags) of lima (or butter), red kidney and the ever-popular chickpeas. I soak them overnight and cook them separately. Yes, the prep and cooking routines take up space on your counter and stovetop, but the taste is so worth it. Not to mention that a portion costs only pennies. When I’ve cooked all three, after draining and rinsing with cold water, I combine them, add chopped tomatoes, thinly-sliced shallots, some home-grown crushed whole basil leaves and a bit of red wine vinegar. I don’t even bother reaching for the olive oil, because the beans themselves are so full of moisture … of vitality! Though, if I have to be honest with myself, I don’t do such a good cooking job with the red kidneys. ::sighs:: Too mushy with a loss of colour. The easiest to cook are the very firm chickpeas. Yay! And the trick to cooking the lima beans is that you have to salt the water (as opposed to the directions for cooking the other beans) in order to keep their delicate skins intact. But it’s fun to test my skills in new and different ways.

I do, however, succumb to buying one variety in frozen form. My fave supermarket private brand (::giggles:: do the letters PC sound familiar?) offers shelled edamame (a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod). The frozen kind are already shelled, green, resemble small lima beans, and they are just scrumptious. They’re offered usually as an appetizer in Japanese restaurants, either boiled or slightly dried in their pods, or as a side dish, with – tuning into the Homer Simpson channel – buuuuutttttttter. Yummy! I’ll heat up a bowl in the microwave and will usually dispense with both salt and butter. I leave those flavourings for when I want a treat, either at home or at the wee Japanese restaurant a block away. But they are so healthy and make me feel fabulous. Who would have thought that a small, otherwise insignificant ingredient could have such an impact?

Of course, the other most familiar dishes where one can find beans are chili and baked beans. There are so many recipes for both that one could get really dizzy. Well, I definitely could. I was never much into baked beans (or cornbread, for that matter) until I had both at a local steak chain. I’m now a big fan, even if I don’t have them often. As I’ve said, one can have many different learning opportunities to expand one’s vocabulary of taste sensations. I’d encourage you to try new beans and new dishes, too!

Helenka’s Nostalgic Meanderings:
One of my oldest memories of eating beans in a unique fashion was in the mid 80s. I’d usually walk up Bay Street to Dundas and end up in a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant on the North side (between Bay and University), the kind of place that had the presto-changeo multiple plastic tablecloth layers to be whipped off between customers. My treat every week would be to order the whole lobster cooked in black bean sauce … and to eat it with chopsticks! Now you know why those plastic tablecloths were necessary. The lobster was cheap and delicious, though gloriously messy. [::sighs:: I think I’m too old to partake in anything that messy any more. But at least I can remember it.]

Well, that’s a wrap for another fall episode for 2011. Until next time, have yourselves a great week and don’t forget to have fun with your food, too!

Enjoy!
B&H =;)

Please note: We prepare, taste and review the recipes in the cookbook. However, in an effort to respect copyright, we are not able to reproduce the actual printed recipes here. If you do have the book, please follow along with us.

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