Waiting Not Required

When my "Eat Local, Grow Your Own" kick started, I decided that I was going to make my own beans!

Let me clarify. I don't mean grow my own beans. More in that I would purchase dried beans and cook them myself. How that relates to eating locally and growing my own, I'm don't really know. My logic eludes me even now, but I'm sure it made perfect sense when I bought 5 pounds of dried beans! Five pounds of dried beans that have been sitting in my pantry for the last 4 months!

While there are parts of my life that can be very organized, prepping food ahead of time is not my strength. When I what to cook something, I want to cook it NOW! I don't want to wait for pre-soaking, soaking, marinating, rising...anything that requires me to wait is  a recipe I usually skip. I am the product of the immediate gratification generation!

This past weekend, I told myself that I would commit to soaking my beans! I got myself pumped for it! It was going to happen, my friends! Yes! Yes, it was! Chest bumps and high fives all around!

Then, each day passed and I didn't soak my beans. Disappointing.

Finally, I googled whether there was any other way to make these beans without having to soak them overnight and boil them for 8 hours. I came across this method and tried it with my garbanzo beans. It worked! And trust me, it is definitely worth the extra effort. These beans are much more flavorful then your usual canned ones. I measured the beans into 1 and 2 cup portions, which then went into the freezer for later use. I put a little cooking liquid in each bag to prevent them from drying out.

These are especially yummy when used in Chick(peas)'n Biscuits.

Easy Peasy Garbanzo Beans

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb dried garbanzo beans
1 tbsp salt
Water to cover the beans by 1 1/2 inch

Dutch oven

Method
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Put beans, salt, and water in the dutch oven and heat over medium high heat.
3. Let beans boil for 15 minutes on stove top. Make sure you start your timer once the beans have started boiling and not before.
4. Once the beans have boiled for 15 minutes, cover and put in the oven for 75 to 90 minutes or until tender. You may need to check the beans to ensure there is enough water during cooking.
5. Cool and add to ziplock bags for freezing. Will last in the fridge for 1 - 2 weeks.