More featured recipes

Thanks again to Celeste Greenwood of Washington State University Pierce County Extension, who has been providing recipe demos in our food banks throughout the month of January. Celeste has been featuring cooking tips for dry beans, peas and lentils; see below for her latest recipes.

Cooking Dry Beans, Peas and Lentils
Step 1:
     • Spread dry beans, peas or lentils into a shallow pan.
     • Pick out any discolored beans or bits of rock or dirt.
     • Place in a strainer and rinse under running water.

Step 2: Soak beans before cooking.
     Overnight Soak
          • Cover beans with unsalted water.
          • Cover pan, place in refrigerator and let stand overnight.     Quick Soak
          • Cover beans with unsalted water.
          • Boil two minutes in uncovered pan.
          • Remove from heat. Cover pan and let stand for one hour.

Step 3: Drain the soaking water. Cover beans in pan with fresh water.

Step 4: Bring to a boil, and then turn heat to low. Cook to desired doneness. See Cooking Tips, below!

Cooking Times
Beans, all varieties = 1 – 2 hours
Split peas, lentils = 30 – 45 minutes (You do not need to soak peas and lentils)
One cup dry beans = Three cups dry beans

Cooking Tips

1. For casseroles and salads, beans should be firmer.
2. For refried beans and soups, beans should be softer.
3. If you have hard water, beans will take longer to cook.
4. Do not add salt while cooking. Beans will stay hard.
5. Do a taste test after the shortest cooking time.
6. Don’t mix old beans with new beans. Older beans will take longer to cook.
7. Cook beans when you have time. Cool in cold water, place in freezer bags with date written on them, then freeze for up to six (6) months.

Low Fat Refried Beans
     Ingredients
          • 1 pound dry pinto beans, rinsed
          • 2 cloves garlic, minced
          • 1 medium onion, chopped
          • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
          • 2 tsp ground cumin
          • 1 tsp chili powder
          • 1 tsp salt

Directions Using the Quick Soak Method

1. Place the beans in a large pot with a lid. Pick out any rocks or discolored beans.
2. Cover the beans with fresh water until they are covered with one inch of water.
3. Place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
4. When the beans have come to a boil, drain, and return them to the same pot.
5. Cover the beans with fresh water until they are covered with two inches of water.
6. Stir in chopped onion and one minced clove of garlic
7. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to low.
8. Cover and simmer until the beans are very soft and smash easily, about three hours, adding water as needed.
9. Once the beans have cooked, drain out the liquid, saving some if needed to thin out the beans.
10. Using a potato masher or fork mash them with the remaining minced clove of garlic, oil, cumin, chili powder and salt. (For creamier beans a blender or hand mixer can be used.)
11. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to get desired creaminess.
12. Place over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to blend the flavors.

This material was funded by USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-Refried-Beans/Detail.aspx. Accessed 1/6/11

Grocery Outlet and FirstFruits take a bite out of hunger

Yesterday at the Bonney Lake Grocery Outlet, FISH Food Banks received a generous donation of approximately 4,000 pounds of fresh apples, part of a 17,500 pound donation from Grocery Outlet's "Take a Bite Out of Hunger" campaign.  During the promotional campaign, each consumer purchase of loose or bagged apples helps Grocery Outlet earn apples for donation to local food banks: two apples for a five-pound bag purchased, one apple for a three-pound bag. Mark Holz, director of marketing for Grocery Outlet, said, "Our goal is to donate more than 50,000 pounds of apples to local food banks between now and February. This donation will help many and is perfect timing to provide nutritious food to those in need after the holiday season when there is less public attention on replenishing food bank reserves.”

Throughout the duration of the program, FirstFruits Marketing of Washington aims to partner with retailers throughout the United States to donate 1 million apples to food banks. 

Cooking Demos at FISH

Celeste Greenwood of the Washington State University Pierce County Extension will once again be offering cooking demos in our food banks during the month of January. Remaining dates are:
Lakes FISH:  Monday, Jan. 24, 2:00-5 pm
Graham FISH: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2:00-5 pm
Northwest FISH: Wednesday, Jan. 19, 12:00-4pm
Southeast FISH: Friday, Jan. 21, 11:00 am-4 pm
                             Friday, Jan. 28, 11:00 am-4 pm
Edgewood FISH: Saturday, Jan. 22, 11:00 am-2 pm
                             Saturday, Jan. 29, 10:30 am-2 pm


Recipes shared in the demos will feature ingredients from the food banks. One of the recipes will be "Rice a'Ghetti," shared below. Other demos will feature cooking dry beans and making low-fat refried beans.

Rice A’ghetti with Canned Peas

Ingredients

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb. ground turkey
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 cup uncooked rice
½ cup spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
2.5 cups of water or broth
1 ‐15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 ‐14.5 oz can of peas, drained
black pepper to taste

Preparation
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until they soften.
2. Add ground turkey and garlic powder to the skillet; stir occasionally until turkey is close to done.
3. Add rice and spaghetti pieces to turkey mixture. Stir until rice and spaghetti start to brown.
4. Add the water or broth and tomato sauce.
5. Cover and let simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
6. Add can of drained peas. Stir and cook for 5 minutes longer or until the rice and spaghetti are tender and peas are heated. Add pepper to taste.