BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN SOUP with RED PEPPER and LIME

It's the season to be soupy - if you're down-under at least. I made some fantastic soups this week. They didn't just taste it, they looked great too - often an issue with soups that wind up a dull brown or grey.

I have made various versions of black bean soup over the years, but usually they are blended to a thick blackish puree. While tasty, I have felt a little odd gulping back black goo.

This hearty ensemble is a departure from that blended style and quite impressive to serve up: Soft black beans in a dark purple broth alongside strands of red pepper; with a generous dollop of sour cream, sprinkled with shavings of lime rind and fresh coriander leaves.

I adapted this recipe from a soup based around a bacon hock. I wasn't sure if a vegetarian version would cut it, and maybe it wouldn't if you had tasted the meaty version.

Billie had no complaints, and neither did my blog pal Violet Tingle. I took it to her place ahead of a Friday night blogathon. Alas, Blogger was down and so was Ms Tingle's internet. So we just ate soup. Bread is not needed but it pals well with lager.

And don't dare leave out the sour cream. If possible go for a good quality version that is literally soured cream and therefore quite runny. (If you're in Australia this means Barambah - and I'm not being paid).

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN SOUP with RED PEPPER and LIME

(Adapted from a Julie Biuso recipe)


2 1/2 cups black beans (also called turtle)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped finely
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper or chili (more if desired)
4 bay leaves
fresh ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 stock cube
salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 red pepper (capsicum), chopped into bite sized pieces (reserve some for garnish)
2 Tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped


Garnish:
sour cream
extra chopped fresh coriander
one lime to zest and juice
the red pepper pieces from above


Rinse black beans and soak in 7 cups of cold water - for about 8 hours. Drain and rinse. 


Heat oil in large pot and saute onions and then garlic over a low heat for about ten minutes or until soft. Add spices, followed by beans and 3 litres of water (just 1 litre if beans already cooked in pressure cooker) with a dissolved stock cube, the bay leaves and black pepper. Bring to boil, add parsley and lower heat. Simmer with lid off for two hours or until beans are very soft. 


Add lime juice, red pepper and fresh coriander. Check for seasoning - you'll probably want to add a teaspoon of sea salt. Cook for another ten minutes.


Place in bowls and garnish with a spoon of sour cream, some red pepper, coriander and lime zest. Squeeze a generous squirt of lime juice over the top - this tastes great and gives you some extra vitamin c to absorb the beans from the iron. The red pepper will do this also.


Delicious, filling and healthy.

NOTE FOR PRESSURE COOKER USERS: If you have a pressure cooker you can reduce soaking and cooking time substantially. Soak beans for a few hours and then place in pressure cooker with 5 cups cold water and cook for 15 minutes once up to pressure. They don't need to be fully cooked as will continue to cook in the soup. Meanwhile, get the broth going - but use 1 litre rather than 3 of additional water. Add the beans and their cooking liquid to the broth and simmer down for 45-60 mins with the lid off.

FOR BABIES 7 MONTHS AND OLDER: Reserve some well-cooked beans (before cayenne and salt is added) and puree.
FOR BABIES 10 MONTHS AND OLDER: Remove beans from soup and serve as finger food.
FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS 12 MONTHS AND OVER: Serve as is - stirring a generous amount of sour cream through if they aren't partial to a little heat (it's only mild anyway)

IRON SPECIAL - ESSENTIAL INFO AND RECIPES

Iron is a tricky one, but after a bit of research I reckon the best solution is to eat a WIDE RANGE OF HEALTHY FOODS every day.


Recently a reader, Violet Tingle, requested a Billie Bites Iron Special after she ditched cooking meat at home. This spurred me to dig around and clear up some confusing information surrounding iron absorption in foods. Below the facts and figures you'll find links to Billie Bites iron-rich recipes.


The best iron tip is to  always eat vitamin C at the same time - necessary for absorption, particularly for non-meat iron forms. This is easy and straight forward, and you probably do it without thinking. But keep these in mind:

• Eat fresh fruit with cereal. 
• Slice up a fresh tomato to include in your sandwich or on whole grain toast, with hommus
• Serve fresh tomatoes with spinach salad, or just on the side with dahl, chili beans, tofu, lentils etc
• Squeeze lemon or lime juice over meals - only cut open fruit just before serving
• Vitamin C diminishes during cooking and over time. So those juice bars are a rip-off

But what's been bugging me is the warning by my midwife when I was pregnant to keep calcium away from iron. One midwife even said to avoid ice cream after a steak, if you were so inclined.


For a while I tortured myself trying to follow this rule. And I enforced it with Billie for a while too. But I'm sorry, nachos without cheese or yoghurt/sour cream? Spinach pie without feta? Dahl without yoghurt? No. Wrong. Very wrong.


I was a little suspicious that I had been duped when this warning about mixing calcium and iron didn't come up anywhere else.


Wandering around on the internet this month, sticking to reputable government and university sites, I had to look pretty hard to find this calcium/iron warning repeated. The Australian government health sites did not mention it. 


