This is a side dish that takes some preparation but it so worth it! If you are wondering why you need to soak beans, I will explain the benefits!
Grains and legumes have a substance called phytic acid. Phytic acid is considered an anti-nutrient because it blocks absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, chromium, manganese, and zinc. It binds to these minerals in the food so that the intestinal tract can't extract all the nutrition. It is also an enzyme inhibitor meaning that it blocks certain digestive enzymes that we need to break down our food. Specifically pepsin and trypsin which digests protein, and amylase which digests starches. Thats why you may get the rumble tummies on occasion after eating a bowl of beans. My grandmother always soaked beans overnight because she said," It gets the toots out of them beans". She wasn't wrong.
Moral of the story...when you consume grains and legumes without properly preparing them, over time it can cause mineral deficiencies, and those deficiencies can manifest into many different problems ranging from bones/teeth, immune system, or nervous system.
American culture has forgotten its ancestral traditions of soaking, sprouting, and fermenting grains and legumes. So I want to help connect us back to this process.
Now on to a classic pinto bean recipe. I served these with grass-fed beef polish sausage , a slice of gluten free soaked buttermilk cornbread, and coleslaw, recipe here, on top for a genuinely easy and quick weeknight meal.
Pressure Cooker Soaked Beans
Ingredients:
2 cup of dried pinto beans, about 1 pound
1 strip of kombu seaweed ( I buy this one from amazon)
8 cups of filtered water
1 TBS salt
Directions:
The night before you make the beans, add the dried beans, kombu, and water to the pot that you are going to cook them in. Cover and soak overnight.
About 45 minutes before you need to eat, toss in the salt. Put the lid on and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.
