Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1/2 lb Mixed white and colored 2/3 c Julienne-cut carrots
-beans 1/2 c Julienne-cut celery
1 Clove garlic, minced 1 2/3 c Bite-sized pieces of
1/2 c Chopped onion -spinach, loosely packed
1 tb Olive oil 1/2 c Small cooked shell pasta
2 qt Beef broth or stock Salt
1 ts Oregano, crushed 1/2 c Grated Romano cheese
1 cn (8 oz) tomatoes, crushed

Sort, rinse and soak beans by preferred method (described below). To
maintain color integrity, soak white and colored beans separately.
Saute garlic and onion in oil. Add drained beans, broth and oregano.
Simmer, covered until beans are tender. Add tomatoes, carrots and
celery. Simmer for 15 minutes longer. Stir in spinach and pasta;
adjust seasoning with salt. Simmer for 5 minutes or only until
thoroughly heated.

Makes 8 servings; about 2 quarts.

A BAG OF BEAN TRICKS:

A bag of bean tricks to help you buy, soak, cook store dry beans.

Canned beans do not require additional cooking since they have been
thoroughly cooked in the canning process, but there are several ways
of preparing dry beans for cooking. All start with a thorough
inspection for damaged beans and foreign material, then washing in
cold water. The next step, which is highly recommended, is soaking
the beans. This not only helps make the beans cook faster, it also
improves flavor, texture, appearance and digestibility. For maximum
improvement of these factors, it is recommended that the soak water
be discarded and the beans rinsed and cooked in fresh water.

SOAKING TIPS: Hot-soak (preferred) and Quick-soak method.

For every pound of dry beans, any variety, add 10 cups of hot water.
Remember beans will rehydrated to at least twice theri dry size, so
be sure to start with a large enough pot. (Note: up to 2 teaspoons
of salt per pound of beans *may* be added to help the beans absorb
water more evenly.) Heat to boiling, let boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, cover and set aside for at least 1 hour (quick-soak
method), but *preferably* four hours or more. The longer soaking
time is recommended to allow a greater amount of the gas-causing
properties to dissolve in the water, thus helping the beans to be
more easily digested and lessening the aftereffects. Whether you soak
the beans for an hour or several hours, remember to DISCARD THE SOAK
WATER.

COOKING TIPS: (for each pound of dry beans)

Standard method: Drain and rinse soaked beans; put into a good- sized
kettle. Add 6 cup of hot water, 1 to 2 Tablespoons shortening and 2
teaspoons salt. Boil gently with lid tilted until desired tenderness
is reached.

Savory Method: Use standard method (above), but use 2 teaspoons
onion salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt instead of plain salt. Add 1
Tablespoon chicken stock base or 3 to 4 bouillon cubes and 1/4
teaspoon white pepper.

* Simmer beans slowly. Cooking too fast can break skins.

* Acid slows down cooking. Add tomatoes, vinegar, etc. last.

* Add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (no more) per pound of beans whe
cooking in hard water to shorten cooking time.

* At high altitudes, beans take longer to cook. A pressure cooker
helps, but follow manufacturer's directions. [Personal note: Tom
says 1/2 hour in the pressure cooker at 15 lbs pressure is equivalent
to cooking them overnight. Don't put too many beans in the pressure
cooker, as they expand: you don't want to plug up the vent hole.)

* Refried beans are made from freshly cooked pinto, pink, red or
kidney beans, mashed and cooked in a skillet with bacon drippings,
lard, oil, butter or margarine.

[ California Dry Bean Advisory Board ]

Posted by Shelley Rodgers. Courtesy of Fred Peters.

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