Beans – Crystal Rivera

Caribbean, Comfort Food, Fusion Cuisine, Jewish Cuisine

Puerto Rican-inspired Cholent

December 9, 2022July 12, 2023by Crystal Rivera1 Comment

I’m a teeny bit late, but I’ve some good news to share with you which will totally explain my lack of updating the blog. A few months ago I became a full-time VaynerMedia content creator and my first client (hi Wegmans!) has me workin’ my tuchus off. Which I’m lovin’! but I don’t have much time to work on my own recipe developing at the moment. Whatever recipe I shoot for them I end up feeding the family with (which is a win), and it was only a couple of weeks ago that I started to have a day or two to myself to throw things in a pot and have the pot do all the work while I used that time editing content. This Cholent is one of them.

Reminiscent of our stewed pot of beans which simmers in a tomato broth with flavors of sofrito and sazón, let’s call this the much heartier, Jewish version. Packed with barley, bone-in meat, and vegetables, one bowl of this will probably keep you satisfied for the day–which is the intent. Cholent was created because Jewish law prohibited cooking on Shabbat. But this recipe doesn’t take as long as a traditional cholent which is cooked on low over night for 10-12 hours. If Jake Cohen can cut time short (a little too short in my opinion) on his cholent, so can I. I’m not big on leaving my stove on unattended in an ancient Manhattan building. (But if you don’t soak the beans and add more than this recipe calls for, then yes, cook longer if need be!)

Puerto Rican Cholent

Print Recipe

Cook Time 5

Course Main Course

Cuisine Caribbean, Fusion, Jewish

Servings 6 to 8 people

Ingredients

1 cup dried navy/cranberry/pinto beans soaked over night
2 lb flanken or other meat of choice bone-in preferred
4 tbsp tomato paste
2 heaping tbsp sofrito
1.5 tbsp organic sazón
2 bell peppers chopped
2 med yukon or red potatoes quartered
1 yucca (or another potato)
1.5 cup pumpkin/squash/sweet potato
2-3 whole eggs optional
3 sprigs thyme or oregano
8 cups beef broth plus water if needed
1 cup barley
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sear flanken in batches. Return to pot and add tomato paste, sofrito, and sazón. Saute a couple of minutes, until paste has caramelized a bit and the flanken is wonderfully scented.
Add in the beef stock, scraping up the brown bits. Stir in the beans, potatoes, herbs, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, skimming the foam that rises to the top for the first 10 minutes. Cover with a lid and place it in the oven for 5 hours, checking occasionally to see if it needs to be skimmed or if it needs more liquid.
After the 4^th hour, add in the barley, yucca, and pumpkin and return to the oven again for another hour or more. Add more liquid for desired consistency.

Notes

Sazón is a Latin spice blend that contains cumin, coriander, garlic, oregano, and achiote (which gives it that beautiful orange color). Some blends contain salt while others do not. Take this into consideration when you season this cholent. I prefer to not use Goya, but do you.

Keyword Barley, Beans, Dutch Oven, One Pot Meal, Slow Cooking, Sofrito

Comfort Food, Plant-based, Seasonal

Citrus-Stewed Beans

December 28, 2021June 13, 2022by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

No one would believe mom is Russian if they’ve tasted her pernil with a side of rice and beans. Seriously. And while I don’t eat pernil these days, I’m perfectly fine with having a bowl of these beans all on their own, or with rice! Or bread.

Mom told me she learned to stew them from her best friend’s mother as a teen. Tomato broth, with potatoes and olives, smoked, salty meat, and tons of fresh cilantro is where her recipe begins, but does not have to end. Sometimes you’ll see sliced carrots in there, too. Or maybe even peppers. There’s a nod to Autumn in this recipe by using the honey nut squash for sweetness. It’s hearty and the recipe doesn’t require that it needs to be. I love that most about it. As long as you have a can of beans, organic Sazon, and tomato puree, you can totally improvise based on what you have around your kitchen. No fuss, EVER. Do you always store sofrito in your fridge? Use some of that, too.

My approach to mom’s beans is always based on the season and what’s in season. The addition of orange zest is not something mom would use, but I happen to be obsessed with cooking with oranges. When flavors of citrus, smokiness, and spiciness meet–it surprises you in an eyebrows-up kind of way. While smoked or cured meat is always involved in her recipe, I’ve added smoked tofu instead.

