Peruvian Mayocoba Bean Bowl with a Roasted Pepper Sauce and Fried Plantains

It is that time of year again. Vegan MoFo. A month-long blogging event featuring all things vegan.

This will be my third time participating.

In 2010, I wasn’t even a vegan but only posted vegan eats.

Last year, I did the full month with a special theme of bean-centric meals.

I hummed and hawed over this year’s theme.

High-raw dishes?

Quick and easy dishes?

Indian meals?

Cruciferous veggies?

Beans again?

Any of those themes would have been fun and challenging for a month. In the end, I decided to allow myself some flexibility and focus on tackling my bookmarked recipes.

Also, as much as I initially wanted to do a month of daily posts, I have decided to scale back my blogging. All in the interest of focusing on more important life events. Not that I won’t be cooking. I will. I really enjoy blogging and find it to be a very creative (and stress-reducing) outlet but will keep it as a smaller hobby. In any case, the theme will be bookmarked recipes for the month of October! 🙂

It is no secret that I bookmark a lot of recipes, from other blogs and my cookbook collection. I also recently joined Pinterest (follow me!), which may not be a good thing. Time will tell. Some of my isoteric pantry items are from bookmarking a recipe and then forgetting/waiting to make the recipe. Then I try to save the ingredient until I finally make the recipe. So, I hold onto ingredients perhaps a bit longer than needed. This is my challenge to eat through my pantry and my long list of bookmarked recipes.

I realize that not all recipes will be winners, but thought I would share my thoughts anyways. That’s the fun of MoFo!

One of my goals is to eat through my heirloom beans. I’ve amassed a few from Kalustyan’s, Rancho Gordo as well as from local stores like Whole Foods. I find them too pretty to eat but be it resolved to eat them. And replenish my favourites once I move to the US.

So here we go with a foray with mayocoba beans (or canary beans) that I picked up at Whole Foods (Mississauga Square One location for anyone interested). They are originally from Peru and similar to a white bean with a smooth, buttery texture. Feel free to substitute white beans or large pinto beans if you can’t find mayocoba beans. They are paired with one of my favourite lentils, black beluga, which are nice because they are small and keep their shape well. Here the bean medley is simmered in a roasted pepper sauce along with carrots and Swiss chard. The roasted peppers makes this a sweet sauce, so you may want to dampen it a bit with a bit more spice than I used. I served it with cooked quinoa and a side of pan-fried plantain, reminiscent of my Colombian adventures.

This is my submission to this month’s My Legume Love Affair, hosted by Sra, and to this month’s Bookmarked Recipes.

Peruvian Mayocoba Bean Bowl with a Roasted Pepper Sauce
Adapted from Yum Universe

1/2 cup canary beans (mayocoba beans), soaked and cooked
1/2 cup lentils (I used black beluga), soaked and cooked
1 cup quinoa, rinsed, drained and cooked
1 cup tightly packed slivered Swiss chard
300g chopped carrots (2 cups)
1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup cashews, soaked
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp  sea salt

1 tsp olive  oil
2 very ripe plantains, skinned and cut lengthwise

1. Don’t kill me, you will dirty a lot of dishes. If you don’t have cooked beans, cook your lentils, beans and quinoa. This can be done in advance (which is what I did).

-Lentils: In a medium saucepan, bring 1-2 cups of salted water to a boil. Add lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for 30-45 minutes, until soft and tender. Drain and set aside until needed.

-Canary beans: In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of salted water to a boil. Add beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for 60-90 minutes, until soft and tender. Drain and set aside until needed.

-Quinoa: Bring 2 cups water or vegetable broth to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add quinoa. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Keep covered for an additional 5 minutes to steam. Set aside.

2. In a medium skillet over medium-heat, heat coconut oil. Add onion and brown for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add red pepper and cook an additional 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the lime juice, broth, cashews, vinegar and salt in a blender. Once the onion-red pepper sauce is cooked, add to the blender and blend until smooth.

4. Meanwhile, steam your carrots overtop any of the your beans or grains being cooked. Or cook them your favourite way.

5. If making the plantains, use a non-stick skillet and a touch of coconut oil. Pan-fry for 10 minutes on each side.

6. Combine, cooked lentils, beans, carrots sand Swiss chard to the red pepper sauce in a medium skillet and cook until heated through, around 5 minutes.

7. To serve, plate the mixed beans overtop quinoa with a slice of fried plantain.

Makes 5 cups sauce.

Serves 6.