Difficulty: Medium
Preparation: 55 mins
Cooking: 40 mins
Servings for: 5 people
Cost: Low
Gluten free | Lactose free | Vegan |
Ingredients
- 250 g of dried borlotti beans
- 1.5 liters of water
- 1 red pepper
- 1 white onion
- 1 plantain or 2 medium potatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- fresh coriander
- Origan
- thyme
- Fonte Torre extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Preparation of Colombian beans
- Clean and wash all the vegetables. Cut the plantain (or the potatoes) and the peppers into small pieces, the thin onion, the chopped coriander.
- Soak the beans overnight. Before cooking, drain the beans and rinse them under cold water. Put them in a pot, cover them with water and cook them slowly. Finally, add the plantain (or potatoes), stir and continue cooking.
- In the meantime, prepare a sautéed mixture with a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil, onion, pepper and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, add oregano, thyme and season with salt.
Curiosity
Frijoles are eaten during the week, it is not a festive dish, and should be served hot. They can be accompanied by Thai or Basmati rice. As an alternative to borlotti you can use Ecuadorian beans or black beans. In Latin America there are many varieties of legumes with which soups or simple and spicy dishes are made. Find plantains in ethnic shops or you can use potatoes: both are rich in starch.
Release the healthy substances contained in garlic
Garlic contains a substance called allicin, the one that gives garlic its characteristic smell. This substance, which derives from an odorless precursor (Alliin), has many healthy properties: it is an anti-oxidant and therefore protects cells from the aggression of free radicals which are carcinogenic. It also manages to stop cell division and also counteracts angiogenesis, i.e. the creation of new blood vessels that promote the survival and growth of tumors. It is believed that allicin is also able to hinder the migration of tumor cells, with possible protective effects with respect to tumor metastasis. These effects have been tested and ascertained not only in laboratory studies but also by observing what happens to those who consume garlic in their diet. The evidence of a protective effect of garlic regards various forms of cancer: stomach, prostate, colon and, with less strong evidence, lung, breast, larynx, oesophagus and oral cavity. To transform alliin into allicin, the cells of which garlic is made must break before cooking. The most effective method is to crush the garlic with a fork, pressing hard, and brown or cook it. The cooking of the intact clove involves only the denaturation of the Alliin without the formation of the precious Allicin (and cutting it after cooking does not change anything). Mincing garlic before cooking is also fine, but crushed garlic works even better. [Source: Siegfried Knasmüller (Hrsg), Krebs und Ernährung, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, 2014, page 330-335]