Now, let’s get cooking!

Citrus-Stewed Beans

A flexible, hearty recipe

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Puerto Rican

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

olive oil to coat pan
1/2 cup smoked meat or tofu
2-3 long strips of orange zest
2 tsp organic Sazon
2 sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1/3 cup Spanish onion diced
2-3 garlic cloves chopped
1 jalapeño diced (optional)
1 tbsp capers or handful of Spanish olives
1 1/2 cup honeynut squash or other veggies diced
15 oz can of cannellini beans or other variety
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 1/4 cup water or stock or more
salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro to taste

Instructions

In a medium pot under low-medium heat, add your smoked meat, orange zest, garlic, onion, jalapeno, capers, sazon, and herbs. Saute for a few minutes, til onions are translucent.
Add beans, tossing til everything is combined.
Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.
Then add your honeynut squash and any more liquid if necessary. Simmer til tender, about 15-20 minutes. Discard orange zest and woody herbs.
Serve with rice or bread.

Keyword Beans, Comfort Food, Quick, Stew

Seasonal, Soup

whatever-you-have minestrone

April 3, 2020January 17, 2021by Crystal Rivera1 Comment

You know what I have? Canned and frozen goods. Know what I need? Soup. This is what I used:

-a small ziplock filled with saved beef bones from the freezer
-1 leek, sliced after a good cleaning
-3 cloves garlic, chopped
-2 celery stalks, sliced
-1 large carrot, diced
-2 bay leaves
-dried red pepper, I use aleppo pepper
-14.5oz can of diced fire roasted tomatoes plus same amount of water
-parmesan rind, I keep mine in the freezer
-14.5oz canned cannellini beans plus 2×water or stock, more if you want it brothy
-275g potatoes (a little over a cup), I use golden varieties but any will do
-200g zucchini (about 3/4 cup), cored if large and very seedy, diced
-handfuls of frozen peas, or any frozen veggie
-chopped greens such as kale, swiss chard, whatever you have

Literally, whatever. Any kind of bean or green or herb or saved rind. A different allium or canned tomato or root vegetable. I wish I had pumpkin or sweet potatoes, but I didn’t. Frozen peas was a nice touch of sweet that was missing. Frozen or canned corn is nice, too.

I browned the bones first in some olive oil and red pepper, then added leeks, garlic, celery and carrot. Sauted them for a couple of minutes then added the bay leaves, diced tomatoes, water, and rind. Allow that to simmer for 25 minutes before adding beans and more stock. Allow that to boil for 15 minutes then add your potatoes. After about 8 minutes when the potatoes are slightly tender, you’ll add the zucchini and peas. When they are ready, your greens come next. Turn off the stove and add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle away.

I served mine with Jamie Oliver’s baked tiella rice from Jamie Cooks Italy. Layers of cherry tomatoes, potatoes, celery, mussels, parmesan, zuchinni..cooked in prosecco say what!? It was magic. But, please, this soup is quite filling on it’s own.

Comfort Food, Seasonal, Tomatoes

Citrus Braised Beans, Ramps, Tomatoes, and Olives

May 12, 2019March 24, 2022by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you someone else ate the whole pot of beans before I could even fully enjoy a bowl of them. Well, they did. The day that I was recipe developing, I took photographs of the wildly Spring contents, then ran out to Brooklyn to spend some time with Danny, thinking there’d be enough for me to try when I return. (It serves 4 people, people!) How wrong was I. I received a text: “they were delicious! I finished them off with a baguette.” Ha! There’s a serving suggestion for you, am I right?

And so I made it again the next day, each spoonful creating a sigh, hiding in my room with the pot til I was ready to share.

The heirloom beans are called Jacob’s Cattle Beans. And I love them.

I eyed their small and spotted bodies at a farmstand at Union Square, where I also bought everything else that wound up in this recipe. Ramps. Tomatoes. Olives. Garlic. Dill. As usual, I had no idea they’d be coming together. Every time I make beans, I “beanstorm” (as Dan calls it) the day before, but shrug off everything I stormed on about. So to get things moving along in the morning, I simmer them in a pot til I remember that, yes, I have ramps, tomatoes, olives, garlic, and dill. How would this taste if they all got together? Perhaps a little too good. Perhaps good enough to eat…a whole pot’s worth? With a baguette. Don’t forget the baguette.

