Bonkers For These Beans

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A Dozen Cousins Mexican Cowboy Beans.

A Dozen Cousins Mexican Cowboy Beans.

 

For some endeavors, it might take a village.

But to create some deliriously delectable beans? It simply takes A Dozen Cousins.

This new Berkeley company has launched a line of gourmet, ready-to-eat beans with global flavors that will win you over from the first taste.

Ibraheem Basir, a former marketing manager at General Mills who worked on natural foods brands such as Annie’s Homegrown, named the company after his daughter and her 11 cousins.

Made with avocado oil, the beans are non-GMO, vegan and gluten-free. They come in 10-ounce BPA-free, microwaveable pouches that serve two (about 1/2 cup each). They boast 6 to 8 grams of protein per serving and 7 grams of fiber.

They come in handy microwavable packages.

They come in handy microwavable packages.

They are available in three flavors: Mexican Cowboy Beans, Cuban Black Beans, and Trini Chickpea Curry.

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A Delicious Taste of Georgia (As In Eastern Europe, Not the Deep South) in Palo Alto

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Giant soup-filled dumplings at Bevri.

Giant soup-filled dumplings at Bevri.

 

Russian food is certainly not something you find on every street corner.

Georgian cuisine? Well, you have to squint even harder for that.

Fortunately, though, if you point your eyes in just the right direction, you will find what is thought to be the only Georgian restaurant in Northern California.

Bevri opened in downtown Palo Alto in 2018. It is a gem of a place founded by Google employee Pavel Sirotin with his brother and sister-in-law. Russian-born Sirotin noticed the dearth of Georgian restaurants when he moved to the Bay Area a few years ago. So he decided to open his own — despite not ever owning a restaurant before.

The open kitchen, where bags of spice blends and jars of preserves are displayed for sale, too.

The open kitchen, where bags of spice blends and jars of preserves are displayed for sale, too.

The intimate dining room.

The intimate dining room.

When my friend and I took our Russian-born friend Lina out for her birthday recently, we couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate than Bevri, where we paid our own tab at the end. It even gave Lina a fun opportunity to converse in Russian with the waitstaff.

Bevri celebrates the cuisine of Georgia, located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, which was once part of the Soviet Union. You can see influences from both those regions in this hearty, comforting food.

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Salt Fat Acid Heat — And A Whole Meyer Lemon

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This lively Meyer lemon salsa will add more punch to most anything.

This lively Meyer lemon salsa will add more punch to most anything.

 

Meet one of the easiest, most useful recipes you’ll ever encounter: “Meyer Lemon Salsa.”

Of course it’s from the best-selling Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking (Simon & Schuster, 2017) by Berkeley’s extraordinary Samin Nosrat.

If you haven’t yet picked up a copy of the book, do yourself a favor and get one pronto. With whimsical illustrations and a warm, engaging voice, it will teach you instantly and painlessly how to be a better cook.

Salt Fat Acid Heat

And if you haven’t yet caught Nosrat’s “Salt Fat Acid Heat” four-part Netflix cooking show, binge-watch it this week. It’s thoroughly captivating and will make you fall in love with this natural-born teacher and food personality with the winning, infectious spirit.

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RightRice — That’s Not Really Rice

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It looks like rice, but...

It looks like rice, but…

 

When is rice not really rice? When it’s RightRice, a just-launched, rice-like product that’s actually made from lentil flour, chickpea flour and pea fiber.

While it does contain a little rice flour (less than 10 percent), it’s designed to be a viable alternative to folks who love rice, but want to cut down on carbs and starches.

It was created by San Francisco’s Keith Belling, the founder of Popchips, that wildly successful, addictive potato snack that is neither baked nor fried but ends up crisp as can be from a combination of heat and pressure. It also boasts half the fat of regular potato chips.

It's actually RightRice.

It’s actually RightRice.

With RightRice, he’s created a product that has more than double the protein, five times the fiber, and almost 40 percent fewer net carbs than a bowl of white rice. It’s also non-GMO and vegan.

So just how does it taste?

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Greek Spicy Aromatic Braised Lamb Shanks with Chickpeas

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Big, meaty lamb shanks braised with nutty chickpeas.

Big, meaty lamb shanks braised with nutty chickpeas.

 

Besides my KitchenAid mixer, the workhorse of my kitchen — especially at this time of year — is my Dutch oven.

In bewitching cobalt and made by Le Creuset, it’s an investment that has paid off handsomely in the many satisfying soups and stews it has cooked slowly, evenly and nourishingly.

So I grabbed it immediately when I spied the recipe for “Spicy Aromatic Braised Lamb Shanks with Chickpeas” in the newest cookbook by chef, cooking school owner and Greek cuisine expert Diane Kochilas.

“My Greek Table: Authentic Flavors and Modern Home Cooking from My Kitchen to Yours” (St. Martin’s Press), of which I received a review copy, is all about the dishes that Kochilas cooks at home for friends and family, be they classics or innovations inspired by Mediterranean ingredients. There’s everything from “Whole Wheat Baklava Muffins” and “Greek-Style Tuna Melt” to “Artichoke Moussaka with Caramelized Onions and Feta” and “Ouzo-Glazed Chicken Wings.”

My Greek Table

This lamb dish, originally from the islands of eastern Aegean, will require you to use your largest Dutch oven on hand, as six shanks take up quite a bit of real estate.

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