Great Northern and Black Beans with Kale (No Added Fat)

I wanted to make a bean main course and was about to put on some whole grain rice when my wife asked me to use white rice. I'm not a fan of white rice as whole grain rice not only is far healthier, but also tastes a lot better. However, my wife had bought some white rice and prepared it I think for somebody who wasn't used to whole grain rice, and had some leftover.


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Great Northern beans
• 3/4 cup (i.e., half as much as the Great Northern) black beans
• Water
• 1 t chopped (1/8" or so) ginger
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/2 cup onion cut into approx. 3/8" cubes
• 3/4 cup (packed) kale leaves (stems excepted), cut into strips approx. 1/2" wide
• 1/2 c bell pepper chopped into approx. 3/8" x 3/4" strips
• (optional) 2 t dried chives
• 1t garlic powder
• 1/2 t salt (or to taste) (I used about half salt and half kala namak, pink-colored "black salt")
• 3/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1t ground cumin
• 2t fresh lime or lemon juice

Process

1. I mixed the beans, rinsed them, and let them soak. I didn't start this till maybe 5 hours before cooking, so started off with boiling water; if I had soaked overnight, room temperature water would have been fine.
2. I rinsed the beans again and put them in the Instant Pot pressure cooker, along with enough water to just cover the beans plus 1/4" more of height. I added the ginger and vegan bouillon cube, then cooked for 25m.
3. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the rest of the ingredients.

Results

We all enjoyed the meal, though I missed brown or other better rice. The salt and lime really made the beans shine!

Ideas for the future

I should try more dishes that combine two different kinds of beans. Today, the beans were softer than they needed to be; I could make a similar dish next time in maybe 22 minutes.