For this recipe, any variety of beans will do, just make sure they are mostly similar in size if using more than one variety. The bigger one will always take a tad longer to cook. And if you have an Instagram or TikTok, find me on there! I am about to post a video of me making these beans using what I have!

citrus braised beans, tomatoes, and olives

Print Recipe

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

for the beans after it's overnight soak

1 cup dried beans any variety but similar in size if using more than 1
1 carrot halved (optional)
1/2 onion
1/2 a head of garlic tips cut off to reveal cloves
3 sprigs fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, tarragon) OR
1-2 bay leaves
water enough to cover the beans

for braising

1-2 parmesan rinds
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved if big
8-10 castelvetrano or grilled olives
1/2 head of garlic from previous step OR
1 small bunch ramps when in season
2 long strips of orange zest
1 long strip of lemon zest
1-1 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
drizzle of olive oil

Instructions

for the beans after their soak

Put everything listed in an ovenproof pot and simmer for about 20 minutes. Longer if using a bigger variety of beans. You want them slightly tender as they will continue cooking in the oven later.
Discard the onion, carrot, and herbs.

for braising

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Most of the water from the previous step would have evaporated. Once you've added the rest of the ingredients listed, cover the beans with broth, bring to a boil, then cover the pot with it's lid and give it some time in the oven, for about an hour. During the last 15 minutes, take off the lid so that the surface can caramelize. Feel free to add more broth if you'd like.

Keyword Comfort Food, Heirloom beans, Simple

As for the garlic? They should be buttery at this point. Squeeze a clove out of it’s peel and spread it, like butter, on a piece of bread. I promise they are in there for a reason (not just to create a beautiful broth).

This is what the latest batch looked like. As you can see, ramps aren’t here yet but I do think they will appear any day now! I used 3 variety of beans and grilled olives. Served it with homemade sourdough focaccia.

Food Talk, salad

citrus green bean salad & Tuscan-style beans

January 13, 2019January 14, 2019by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

If you can find me competing with squirrels for my neighbor’s figs, then you best believe I was found, on vacation, taking the neighborhood’s oranges from trees bustling with these thick-skinned globes.

As if I didn’t have enough of them, I purchased honeybells, meyer lemons, and tasted a variety of oranges at the farmers market. They made a wonderful addition to a refreshing green bean salad that I made not once, but twice.

Inspired by a meal I shared with Victoria Anzalone in Astoria at Milkflower right before heading to Englewood, Florida, I fell in love with it’s simplicity. The green beans were kept crisp, tossed in a vinaigrette, and topped with sharp cheese, orange segments, slivered almonds, and quick-pickled radicchio. That’s it.

Mine was inspired by Florida and everything I fell in love with at Englewood Farmers Market.

Wild orange roasted nuts, which were handed to Dan and I with the promise that we’d pay this kind man a week later because we ran out of cash. We paid Ashley Gray, suitcases in tow, an hour before hopping on the plane heading to NY. The cheese we used was a creamy asiago aged with raspberry ale from Stamper Cheese Company. The oranges were sorta-kinda stolen, and used for a citrus vinaigrette to toss the beans with.

Directions:
We’re using a pound of green beans, trimmed, boiled in salted water for 2 minutes, placed in ice water, then drained. The color of your beans should be bright and glorious. Toss them with a citrus vinaigrette (juice from half a small orange, couple of splashes of apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar, little bit of olive oil, salt and black or red pepper.) Keep in fridge marinating in this dressing for at least 30 minutes before serving. Plate the beans, top them with orange segments, crushed nuts of your choosing, your favorite sharp cheese.

I love seeing them on the plate. When I returned home, I made this again but with blood oranges, feta, no nuts, and golden raisins. The dressing was a fig balsamic. Use what you got, I always say!

I served this with brothy, Tuscan-inspired beans with greens. A beautiful lunch made with ingredients I bought from a Korean farmer at Fresh Harvest who is head-over-heels in love with everything she grew. She handed me the perfect cherry tomatoes, long beans, chinese broccoli. The leafy broccoli and colorful tomatoes were perfect for this.