However, a minerals fact sheet put out by MIT in the United States, does report that ''calcium and iron combined in a meal may decrease the absorption of iron''. And other US government sites mentioned it. 'Decrease' i think is the key word. You'll still get some.


But then the MIT fact sheet goes on to warn against mixing your iron with phosphates (sodas), polyphenols (red wine, purple grape juice, coffee, tea, spices, some fruits, some vegetables), wheat bran, phytates (phytic acids found in legumes, grains and rice can decrease absorption by 50%), tannins (teas, coffees), manganese, cobalt, copper, cadmium (in cigarette smoke), calcium, legume protein (soybeans, lentils, black beans, mung beans, and split peas), lignin (fibrous tissued vegetables) and soy protein. Nonheme - vegetarian - iron is more affected by the above inhibitors than heme - meat and seafood - iron.


It turns out many foods we eat for iron, also contain calcium, and also polyphenols and phytates (found in legumes and whole grains). So clearly, nature didn't intend us to bother leaving cheese off our nachos. (This is my opinion, after doing the reading. Please seek advice from your GP to be certain, particularly if pregnant).

And look at all the food sources for iron, from our friends at MIT:

Kelp, curry powder, brewer's yeast, shellfish, fortified cereals, blackstrap molasses, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, parsley, almonds, canned sardines, dried apricots, prunes, cashews, tomato paste, artichokes, brazil nuts, beet greens, dandelion leaves, walnuts, whole wheat bread, semisweet chocolate, lentils, peanuts, eggs, bean curd, beef, great northern beans, corned beef, watercress, kidney beans, green peas, brown rice, ripe olives, Boston baked beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, red wine, white fish, wheat germ, soy flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, firm tofu, raisins, light tuna, oysters, dark meat of chicken, shrimp, and baked potato with skin. (Their highlights, not mine).

Source:  MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (US) Last updated 5/30/2007 


But a very important one they have missed is QUINOA. Perhaps because this ancient super food has yet to make it on to the mainstream stage. But it's up there with the best of them, Quinoa offers at least as much iron as kidney beans. See below for recipe suggestions.

We need iron to carry oxygen around our bodies where it is used for energy. There are two types of iron:

1. Haem iron - found in red meats, seafood and poultry
2. Non-haem iron - predominantly found in:
• Legumes eg beans, lentils, tofu, dried peas/split peas, hommus
• Wholegrain breads and cereals.
• Green leafy vegetables.
• Nuts and seeds. eg peanut butter and tahini
• Eggs.
• Dried fruits.
• Breakfast cereals with added iron.

As mentioned, Vitamin C helps the body to absorb more iron. Foods that are high in vitamin C include some fruits (rockmelon, strawberries, pineapple, citrus fruits, oranges, mandarins, kiwi fruit and tomato) and some vegetables (broccoli, capsicum, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts).

Sources: Iron foods fact sheet from NSW Health; Hungry Human Beans: A Guide for Vegetarian Diets in Children from NSW Health

The tables below are from the United States Food and Drug Administration:

Table 1: Selected Food Sources of Nonheme Iron

Food	Milligrams per serving	% DV*
Ready-to-eat cereal, 100% iron fortified, ¾ cup	18.0	100
Oatmeal, instant, fortified, prepared with water, 1 cup	10.0	60
Soybeans, mature, boiled, 1 cup	8.8	50
Lentils, boiled, 1 cup	6.6	35
Beans, kidney, mature, boiled, 1 cup	5.2	25
Beans, lima, large, mature, boiled, 1 cup	4.5	25
Beans, navy, mature, boiled, 1 cup	4.5	25
Ready-to-eat cereal, 25% iron fortified, ¾ cup	4.5	25
Beans, black, mature, boiled, 1 cup	3.6	20
Beans, pinto, mature, boiled, 1 cup	3.6	20
Molasses, blackstrap, 1 tablespoon	3.5	20
Tofu, raw, firm, ½ cup	3.4	20
Spinach, boiled, drained, ½ cup	3.2	20
Spinach, canned, drained solids ½ cup	2.5	10
Black-eyed peas (cowpeas), boiled, 1 cup	1.8	10
Spinach, frozen, chopped, boiled ½ cup	1.9	10
Grits, white, enriched, quick, prepared with water, 1 cup	1.5	8
Raisins, seedless, packed, ½ cup	1.5	8
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice	0.9	6
White bread, enriched, 1 slice	0.9	6

*DV = Daily Value. The DV for iron is 18 milligrams (mg). A food providing 5% of the DV or less is a low source while a food that provides 10-19% of the DV is a good source. A food that provides 20% or more of the DV is high in that nutrient. It is important to remember that foods that provide lower percentages of the DV also contribute to a healthful diet. For foods not listed in this table, please refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database Web site:http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl.

What affects iron absorption?

Healthy adults absorb about 10% to 15% of dietary iron, but individual absorption is influenced by several factors.

