Texarkana Gazette

Full of beans:

Hot legume dishes for a cold winter night

- By Daniel Neman

Rick Blaine, the hero of “Casablanca,” had it wrong.

At the mist-shrouded airport, he tells Ilsa, the love of his life, that she needs to leave him and board the plane to freedom with her heroic husband, Victor.

“Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble,” he says nobly, “but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

He says that as if beans were unimportan­t, as if they were expendable, as if they could be cast aside without a second thought.

What a disservice he does to the stately vegetable, how shabbily he treats the elegant legume.

Beans are an indispensa­ble source of protein. Because they are so affordable and provide such a vital part of our nutrition, they are among the most widely consumed types of food on Earth. Some people even call them a magical fruit.

At this time of year, when the air is crisp and chilled, when the bitter wind stings our faces, what is better and more comforting than to come home to a big pot of beans steaming on the stove?

They’re warming, they’re hearty. There is nothing better to drive away the winter blues.

On a couple of particular­ly cold days recently, we decided to explore beans in a variety of ways.

We started out with a bean stew, flavored with rosemary and garlic, and served atop farro, an age-old grain that in recent years has become trendy again.

This particular recipe calls for dried beans, which need to simmer for two hours or so until they were soft. Only then could we begin to put together our stew. Once they were ready, into the beans went olive oil, garlic, an onion studded with a clove, and a bouquet garni of rosemary, thyme, and a bay leaf.

We let that pot simmer away merrily while the flavors blended. Meanwhile, we prepared the farro. When the beans were done, we pureed half of them, stirred them back into the pot, and served it on top of the nutty-tasting farro. It was magic. For a meat-based entree, we roasted a chicken over a melange of chickpeas, lemons and carrots. It was quite a healthy meal, except for the three tablespoon­s of butter that are rubbed into the chicken before cooking. That’s how to get the skin so crispy, which is one of the dish’s defining elements, but people watching their waistlines might want to eliminate that step.

The chicken was flavored with garam masala, a heady mixture of Indian spices. The beans and carrots on the bottom have both the garam masala and the lemons, an unexpected mixture that brought an exciting verve to the chickpeas and unified the dish into an exotic whole. CRISP ROASTED CHICKEN WITH

CHICKPEAS 2 lemons 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained

2 tablespoon­s extra-virgin olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoon­s garam masala 3 teaspoons kosher salt 1-1/2 teaspoons pepper 1 (3-1/2-pound) whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry

4 thyme sprigs

3 tablespoon­s unsalted butter, softened

1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch rounds FOR THE GREMOLATA: 3 tablespoon­s chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 small garlic clove, minced

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Quarter the lemons lengthwise and remove and discard any seeds. Thinly slice 6 of the lemon quarters crosswise (you will get little triangles) and, in a bowl, toss them with the chickpeas, oil, 1/2 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Season the inside of the chicken cavity with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fill the cavity with the remaining lemon wedges and thyme sprigs. Rub the outside of the chicken all over with the remaining 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Rub the butter all over the skin.

Scatter the carrots in the bottom of the largest roasting pan you have, the one you use for the Thanksgivi­ng turkey. Place a wire roasting rack over the carrots; arrange the chicken breast-side up, on the rack. Roast 30 minutes, stirring carrots occasional­ly. Scatter the chickpea mixture into the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue to roast until the chicken’s thigh juices run clear when pierced with a knife, 45-60 minutes longer. Let the chicken rest 5 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, combine the parsley, lemon zest and garlic in a bowl. Spoon the carrotchic­kpea mixture onto a platter; arrange the chicken on top. Sprinkle the gremolata over the dish and serve. Yield: 4 servings —“Cook This Now,” by

Melissa Clark WHITE-BEAN STEW

AND FARRO 1 pound dried cannellini beans

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 5 garlic cloves, peeled 1 celery stalk, cut in half lengthwise, leaves reserved

1 large onion, halved from root to stem

1 whole clove (stick it in an onion half) 2 rosemary sprigs 2 thyme sprigs 1 bay leaf 1 piece Parmesan rind, optional

2-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 cup farro Flaky salt 1/4 teaspoon red pepper Chopped celery or parsley leaves for garnish, optional

Lemon juice and/or grated Parmesan cheese for serving, optional

If you have time, soak the beans in advance; put them in a large bowl and cover with several inches of water. Let sit overnight, or at least a few hours.

When ready to cook, drain the beans (if soaking) and place in a large pot over medium-high heat, along with oil, 3 of the garlic cloves, celery and onion. Bundle together the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf, tie securely with kitchen twine, and throw it into the pot. Add Parmesan rind, if using. Cover everything with water and stir in the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, partly covered, until beans are soft. This will take 1-3 hours, depending on how long you soaked the beans (if you did) and how old the dried beans were when you bought them.

If the pot starts to look dry before cooking is complete, add more water; at the end of cooking, the water should not quite cover the beans. If there is too much liquid, ladle out the excess.

While the beans are cooking, prepare the farro. Rinse thoroughly, then add to a large pot of boiling, salted water. Cook, according to directions on package, until softened. Drain well.

Mince the remaining 2 garlic cloves.

When the beans are cooked, remove and discard the onion, celery, herbs and optional Parmesan rind (you can leave the garlic in the pot). Ladle half the beans into a food processor or blender, add the minced raw garlic, and puree. Return the bean puree to the pot.

Serve the beans in bowls over the farro, drizzle each portion with plenty of olive oil, then sprinkle with flaky salt, red pepper and celery leaves or parsley. If the stew tastes flat, swirl in some lemon juice; grated Parmesan cheese on top is also nice. Yield: 6 servings —“Cook This Now,” by

Melissa Clark

 ?? SHNS ?? Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas and Carrots.
SHNS Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas and Carrots.

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