Ingredients

for the beans
– 1 cup dried baby lima beans, soaked over night
– 1 large garlic clove, smashed gently
– half a small onion
– bay leaf or sprig of rosemary
for the “soup”
– 4 garlic cloves, chopped
– 1 small onion, diced
– 1 large carrot, diced
– cherry tomatoes, chopped
– fresh thyme
– dash of white wine or rose, optional
– parmesan rind
– 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
– 1 cup variety of greens (parsley, chinese broccoli)

Directions

In the morning, drain beans after it’s over night soak, cover with fresh water in a medium saucepan along with 1 garlic clove, half onion, and bay leaf. Let simmer for 2 hours or til tender. Time varies. In a pot, drizzle olive oil and saute garlic, onion, carrot, tomatoes and thyme for a few minutes. Add the cooked beans and everything but the greens. Cook for 30 minutes more and then add your greens. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve with garlic crostinis and salad.

New Years celebration involved a cheese platter with everything from the market, including a Pear Habanero Jam and a Strawberry Chocolate jam. I smuggled these onto the plane and have been using them like crazy.

Dessert was kept simple, thanks to Jamie Oliver’s New Years advice: frozen grapes with chocolate bark.

2019 started off beautifully and, I might say this every year, but I think it’s going to be a good one. I’m moving out next month. I’m getting a shout-out in Edible Queens magazine for the Swedish Meatballs I recently shared on my Instagram. My friendships and family remain fiercely solid. I’m going to live about 30 minutes away from my job, which gives me more time in the kitchen and even more time to do personal chef side jobs in the summer. I’m finally listening to Danny: no more maybes, much more doing, a whole lot less self-induced anxieties. I hope your year started off on a good note as well. We need a good one, don’t we?

Food Talk, salad

cooking with oranges

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018by Crystal Rivera1 Comment

Why an orange in all the things? Since I was young, one sip of orange juice would upset my stomach. I loved the taste, but I have never been able to enjoy an orange and for years I never bothered going anywhere near one. That is, until I began cooking and baking with them. It turns out, I love oranges better when paired with salty, savory flavors. Hard cheeses. As a marinade for chicken or pork. Marmalade. But marmalade-as-BBQ sauce WHAT!? I’ll get to that later.

I am definitely in love with oranges when fresh thyme, rosemary, and cumin are present. Any fresh herb, really. I once had mussels in a Harlem restaurant with Connie and I kept asking myself, what is this amazingness I am tasting? Orange zest in a spicy broth. Mind blown.

Let’s just say I went a little orange-crazy for Jen’s birthday dinner. Even one of her gifts from me–a latin seasoning packet–had bitter orange peels in it.

The night before, I sleepily baked an Orange Bundt Cake, using cara cara oranges. I did not follow any of the instructions for the wet ingredients because a part of me did not agree with them. It only called for oil? No butter? I threw 2 sticks of room-temp butter in there, no oil, and hoped for the best. And you know what? It was perfectly orange. Soft and moist. I made an icing out of a couple of squeezes of fresh orange juice and its zest, vanilla extract. Served it with fig and orange jam for breakfast after I gently toasted a slice. I’m calling this a Birthday Bundt for Breakfast. I made it again for Tory, using cake flour and way more zest. I drizzled white and chocolate icing over it. It came out even better, I think.

In the morning, it was time to stew the beans. Remember the recipe for my stewed beans I shared with you some time ago? I have been throwing a few orange peels into the pot ever since I did so in Florida. For Jen’s birthday feast, I even threw in a half of rotisserie chicken which fell apart in the pot and gave it an extra salty something. I’ve done this once before, about two years ago. Not sure why it’s taken me two years to do it again. I remember Dan and I thinking it was a fantastic idea. Perfect for when you have leftover chicken and not sure what to do with it.

Stewed Beans & Chicken with Orange Peels

Servings: about 6
Time: 1hr 10mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

drizzle of olive oil
couple of thyme sprigs
tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeño, diced
few medium-sized orange peels
2 16 oz cans cannellini beans
1 16 oz tomato sauce
16 oz water
half (leftover) chicken, dark meat, bone-in
salt n pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in dutch oven or pot and add thyme, cumin seeds, onion, and jalapeños. Saute for a few minutes. Add everything else and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Take out chicken (which is probably super tender by now), shred, and put back into the pot. Serve with basmati rice.

Note: I used canned beans for this recipe because I didn’t have dried on hand, but by all means, if you have them, use them instead. Soak over night.

Variations

I’ve made this recipe using small red beans, and pinto beans. They work very well, I just really love cannellini! Want to use other herbs? Cilantro was the only green my mom used for these beans for years. If you have them, definitely use them. Sometimes I find myself adding dried oregano as well. As for an added richness, sub some water for chicken stock.

