Servings: 8 people
Calories: 52kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh beans if using dried you'll need to soak before cooking
- 4-5 garlic cloves diced,
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 medium bell pepper diced
- 5-6 padron peppers substitute other mild chili peppers or remove the seeds from any spicy ones like )serrano, jalapeno, fresno)
- 2-3 celery stems whole
- 2 medium carrots peeled
- 2-3 medium tomatoes core removed
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 2-3 culantro leaves substitute fresh cilantro (¼ cup roughly chopped)
- 2-3 large swiss chard leaves cleaned, de-stemmed, and roughly chopped
- 1 ½ cups Vegetable Stock
- 1 cup Water or enough to cover the beans completely
Instructions
Make spice mix
- Combine paprika, allspice, salt, and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
Make Sofrito
- Dice garlic, bell peppers, and onions. Saute them in a pan with olive oil 1-2 minutes. Add a pinch or two of the dry seasoning mix.
Cook The Beans
- Add the beans to the pot and mix them with the sofrito. Add a bit more seasoning plus the peeled but uncut carrots, whole celery, tomatoes, vegetable stock, water, bay leaf, patron peppers, and half the remaining spice mix. Bring beans to a boil then reduce to a simmer covered for 30-40 minutes.
Puree The Vegetables
- Remove vegetables (carrots, celery, padron peppers, and tomatoes) from the pot of beans. Place veggies in a food processor along with a ¼ cup or more of the cooking liquid, and the culantro then puree to a thick paste.
- Add pureed mix, last of the seasoning, and the Swiss chard. Cook another 15 minutes. Stir and serve.
Video
Notes
I used fresh beans for this recipe so soaking the beans was unnecessary. However, if you use dry beans you’ll definitely need to soak them prior to cooking.
Cranberry beans are heirloom, so you’ll likely find them at farmer’s markets or specialty grocery stores. Depending on the location you can find them in the bulk section with other dry beans.
Your sofrito can be as simple or complex as you prefer. I kept things very simple with your base ingredients (garlic, onions, and peppers). Sofrito is a Caribbean thing - using aromatic ingredients to add a layer of flavor to any dish.
Don’t skip the puree step. This is a major flavor bomb! First off the vegetables cooked whole infuse the beans with fresh flavor vegetables. The vegetables absorb the flavors from the beans as well.
Adding the culantro to the puree adds a fresh herbal and brightening element to the dish. All these flavors are married together by adding the puree back.
Culantro and cilantro are cousins. Culantro is primarily found in ethnic markets focused on Caribbean or Latin markets. Culantro has more intense flavor, but if it’s not available feel free to substitute cilantro.
This approach to cooking beans works for most beans. Feel free to substitute red, kidney, navy, lima, etc. as subs for cranberry beans.
Serve these beans with other sides like instant pot green beans and coconut rice.
Nutrition
Calories: 52kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 520mg | Potassium: 406mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 4789IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg
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