- Submitted by Dahlia
(Green Leafy Vegetables cooked with Beans)
Jump to recipe ↓
This article is not for any specific recipe. I just wanted to share an idea with everyone, that of cooking green leafy vegetables together with any bean variety. Many of us will already be aware of this and must have tried it. The combination of greens and beans take the leafy vegetables to a whole new level. Even people who do not like green leafy vegetables will love it when any dry beans is combined with it.
We all are aware of the health benefits of green leafy vegetables. Doctors recommend eating greens atleast twice a week. It sometimes becomes a challenge to feed the children these greens. Thats how I came up with this idea of adding little beans to my leaves. My daughter started eating her vegetable without any fuss. I just keep aside little soaked beans whenever I make curries to be used with greens the next day.
You can use your own imagination and combine different greens and beans. Using different combinations and with the same recipe you can make several different sabzis like spinach green peas sabzi, cabbage kala chana sabzi, brussels sprouts channa sabzi, cabbage green peas sabzi, collard greens channa sabzi, methi matar sabzi, spinach blackeyed beans curry etc... The best part about combining the greens and beans is that it goes very well with both white rice and any roti varieties. I am sure you will give it a try.
Recipe For Greens & Beans Dishes
Preparation time: 2-8 hours (including soaking time for beans)
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- Beans (Any whole/split beans) - 1/2 cup (Chik Peas, Black Chik Peas, Green Peas, Kidney Beans, Black Eyed Beans, Adzuki Beans, White Beans, Butter Beans etc)
- Greens (Any leafy vegetable) - 2 cups (Cabbage, Spinach, Turnip greens, Swiss Chard, Brussels Sprouts, Methi etc)
- Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
- Fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp
- Green Chillies - 3-4
- Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
- Asafoetida - a pinch
- Oil - 1 tsp
Method
- Soak the beans in enough water overnight. You can use chick peas, black chick pea, green peas, rajma, any type of lentils or any other beans.
- Cook the beans with enough water in a pressure cooker until the beans is soft. Different beans take different time, so cook accordingly.
- Drain the water and reserve it for any other gravies. I usually take some channa or rajma when making curry and keep aside to be added with greens the next day.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the mustard seeds.
- Add the chopped greens (vegetable), turmeric powder and asafoetida.
- Cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the greens are cooked.
- Grind together the coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies. Add this to the cooked greens along with required salt. Adding coconut paste is optional but being a south Indian, I love it.
- Also add the cooked beans at this stage. Open the lid and stir fry till you get a dry side dish.
Serving Green with Beans
- This goes very well with rice and rasam, mor kulambu or pulikulambu.
- The addition of beans also makes it an apt side dish for chapatti.
Different Options
- Spinach cooked with Green Peas
- Spinach cooked with Black eyed beans
More Green Leaf Recipes