If you’re looking for meatless stewed beans, which is what I usually make, I add potatoes and carrots, even olives, or nothing at all! Sometimes, I just want BEANS.

Here is the original stewed beans recipe.

As a fresh side made with my farmers market haul, this salad was served: mixed greens with baby arugula, purple cabbage, roasted beets, cara cara oranges (yes, the peels went into the beans), and rupert cheese from Scarbourough Fare farms.

Expect way more orange-inspired dishes on this blog! I believe blood orange and meyer lemon marmalade is next–but smothered all over spicy ribs and used in replacement of BBQ sauce. NBD.

Food Talk, Garden, Soup, Summer, Tomatoes

a summer harvest put-together

September 26, 2017October 2, 2017by Crystal RiveraLeave a Comment

I am found in the kitchen most mornings, no later than 9AM. Not only because I get home pretty late from work (8:30-9PM!), but it’s truly my favorite way to spend any morning. The house is quiet. I water my lucky cross tomatoes, a bi-colored beauty which grew slowly from seed (in a 20-gallon grow bag, mind you) but sadly only had a chance to produce a single, blushing fruit. There were a few green ones, but end-rot took over. When your babies become calcium deficient, you begin to question your parenting, eh? I consider every season a learning season, and next year I’ll have plenty to share with friends, you just watch.

When I get to watering my Sicilian eggplants, which are still producing, I stare alarmingly long at their bashful flowers. That is what you do when your favorite color on earth is found, growing happily in a container. Dan told me he’s only growing eggplants and tomatoes next year. A whole lot of them. I can’t say I blame him.

I harvest what’s ready. Usually thyme and basil, as well as arugula, is waiting to be clipped more than anything else. I toss the harvest in a pan. If my garden wasn’t plentiful this summer, Dan’s was (still is!), and he always made sure I went home with the day’s harvest in my tote. Gratitude for every cherry and roma tomato that entered my kitchen, and for every eggplant my cast iron enjoyed. Zucchini, large and small–thank you.

I want to highlight one of my morning put-togethers because it has been the most satisfying to me. One evening, Dan handed me two, long Italian eggplants, two zucchinis, and cherry tomatoes. Next morning, I took out my cast iron and wooden spoon and got to work. This meal was so simple and true, I will make this many times more. Dice eggplants and salt them for about a half hour. On high heat I sauteed the eggplant and zucchini, along with thyme from my garden, in the pan with very good olive oil, salt and red pepper. I added the tomatoes and put dollops of ricotta on top with some of my basil, drizzled a little more olive oil, then popped it in the oven for about 20 minutes til the tomatoes were about to burst. I tossed some with pasta that night, and next day I spread the rest on bread. It was beautiful.

I made this again once I got home from Florida, but this time I added green beans. I also added a little bit of chicken broth and it came out even better. I am obsessed with cooking with thyme and broth these days. Almost as obsessed as I am with Dan’s cherry tomatoes which, kissed by Brooklyn sun, tastes loudly of savory and sweet. This meal was featured on Edible Queens’ Insta BTW! What!?!? That made me super happy because within the next few months, I hope to be submitting some work their way.

One thing I know I’ll be growing again next year is arugula. Mine tastes like GARLIC and pepper. I ended up putting them in everything, from scrambled eggs, to stirfrys. I dressed them with fig balsamic and sicilian lemons for salads to sweeten up their spice. It grows very quickly from seed and thrives most in cooler weather. Next year, I’ll be growing at least 6 herbs, more lettuces, and I need to get my hand on some fairytale eggplant seeds! They are super container-friendly. I’ll leave all the bigger plants to Dan.

I also grew curly kale, no longer with me as bugs took a liking to them. But before bugs, it was strong and plentiful, and the best thing I did with it was put their chopped leaves in a white bean parmesan soup. The broth was delicate and nutty, entirely healing. The one thing that’s gotten me super excited about Autumn is all the soups and stews I plan on making.

Most of September was warm. Cool weather has finally reached us and you know that it has because I came home yesterday with a 1/2 bushel of apples and zero plans for them (send me your favorite apple recipes?) Even Loonz wants to know what I’ve gotten myself into.

Happy Autumn, everyone! Let’s welcome all the warm spices into our homes, make soups that are the tightest of hugs.