How Cooked Is Too Cooked? (link to article)

[Guest guest]

Just saw this on SoFlaVegans this morning ;=) I thought I'd pass it on - not to

make you paranoid about 'bad' food but to make you feel good about all those

good choices we all make each day! It's all pretty much as we thought, but the

article explains it all and comes out in favour of certain (among them a couple

of my favourites) ways of preparing food. Enjoy!

 

Best, Pat ;=)

--------

How Cooked Is Too Cooked?

by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.

 

http://ahha.org/articles/appleton2.htm

 

Have you ever wondered the best way to eat food -

raw, slightly

cooked, moderately cooked or well done? Do you

know that the way you

prepare food can determine whether you can get

all of the vitamins,

minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and simple

sugars from your food?

Although all of the nutrients might be in the

food, if the food is

cooked incorrectly the food will not digest and

metabolize optimally.. . .

 

.. . . now read on http://ahha.org/articles/appleton2.htm

[Guest guest]

Hi Pat,

 

I was chatting with a friend last night and he told me that I was cooking my

black beans too long and that I need to only cook them for 2 hours or so.

Typically, I will soak 2 cups of black beans in 4 cups of distilled water and

they normally soak up 1 cup themselves. The next morning I put them in my slow

cooker and cook them on high for about 6 hours in some soup bean mix from Bob's

Red Mill. When I rescue them they are soft and pliable (and tasty) and I drain

them for putting into the fridge. I keep them in a 6 cup Tupperware dish and use

them daily. I especially enjoy using them in a brown rice and black bean salad

mixed with cilantro, peppercinis, fresh spinach, lettuce, diced garlic whole

wheat tortillas, onions, salsa and diced tomatoes. Ooooooh la la! This is my

daily staple that I really love and never lose desire for. I can hardly wait for

lunch time just thinking about it.

 

What do you suggest about cooking time for black beans? I kinda enjoy them on

the verge of being mushy.

 

Brett Sanders

 

veggiehound <veggiehound wrote:

 

Just saw this on SoFlaVegans this morning ;=) I thought I'd pass it on - not to

make you paranoid about 'bad' food but to make you feel good about all those

good choices we all make each day! It's all pretty much as we thought, but the

article explains it all and comes out in favour of certain (among them a couple

of my favourites) ways of preparing food. Enjoy!

 

Best, Pat ;=)

--------

How Cooked Is Too Cooked?

by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.

 

http://ahha.org/articles/appleton2.htm

 

Have you ever wondered the best way to eat food -

raw, slightly

cooked, moderately cooked or well done? Do you

know that the way you

prepare food can determine whether you can get

all of the vitamins,

minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and simple

sugars from your food?

Although all of the nutrients might be in the

food, if the food is

cooked incorrectly the food will not digest and

metabolize optimally.. . .

 

.. . . now read on http://ahha.org/articles/appleton2.htm

[Guest guest]

> I was chatting with a friend last night and he told me that I was cooking my

black beans too long and that I need to only cook them for 2 hours or so.

 

Aren't friends wonderful? You develop a wonderful recipe that's good enough

that you drool at breakfast time just anticipating it every day for lunch, and

they tell you you're making it all wrong! I cook my beans until they're just

done,

not mushy, but that's my preference. The exception is in some soups -

because sometimes, regardless of what others think, we just like a nice

mushy bean or lentil or whatever in the soup.

 

I'd say cook them until they are how you like them. I know this query is riding

on the back of that article about cooking foods too much, but I think most of us

here are very conscious of our food and eat lots of things fresh and raw in

salads and sandwiches as well as some very lightly steamed or stirfried. (The

last I have been known to refer to as a way of eating salad hot, since I leave

stir-'fried' vegetables very crisp.)

 

But since you ask about cooking time for black beans, this is what I have

learned: Soak the beans overnight, drain, and place in a saucepan with three

cups of water for every cup of the dried beans. Cook about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4

hours or until tender, adding salt and seasoning ten minutes before the end.

Works for me.

 

Now go and do it your way!

 

Best, Pat