Frugal Feeds | Seven Simple Almost-Instant Non-Grain Recipes--last minute cooking has never been easier!

Bean flours must be cooked for a few minutes prior to consuming. So, if you are going to use bean flour in a recipe that is served cold you will want to have enough time between cooking the bean flour and mixing it into your recipe so that it can cool sufficiently.

We'll start today by making a quick and easy hummus. Hummus can be used as either a dip or a spread.


Basic Hummus
 
You will need:

1 cup Water

1/2 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour

2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Salt to taste

That is all you need for your most basic hummus. Place the water into a small pot over medium heat. With a fork, or a whisk, add your garbanzo bean flour a little at a time and stir in thoroughly. By doing it this way you will eliminate lumps. Bring to a steady simmer. Simmer for several minutes. The dip will thicken upon cooling. If you want it thicker, add a little more garbanzo bean flour or simmer it longer while constantly stirring. If you want it less thick add some more water or some low sodium broth. When the consistency is still somewhat thinner than you want (remember that it will thicken more while cooling) add your garlic powder.  Remove from heat. Let cool. Whisk in your olive oil a little at a time. Add salt to taste. Chill and serve. Goes great with chips, vegetable strips, spread on a pita, a bagel or a slice of bread. One serving of Basic Hummus gives you 165 calories and 20% of your daily fiber. Adding tahini or more olive oil will greatly increase the calories. Adding lemon juice, peppers or vegetables will increase the nutrients.

Now make it your own. Start off by only adding one or two optional ingredients until you know how they taste in the recipe and how they taste together. You can stir in a number of items before chilling that will really add to the flavor.

A few Tablespoons of any of the following:
Lemon Juice
Low sodium Broth
Olive oil
Nut Butter--tahini (sesame seed paste), almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, soy nut butter
Hot sauce or roasted chiles and peppers like chipoltes
Sweet Paprika
Parsley
Roasted Peppers
Roasted Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Olives



Almost Instant Split Pea Soup

3 1/4 cups low sodium Chicken Broth
3/4 cup Green Pea Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

This is all you need for your most basic split pea soup. Bring broth to boil in a medium pot. Reduce heat to medium. Whisk in the Green Pea Flour. Simmer for several minutes until thoroughly hot and it is as thick as you like it. If it is already thicker than you like it you can add water or broth to thin it. Unless you used low sodium or salt free broth be sure to taste the soup before you season it with salt. Season to taste and serve. One serving of Almost Instant Split Pea soup gives you 60 calories and 16% of your daily fiber. Adding meats will increase the calories. Adding vegetables will increase the nutrients.

Now make it your own. Just add one or two optional ingredients at first until you know how they taste with the soup and how they taste together.

Stir in any of the following while simmering the soup:

1 cup minced or diced lean ham, lean bacon or lean sausage
1/2 cup minced carrots (if you are using green split pea flour the carrots will make it turn a brownish color, use yellow split pea flour instead)
1/4 cup minced celery
1/4 cup minced onion, green onion or chives
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried mint
1/2 Tablespoon curry powder
1 cup diced, cooked, potato
1/2 teaspoon summer savory
1 cup mixed frozen vegetables


Dollar Stretching


Nut butters are expensive but beans are not. White beans have a very light flavor that blends well with stronger flavors or stays mild for sauces. In this one we are going to make a spread that will allow you to turn that jar of nut butter into the equivalent of four jars of nut butter spread.

Nut Butter Bean Spread

You will need:

1 cup water
1/2 cup White Bean Flour
1/2 cup nut butter--peanut, almond, cashew, soynut etc...

Bring water to boil in a small pot. Whisk in the white bean flour. Bring back to boil then reduce heat. Let simmer for several minutes. Remove from heat. Let it cool. Whisk in the nut butter. If too thick add a little more water. If too thin add a little more nut butter. Chill. Makes two cups, or 16 servings. One serving of Nut Butter Bean Spread made with Almond Butter gives you 105 calories and 17% of your daily fiber. Made with cashew butter it is slightly lower calories and fiber. With sesame butter (tahini) it is 95 calories and 16% of your daily fiber. Peanut butter has almost the same number or calories and fiber as tahini.

Quick and Easy Bean Soup

1/3 cup bean flour--whichever kind or blend them
4 cups liquid--low sodium broth (chicken or beef), water, wine or milk

Optional Vegetable: 2 teaspoons dried vegetable flakes, carrot, spinach, onion, leek, mushroom, etc.. or 3 tablespoons of minced fresh vegetables. (onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, chives etc.)

Optional Garlic: 1/2 teaspoon garlic flakes or a 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder or 1 small garlic clove, minced

Optional Herb: A pinch (1/8 teaspoon) of any herb (thyme, marjoram, oregano, basil, mint, parsley, etc.)

Optional Spice: A touch of spices--black or white pepper, cumin, red pepper, ground chiles, etc.

Whisk bean flour into cold liquid until smooth. Pour into a medium pot. Add optional ingredients. Bring to a simmer on the stove top. Simmer three minutes. Serve. Makes 4 one cup servings.

Above are the components to make a different bean soup, very quickly, every day. Here is a starter:

Pea Soup

1/3 cup pea flour--use either yellow or green
4 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons onion flakes
1 Tablespoon carrots, minced
1/4 cup bacon bits--or imitation bacon bits
A pinch of thyme
White pepper to taste

Whisk pea flour into cold liquid until smooth. Pour into a medium pot. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer on the stove top. Simmer three minutes. Serve. Makes 4 one cup servings.


Here are some more budget savers:

Refried Beans

1/3 cup pinto bean flour or black bean flour
1-2 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon corn oil

For thicker refried beans use less water, for thinner use more water. The amount of liquid you use will determine how much refried beans you end up with. So using 2 cups of liquid will give you 2 cups of medium thick refried beans. Whisk bean flour into cold beef broth until smooth. Heat a small pan over medium. Add oil to pan and pour bean mixture in. Bring to a simmer on the stove top stirring constantly. Simmer three minutes. Serve. Makes between 1 and 2 1/2, half-cup servings.

Budget Guacamole 1/2 cup white bean flour, 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon garlic powder. 1/4 cup onions, 1 minced pepper, 1/4 cup cilantro, juice of 1 lime, 1 large avocado, 1 cup canned tomatoes.
Stir white bean flour, garlic and water until smooth. Bring to boil and simmer a few minutes. Remove from heat. Dice your onions, peppers and cilantro. Mash your avocado and add lime, tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro and cooled bean flour mixture. Chill briefly before serving.


Now that you have tried each of these simple recipes, mix them up.

Instead of using garbanzo bean flour in the hummus, use the green pea flour, or the white bean flour.

Instead of using the green pea flour in the split pea soup, use the garbanzo flour or the white bean flour.

Instead of using the white bean flour in the spread, use the garbanzo flour or green pea flour.

Instead of using nut butter as the oil in the spread, use olive oil or avocado or cheese or cooked, diced ham or bacon.

Instead of using meat in the soup, use a nut butter.


The recipes are yours, mix them up and make them your signature dish. Also, if you don't have bean flour available you can use canned beans or peas, just drain and mash them up--but it will taste different, and not as good. Alternately, you can make the cooked beans from scratch which will take a lot longer but will also taste a lot more flavorful.



Next up quick and simple breakfast dishes...