Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello,

I have a packet of red adzuki beans which I bought in June. Haven't opened it since. Can I still use it? More importantly, how do I prepare it?

Thanks.

Yes.

1. Soak 2 cups of the dried beans in 4 cups of water overnight
2. Discard the water the next day and replace with 4 more cups of fresh water
3. Bring the beans and water to a rolling boil for exactly 1 minute. Change the water again
4. Repeat the last step one more time
5. Bring the beans to a boil and turn down to a low simmer for 60 - 90 minutes ( 15 in a pressure cooker)
6. When the beans have the texture of a baked potoatoe -- no hardness, they are done

Steps 2 - 4 help to get rid of some of the indigestible carbohydrates that lead to gas and no, doing these steps will not deprive you of needed minerals.

The steps above should give you cooked beans, but nothing very interesting. You might want to search for a recipe to give the beans an interesting taste.

I recommend that you at least serve the beans over brown rice, with a green vegetable and a sauce.

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Adzuki beans go really well with something sweet like a sweet potato or butternut squash or something along those lines.

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Or under shave ice. Yum.

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EXACTLY! If I don't do steps 2-4, I get terrible gases! To make them interesting, I blend them in hummus, like chickpeas, or I add tamari and basil and garlic... Azukis are full of protein:)

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I add 1-2 bay leaves, as they help take the gasiness out of the beans, they just don't add flavor I found out in an herb book. I also add a strip of kombu (seaweed) crumbled up while the beans cook.

After the beans are cooked I add any of the following: diced carrot, parsnip, slivered leeks, olive or flax seed oil, 1-2 tsp cumin powder, crushed fresh garlic to taste or garlic powder, 1/2 butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced into bite sized chunks, 1 red garnet yam peeled and diced, 1-2 celery sticks diced or sliced, 1-2 tsp salt or Bragg's. I stay away from nightshades (peppers and tomatoes or eggplant because they tend to be inflammatory). The sky/fridge is the limit!

When the beans and veggies are done, I puree 1-3 cups of the mixture in my VitaMix (or blender) and pour back into the pot and have a nice thick bean stew or soup.

www.dietdessertndogs.com and www.affairsofliving.com both have a SOS Kitchen Challenge, adzuki beans the star this month. Check it out their adzuki bean spreads!