Storage levels of iron have the greatest influence on iron absorption. Iron absorption increases when body stores are low. When iron stores are high, absorption decreases to help protect against toxic effects of iron overload. Iron absorption is also influenced by the type of dietary iron consumed. Absorption of heme iron from meat proteins is efficient. Absorption of heme iron ranges from 15% to 35%, and is not significantly affected by diet. In contrast, 2% to 20% of nonheme iron in plant foods such as rice, maize, black beans, soybeans and wheat is absorbed. Nonheme iron absorption is significantly influenced by various food components. 

Table 2: Recommended Dietary Allowances for Iron for Infants (7 to 12 months), Children, and Adults [1]

Age	Males (mg/day)	Females (mg/day)	Pregnancy (mg/day)	Lactation (mg/day)
7 to 12 months	11	11	N/A	N/A
1 to 3 years	7	7	N/A	N/A
4 to 8 years	10	10	N/A	N/A
9 to 13 years	8	8	N/A	N/A
14 to 18 years	11	15	27	10
19 to 50 years	8	18	27	9
51+ years	8	8	N/A	N/A

Source: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/



Check out this site for good nutritional break-downs for kidney beans and other foods

Billie Bites Iron-rich Recipes

This is just a selection from this blog - some of my recipes containing ingredients with high iron scores. More to come. Looks like if you eat Billie Bites-style, you'll be doing alright for iron.




Red Summer Quinoa Salad with Lime, Olives and Mint


Three Sisters Stew with Quinoa


Super Patties with Tofu, Brown Rice and Walnuts 


Nutty Fritters with Tofu and Sweet Potato

Magic Rolls - Tofu and Pecan 'Sausage Rolls'


Baby Friendly Curry - Pumpkin, Coconut, Tomato and Tofu


Sarah's Classic Chili Beans (with tacos)

Santa Fe Black Bean Salad

Black Beans and Sweet Corn with Polenta

Great Grandpa Lou's Italian Manasta

Great Grandma Eve's Vegetable Chili


Salad for All with Puy Lentils


Cheesy Spinach Potatoes


Lentil, Beet and Goat's Cheese Salad


Spinach Dahl


Triple A Salad - Arame, Almond and Avocado with Spinach


Spiced Lentil and Pumpkin Soup with Yoghurt


Sumac Roasted Vegetable and Lentil Salad

Miream's Foul Medammas

STINGING NETTLE SOUP

Preparing the stinging nettles

 When Billie and I arrived to stay with friends in Melbourne on Saturday I admit I wasn't too excited when they announced what was for dinner. So I opted for the alternative of eating out - we were in Melbourne after all. But when Sunday evening rolled round I decided to take the plunge. I even offered to make it. Stinging Nettle Soup anyone?

Well, I'm now a covert to this fabulous SUPER VEGETABLE, which tastes like spinach and boasts a load of minerals and vitamins, including iron. In fact it's more than that. Stinging nettle has been used for many medicinal purposes by many different peoples for many, many years. To learn more, check out this Canadian article: WONDER PLANT . Or for some quick facts: stinging nettle on wikipedia

Stinging nettle of course stings when fresh and raw (soaking, cooking or drying remove the stings) so please note the rubber gloves.

Billie and Emily chat while waiting lunch at the Ceres' cafe

Sourcing this hardy weed may require a rummage in your local forest or garden. If you're in Melbourne, head to Ceres  -  Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies

It was by accident that Emily and Andrew wound up with an armful. Blame 6-week-old baby Oscar. By the time the new little family made it to Ceres Saturday organic markets, the cupboards were bare. Except for some lonely stinging nettle.

Billie enjoys the cafe at Ceres

When Billie, Emily, Oscar and I walked back to Ceres on Sunday for lunch at The Merri Table and Bar, serving delights straight from this urban farm, we suddenly saw stinging nettles everywhere along the Merri Creek route. But we're sure Ceres grows its own.

 This easy, yummy soup was adapted from one sourced online, Stinging Nettles Soup, but there is another version that looks pretty good included on the Wonder Plant link above which I may try next time we stumble across some stinging nettle.

STINGING NETTLE SOUP

 2 T butter

1 onion, chopped

1 pound of potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks

1 large bunch of stinging nettles (handle with gloves)

5 cups vegetable stock (homemade better obviously but we used 2 cubes dissolved)

1/2 t nutmeg

1 t salt

generous amount freshly ground black pepper

cream (optional)

yoghurt (optional but encouraged - we only had yoghurt in stock)

Chop and peel potatoes. Chop onion. Melt one tablespoon of the butter in large saucepan with heaby base. Saute onion until soft. Meanwhile, get hot stock ready. Add to pot with potatoes and bring to boil. Turn down and simmer WITHOUT LID for 15 minutes. Meanwhile wash and trim nettle (with  gloves). We used stalks and all but I would suggest removing most of the stalks to avoid a stringy soup. Add nettle to pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Blend well and reheat with cream, if using. Serve with generous dollop of yoghurt and some decent bread/toast. And yes, Billie liked it - with plenty of toast of course.