Quick Cooking Beans & Whole Grains

For many grains and beans, thinking and planning ahead is the key to actually getting them on the table by dinnertime. Beans require soaking overnight and cooking for a few hours before incoporating into a meal. Whole grains, such as brown rice, wheat berries, and barley, can require an hour or more of simmering to soften up.

Sometimes we may not have the time to prepare these grains or beans. We may not have thought ahead enough to make the necessary preparations. Other times, we simply don’t feel up to putting out all that effort. All is not lost. One does not have to resort to white rice and canned (or no) beans. Your family can still enjoy fresh and whole grains and beans.

Since I am an advocate of a diverse diet, I would still encourage you to take the time to plan ahead and prepare the grains and beans that do require more time. But even I am thrilled to know that on a busy day or on a day when I plumb forgot to soak some beans the night before, I still have healthy carbohydrate options to include in a healthy skillet dish.

Lentils do not require soaking, nor do they take an eternity to cook. So when I need a quick legume, I turn to lentils. I usually use green lentils, but currently I have some red lentils in the house. They cook up in 40 to 50 minutes, which is an awesome time frame in which to have a healthy bean available for family consumption. Lentils are extremely healthful. They are high in fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates, while being low-fat. With almost no fat, one cup of lentils offers good to excellent amounts of six important minerals — molybdenum, folate, tryptophan, iron, copper, and phosphorus; two B-vitamins; and protein. Visit Simply Lentils for more information on how to cook and prepare this healthful legume.

One’s choices for whole grains that cook quickly (in 25 minutes or less) are more plentiful. You can enjoy amaranth, buckwheat, cracked wheat, whole wheat couscous, millet, quinoa and teff. For a cooking chart detailing the specific amount of time and water required for each grain, please visit Varying Grains (scroll down to near the end for the chart).

If you’re completely unfamiliar with how to incorporate lentils or the grains I mentioned in a healthy dinner, I’ll give you an example. I would brown a pound or two of stew meat, cubed steak, cubed chicked breasts, or ground beef and season it with salt and pepper. I would add diced onions and let those saute for a few minutes with the meat. Then I would add about 8 cups* of filtered water and toss in a cup or two of lentils. The lentils will need about 40 to 50 minutes to soften up. I would then add a cup or two of a grain, when the remaining time the lentils need is equal to the amount of time the grain requires for cooking. At the end of or during the cooking time, I would add other desired flavors, such as soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, coconut milk, nutritional yeast (at the end only), diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, cumin, onion power, garlic powder, etc. When the grains and beans are soft, the healthy skillet dish is ready for serving.

*Adjust amount of filtered water according to what is required for the actual amount of lentils and grains added. Refer to Simply Lentils and Varying Grains for this information.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon.