We need your help on a top-secret project -- from a place where food52 recipes rarely go: the bulk bin aisle.
Sure, when you think of food52, creme fraiche and butter probably come to mind before adzuki beans and chia seeds (say it with us: ch-ch-ch-chia!), so we want to bulk up our beans, grains and seeds recipes. And (who knew?) they're inexpensive, healthy and tasty, if you know what to do with them -- and we know you do.
The details:
You have until midnight next Tuesday, March 22nd to add as many recipes to the site as you like highlighting any of the ingredients below (be sure to include the name of the bean, grain or seed in your recipe title so we can find it easily) -- this isn't an official contest, but other fun prizes will be involved. To upload a recipe, just go to the Recipes section of the site here and click "Add New Recipe."
Then on Thursday, March 24th, we'll announce Editors' Pick candidates, which you can claim in normal EP dibs-calling fashion (see here for details) and you'll have till Tuesday, March 29th at 5pm to send in your reviews to [email protected]. Then on Thursday, March 31st, we'll announce all the Editors' Picks and prizes.
Got all that? Now go hit the bins!
RICE
Bhutanese red
Mekong flower
brown germinated
long grain brown
short brown
sweet brown
medium brown
sweet brown
medium brown
purple tai
Madagascar pink
volcano
jasmine tai
Shop the Story
OTHER GRAINS
hulled barley
roasted buckwheat
oat groats
sprouted quinoa
kamut berries
red quinoa
black quinoa
black barley
amaranth
LEGUMES
anasazi beans
adzuki beans
black eyed peas
dried fava beans
baby lima beans
mung beans
soy beans
yellow split peas
split green peas
sprouted mung beans
sprouted green lentils
SEEDS
chia seeds
hemp seeds
alfalfa seeds
whole flax
golden flax
Written by: Food52
Popular on Food52
73 Comments
Grandma K.
November 28, 2011
How about some help for those of us who never, or almost never, use these ingredients? Maybe a list somewhere which describes the taste, texture, etc. of these in the recipe notes. I'd like to try some but with my Danish/German background I've only used dried green peas to make pea soup.
susan G.
November 28, 2011
Here's a good source of information:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html
This is the page for dried beans, and you can use the search for a single item or a category. It's been helpful for me in trying to straighten out the dried and fresh chilis.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html
Rebecca Wood is a pioneer in using and knowing about beans, grains and seeds. She has a "Whole Foods Encyclopedia" and "The Splendid Grain" -- see the home page on the website for info and links to the books, and a search box for more. She taught me (on the site) to cook amaranth -- it was delicious.
When I began learning about the lesser known foods, I took books out of the library and soaked up the information and recipes, along with an understanding of their backgrounds. I've been doing this for over 40 years, but you have the advantage of the internet at your fingertips. If you read and experiment, you'll know how and why and about, too.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html
This is the page for dried beans, and you can use the search for a single item or a category. It's been helpful for me in trying to straighten out the dried and fresh chilis.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html
Rebecca Wood is a pioneer in using and knowing about beans, grains and seeds. She has a "Whole Foods Encyclopedia" and "The Splendid Grain" -- see the home page on the website for info and links to the books, and a search box for more. She taught me (on the site) to cook amaranth -- it was delicious.
When I began learning about the lesser known foods, I took books out of the library and soaked up the information and recipes, along with an understanding of their backgrounds. I've been doing this for over 40 years, but you have the advantage of the internet at your fingertips. If you read and experiment, you'll know how and why and about, too.
susan G.
November 29, 2011
Here's a favorite blog, that has separate posts for many, many pantry ingredients. Use this page to find many of the beans, grains and seeds, or use the search for more. Each entry gives interesting, sometimes funny, information about the item, and a recipe follows.
http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/06/pantry-ingredients-cupboard.html
http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/06/pantry-ingredients-cupboard.html
kulsum K.
March 22, 2011
I'm headed to add a recipe that has 5 lentils - some from list some not. Works?
Kristen M.
March 22, 2011
Absolutely! Just be sure to include the names of the different kinds of lentils in the ingredients list.
Panfusine
March 21, 2011
Can we use the additional tag 'bulk bin' or bulk bin project so that you can access all the recipes realted to this in one shot & then sift thru for the individual ingredients?
Kristen M.
March 21, 2011
This is a great suggestion! We'll see what we can do, since there have been a fair number of recipes submitted already.
Panfusine
March 21, 2011
Is there an upper limit to how many recipes you can submit for the bulk bin project... I'm going ballistic here..
Panfusine
March 20, 2011
since everyone here seems to be pushing for their personal favorite lentils... may I add Black gram lentils ( Known as Urad dal in Hindi, they're from the same family as the green mung bean except way more glutinous, with a very meaty aroma when toasted)
Sagegreen
March 20, 2011
Spelt or teff would be great to consider, or a Thai coral red jasmine rice? Here's to hoping.
Kristen M.
March 21, 2011
Any bean or grain is fair game for EP nominations, but we're especially looking for the ones listed above.
CalcuttaChow
March 20, 2011
Lots of lentils feature in my daily cooking - black eyed beans, split pigeon peas, all manner of mung dals (green whole, green split, and yellow), whole Bengal gram, split Bengal gram....however, most of my recipes involve pre-soaking (usually night before) and pressure cooking the whole lentils before incorporating them in recipes. This is how I've learned to work with them, in the way that they are commonly cooked in India where I'm from. Is it ok to submit recipes that ask for pressure cooking the lentils? I always wonder if pressure cooking is a dying art, and wonder how people cook the "tougher" lentils.
magdance
March 20, 2011
How about chana dal? I've never seen it in the bulk bins but bought some at the Indian grocery for my Upma with Coconut Chutney, already posted. They are split desi beans.
boulangere
March 20, 2011
Any chance that wehani rice and volcano rice are one and the same?
Kristen M.
March 21, 2011
Not sure (sorry!), but they don't seem to be. Based searching both kinds on Google images, the wehani appears uniformly brown while the volcano has lots of lighter grains blended in.
boulangere
March 21, 2011
Thank you, Kristen! I found similar information, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
mrslarkin
March 18, 2011
Do the grains need to remain intact, or can we stick them in a blender/grinder and chop them up and/or turn them into flour, for example.
Merrill S.
March 18, 2011
You can do anything you like with them, but the idea is to start from the whole grain (re: your question below).
Panfusine
March 17, 2011
I was trying out a recipe with dried peas (yellow) and the finished product was a success, would it be ok to add this in the recipe list even though they weren't 'split' technically?
healthierkitchen
March 17, 2011
First experiment with roasted buckwheat did not go well - too mushy as it cooked much more quickly than I expected. Will persevere.
Amanda H.
March 17, 2011
You guys are the best. Thanks so much for your incredible enthusiasm! Can't wait to see the recipes -- this is going to be great.
betteirene
March 17, 2011
So I brought this list with me to the store and I'm filling up bags with a little of this and a little of that, and someone must've thought I looked like a real cook because she asked me the difference between wild rice and brown rice, and I go into this thing about wild rice is really grass, and then I made her sniff some different rices. Then a guy says he never knew that rice had an aroma, and he starts sniffing. Then woman #1 asks another woman if the "chai seeds" are what make chai tea, and woman #2 says, "It must be," so I jump in real quick to tell her it's "chia," as in "chia pet" and I don't think they believed me, so I tell them about food52 ("Win fabulous prizes!") and foodpickle ("We know everything, and we're nice about it!"). Then, I asked a stock clerk if they carried hemp seed. They don't, so I say something about wondering how long it would take my Seattle son to save me a cupful, and everybody chuckled and promised to register here. Then, in the deli, I see woman #2 buying 2 pounds of ricotta, so I tell her about this week's contest. Like I really want more competition, right?!
Anyway, I went to a second store--no hemp seeds there, either. Where did you find it?
Anyway, I went to a second store--no hemp seeds there, either. Where did you find it?
Kitchen B.
March 19, 2011
:-), I loved reading this.....its amazing how much we've learnt from food52 and how much we all teach each other - I've grown amazingly, my vocab has expanded and my approach to experimental cooking enhanced. Thank you ALL for making food52 an experience.
CookingUpAStorm
March 20, 2011
Whole Foods usually has hemp seeds in their bulk foods section. Happy cooking!
wanderash
March 17, 2011
Ahhh this make me long for the exotic bulk bins and grains that are very far from the Mexican staples. Can't wait to read all the great recipes.
theyearinfood
March 17, 2011
I am so excited for this. And because you said it was okay, and I cannot figure out how otherwise to add it, I'll include my brown rice risotto here:
http://www.food52.com/recipes/7391_butternut_squash_risotto_with_brown_rice
http://www.food52.com/recipes/7391_butternut_squash_risotto_with_brown_rice
Hummusit
March 17, 2011
There is already a recipe for mejadara here, so I won't add another. However, sometimes I make mejadara (AKA mujadera) with short brown rice and mung beans (instead of white rice and lentils). I season with ginger, cinnamon, and cumin (+S+P).
TheWimpyVegetarian
March 16, 2011
This is FABULOUS!!!! I went "mostly" vegetarian a few months ago and am constantly on the search for ways to work with whole grains and legumes!!! Perfect timing!
Sodium G.
March 16, 2011
I just spent one hour at the bulk bins yesterday looking at everything they had. I was needing some mixing up for my life and palate. I'm so excited about this! Thanks, Ladies!
phyllis
March 16, 2011
Fun!! Interesting, I've heard of most of the items on the lists but have never seen bamboo rice. I'll have to 'shop' the bins more often.
healthierkitchen
March 16, 2011
How about gigante beans?
Food52
March 16, 2011
We'd love to see any variety of bean, grain or seed recipe you have and will consider them, but we're especially focusing on the list above -- so now's the time to widen your sights!
Panfusine
March 16, 2011
for a rice eating individual, I must confess.. never heard of most of these varieties. would it be OK to request photographs of these varieties? wikipedia doesn't have much pictorial info..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_varieties
Food52
March 16, 2011
We don't have photos on hand of each variety but a great tool for that is Google image search: http://www.google.com/imghp
fiveandspice
March 16, 2011
Uffdah. I have an intolerance to an enzyme in the husk of unsprouted whole grains and legumes and can't eat most of these (like, I can eat white rice but not brown, white flour but not whole wheat. It's a weird thing). But, does anyone know, are some of these varieties of rice dehusked? Maybe I should ask on food pickle.
susan G.
March 16, 2011
One rice on the list is 'brown germinated.' Japanese research shows that brown rice soaked 22 hours starts the germination process, increasing some nutrients, including GABA. Since the sprouting process changes starches to sugars and involves other chemical changes with enzymes it is possible you could used this. I haven't heard of it being sold 'germinated' but soaking is a simple process. There are even rice cookers with cycles programmed for this. Try searching for "GABA rice" for more information. I believe you would have to discard the soaking water since the enzymes might be soluable to some extent and end up there. I'd love to hear what you think of this!
fiveandspice
March 16, 2011
Awesome! And I'l have to start thinking with some earnestness about sprouted mung beans and lentils!
aargersi
March 16, 2011
FUN! I have a bunch of this stuff in the pantry that needs cooking - this is a great motivator!
inpatskitchen
March 16, 2011
Must the beans be dry? I'm thinking of black soy beans which I can find canned, but not dry.
WinnieAb
March 16, 2011
Is there a category for beans/legumes in the drop down menu? I don't see it...maybe you could add it to the grains, rice, etc category?
eternalgradstudent
March 16, 2011
This is perfect! I've been wanting to increase my use of whole grains in my cooking - I don't have any recipes at the moment, but I'm looking forward to trying these!!
WinnieAb
March 15, 2011
What about recipes of ours that are already posted on the site but that don't have the name of x or y in the title? Should we rename and resubmit?
Food52
March 16, 2011
No need -- as long as they have the name of the bean/grain in the title or ingredients list, we should be able to find them. But if you want to make it extra easy on us (and share them with everyone here) feel free to post the links in this thread.
hardlikearmour
March 15, 2011
Great idea! I would love to add more whole grains and legumes into my repertoire. Can't wait to see the recipes rolling in.
Burnt O.
March 15, 2011
Hmmm - I think I see where food52 is going with this. No kidney, cannelini, chickpea, navy, cranberry, christmas, black, pinto beans, or pigeon peas. Cause that would be too easy and ordinary. No quinoa, farro, etc... Mix it up people! OK - no bamboo rice then.
Jeanette's H.
March 15, 2011
Do we post our dishes here in the comments?
Food52
March 15, 2011
Nope -- just go to the Recipes section of the site (www.food52.com/recipes) and click "Add New Recipe." Let us know if you run into any snags at [email protected].
Jeanette's H.
March 15, 2011
Thanks! I'll do that. Looking forward to sharing and seeing all the great ideas everyone else has!
enbe
March 15, 2011
What a great idea. I have tons of bags of spare bulk beans that I bought for dishes and am puzzled what to do next! Super psyched.
student E.
March 15, 2011
LOVE THIS! I'm rather obsessed with the bulk bins whenever I'm grocery shopping (student budget and a love of beans!). Looking forward to sharing and trying some new recipes.
Burnt O.
March 15, 2011
How Fun! I have some Bamboo Rice - it's a very short grain, light green rice that makes fabulous risotto. It has a slightly herbal, green tea flavor and a sticky texture. Fair game? It's really good with salmon and seafood.
CeCeH
March 15, 2011
I agree with Burnt Offerings. I make bamboo rice a lot and it is superb with salmon and seafood!
See what other Food52 readers are saying.