You know you're a city girl when you buy fresh beans at the market and are surprised to find that two days later, they have sprouted!
Eck, now what do I do with them? In the states, I always bought canned beans and they never grew tails! A quick internet search taught me that you can still cook them and they may actually be better for you than dried beans. They are easier on the digestive system in this form since the complex sugars have begun to break down during the sprouting process. I also learned that sprouted beans have an increased protein content and a decreased carbohydrate content. This is great news for me since I will be eating mostly vegetarian during my stay here; I can't stand the open air butchers with their slabs of meat hanging in dirty wooden shacks on the side of the road. I'll get a picture soon, you just won't believe it. They even leave the tails with fur on the body to prove what type of animal you are getting. I prefer my meat neatly trimmed and wrapped in cellophane, thank you (that was the city girl talking again).
Back to my accidentally sprouted beans; I made the best beans I have tasted, ever! I ate two bowls, they were so good. I'll give you my recipe, but it really isn't a recipe because I do not have measuring cups or spoons here, I just added things and did lots of taste tests during the cooking process.
Ingredients:
-cooking oil
-garlic
-red onions
-carrots
-hot red chilly pepper
-tomato paste
-beef seasoning/bouillon
-sprouted beans
-salt and pepper
Heat cooking oil in large pan (maybe 2 tbsp). Add garlic (minced, I used a whole head because I love garlic) and onions (finely diced, here they grow tiny red ones, not much bigger than the garlic, I used about twice as much onion as garlic). Sauté that a few minutes. Add carrot (two small ones, finely diced). Sauté a few more minutes. Add tomato paste (one small can), beef seasoning, and water (sorry, no measurements, I just kept adding till it looked right). Bring to a simmer then add the sprouted beans. Add enough water to completely cover beans. Bring to a boil then simmer for an hour or two, until the beans are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. As I was making mine, it tasted a bit bland so I got a red chilly pepper from the garden next door, with permission of course. I don't really know what kind of pepper it was, but it was hot. One tiny pepper, seeded and minced, for the entire pot of beans was perfect. Red pepper flakes or ground Cheyenne pepper would work the same I suppose, depending on how spicy you like your food. Serve over rice.
Whala. You have omuceeri n ebihimba (rice and beans, Ugandan style).
They look delicious! People eat bean sprouts, so sprouted beans can't be all that odd. These look like cranberry beans, is that what they are? I am familiar with what you are referring to with the open air meat market. When I was in Greece in 1990, I saw something similar. I was served lamb with fur still on it...couldn't do it. Na mama na. The meat is hanging out on a hook, and the the flies are having a party. I might stick with bread, fruit and beans, too.
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