A Bean, a Green, a Grain, and a Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup beans of choice per person

(kidney, pinto, black, navy, great northern, romano, garbanzo, lentil, lima, etc.)

1 cup greens of choice per person

(kale, collard, turnip, chard, spinach, mustard, cabbage, broccoli, etc.)

1 cup grain of choice per person

(barley, buckwheat, corn, kamut, millet, wheat, rice, quinoa… sometimes this can also be a starch like potato, bean threads, etc.)

Sauce of choice to taste

(tomato, curry, peanut, creamy, hoisin, chili garlic, cheeze, mushroom, etc.)

Directions

This is usually a one pot meal, so choose an appropriate-sized one. If I’m boiling noodles, I’ll usually do the greens at the same time and then throw the beans in for the last minute of the cooking time to warm them up. If I’m using pre-cooked grains, I just cook the greans for 4-5 minutes and then throw in the beans and grains for the last minute or so.

Drain and add sauce of choice to pan, mixing well. We always have a fridge full of bottled and jarred sauces we can call into action at a moment’s notice. Common additions can include: cut up peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. Get creative!

Some examples:

Green garbanzos, collard and rapini greens, brown rice noodles, green curry sauce

Small Mexican red beans, kales, buckwheat noodles, mushroom sauce

Edamames, rapini, bean thread noodles, tomato curry sauce

Romano beans, kale, mung bean vermicelli, Sweet Sunshine and daiya cheese

Red kidney beans, bok choy, whole wheat macaroni, madras curry

Pintos, spinach, brown rice, salsa and daiya cheese

Tempeh, kale, vermicelli, Sweet Sunshine hot sauce and soy cream cheese

Red Rice, black beans, callaloo, SS Jamaican Jerk sauce

Red kidneys, kale, potatoes, mushroom sauce

Edamame, spinach, yam starch noodles, chili garlic sauce

Romanos, green peas, bean thread noodles, red curry sauce

Green garbanzos, broccoli, quinoa, and tomato pesto sauce 

Tofu, green peas, purple cabbage, and buckwheat noodles