This spicy stew recipe is packed with protein from black beans and amaranth grain.

Red peppers, beets and cilantro add color and flavor.  This special grain (technically a seed) was famously cultivated by the Aztecs and the nutritional benefits of amaranth are outstanding. Similar to quinoa, these tiny beads of protein fluff up when simmered in water in with a short cooking time. Amaranth is gluten-free and can have up to 8 grams of protein per serving.

Like quinoa, amaranth can be bitter if not rinsed properly so make sure to soak the amaranth grain in a bowl of water for a minute before cooking. When cooked the consistency can be more gelatinous than quinoa and takes some getting used to. To get all the nutritional benefits without sacrificing flavor, throw some amaranth into a spicy black bean stew. Don’t forget to pre-soak the black beans overnight!

Amaranth is available in most health food stores and or online, but quinoa makes a suitable substitute for this recipe.

Mexican Black Bean Stew Recipe with Amaranth Grain

Serves 8 

Ingredients 

4 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups dried black beans (soak overnight in 4 cups of water)
2 large tomatoes
1 cup amaranth
1/2 + 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow beet, peeled and chopped (red is fine in a pinch)
1 tablespoon cumin
1 dried ancho chili (or New Mexican red chili)
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 shishito peppers or 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
3 tablespoon smoky hot sauce (like Buffalo or Tabasco)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, thinly sliced

Directions 

First, soak the black beans overnight in a large pot covered by 2 inches of water. Rinse the beans a few times in cold water just before use and place the pot with the beans, 1 teaspoon salt and 4 cups of fresh water on the stove. Cover, cook over high heat until the water boils, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes, then drain beans and set aside.

Roughly chop the tomatoes on a dinner plate and slide all of the pieces, juices and seeds into a bowl. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, smash the mixture until you have only small 1-inch pieces floating in tomato juice.

Rinse the amaranth in a small bowl under cold water. Add 1 cup amaranth to 3 cups water in a saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed. Set aside.

In a large pot with a lid or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, chopped beets, shishito and red peppers and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook for 5 minutes then add the cumin and crumble the chili into the pot, discarding the stem. Add the tomatoes and juice to the pot and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the black beans and vegetable broth to the pot and bring the stew to a boil. Then add the amaranth, turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Add the hot sauce just before serving and place a few slices of avocado and a sprinkle of cilantro in each bowl.

Related on Eco Salon

Easy Mexican Turkey Soup

Mexican Bread Pudding 

Amaranth Fruit Cereal

Photos by Ally-Jane 

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How the crockpot resurgence contributes to the American slow down.

My crockpot – the SUV space hog of the kitchen counter – is my new enabler in the quest to take time to smell the roses, not to mention the aromatic free-range bird melding with organic onions and homegrown herbs in a lethargic, six-hour simmer. Toss them in the pot, come back for the gold six hours later. A meal that drove itself home. It’s what’s for dinner.

The process of slow-cooking tasty comfort food without constantly stirring the pot helps me and countless others to heed Michael Pollan’s directive to focus on “real food” and connect with life – especially during a time when spare minutes to hover is chronically elusive.

“It opens up a space to do other things and this is huge when it comes to reducing stress,” observes Thea Singer, Ph.D. – author of Stress Less: The New Science That Shows Women How to Rejuvenate The Body and The Mind. “We know the benefits of mindful eating, and you could say that another synonym of the slow food movement is mindful cooking.”

Yes, time is what fuels the resurgence, at least on the ceramic surface. Like a lover who gives generously without demanding constant hugs and feedback, the plug-in grub tub frees us up to do our thing – only to come together in the evening and share what we bring to the table as a unit.

Unless you’re a Top Chef contender or former professional stuck at home with too much time on your hands,  neediness in food prep can be a major turn off, especially during hectic week days when a lofty goal might be schlepping to the taco stand to get burritos on the table before seven.

“Braising is what I would usually do on a Saturday or Sunday if it’s raining and I can walk over to the stove and stir every half hour, and the slow cooker lets you do that on a week day before you go to work,” says Jill Santopietro (above), the senior food editor of Chow.com, who vlogs recipes.  “But you have to choose the right recipes that need eight hours of cooking. A lot f them, like a veggie stew I made in our test kitchen, cooks in three hours. You still have to be there, so it’s not full proof.”

Still, it’s a step in the right direction, agrees Santopietro. But the consummate foodie adds that true mindful cooking results from mindful planning, something our society greatly lacks.

“As a kid, my grandmother would plan in the morning for dinner, and that is what is missing from our culture,” says the chef and writer. “People  in this country don’t think about what they are going to cook for dinner.  If you don’t think and go to the store and plan, you will end up going to a fast food joint to get dinner when you are starving.”

Despite the clever advertising, the fast food we reach for when starving contributes to obesity, diabetes, breakouts and other undesirable side effects, while slow cooked turkey chili, veggie stew and lentil soup sans the corn syrup and trans fats is typically the antithesis to all of that. Of course, you have to eat it slow, too, to reverse the national epidemics rushing us to early deaths.

Researchers on the cutting edge of linking cooler jets to happier cells find listening to our bodies is the key to thriving, according to UCSF Dept. of  Psychiatry professor, Elissa Epel, who specializes in identifying mind-body behavior that promotes stress resilience.

Five steps Epel cites in achieving well being: Breathing and awareness, staying present and minimizing time traveling, expressing gratitude and savoring, carving out a time allowance and daily exercise (the big E). Add the antioxidants and vitamins, handfuls of pistachio nuts, blueberries and purified Omega -3, and you might add years to your life. Of course, eliminating the stinking thinking goes a long way, too.

“Our brains are set up to focus on the negative,” says Epel, “But we can choose to reinterpret any negative experience and restore cells that deteriorate when we age or experience stress.” Take the example of not getting an ideal parking space at the store. When you tell yourself you are doing something great for cell regeneration by walking further, you create a positive spin that boosts your health.

Health science has witnessed a greater emphasis on cellular aging and the telomere maintenance system, an area led by Epel and several colleagues who form the Psychoneuroendocrinology Laboratory Group – which runs studies on issues such as stress – induced cortisol and overeating.

“Cortisol kicks off dopamine, and the reward system stimulates wanting to get what we need,” Epel explains. “We go in search of fatty and sweet food because we think we are exerting ourselves and this leads to a cycle similar to addiction,” she has found.

Which leads me back to the crockpot, and the question, could this help break that cycle of addiction and other bad behavior which shortens our lives?

Santopietro, who doesn’t own a crockpot, says it can help you relax, but isn’t a cure-all.

“A slow cooker won’t cure people of not going for that quick fat option,” she finds. “A better method is thinking more about food in advance. I’m an anomaly because I think of food more than the average person – I’m obsessed with it. There are great recipes you can make in 30 minutes without a cooker.”

Guess it boils down to the old adage: failing to plan is planning to fail. Can thinking ahead help us carve out that time to hover on a rainy Sunday or even sunny Monday the way foodies do to feed their souls along with those they love?

Maybe so. Until then, I’m sticking to my crockpot. As I said, it’s my enabler.

Images: Christine Leiser, Busbeytheelder, Chow, Amazon

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