Fresh and Easy Gigante Beans Salad

Once you taste Gigante beans you will wonder why they are not sold in every single supermarket. I never came across Gigante beans in a can but my friend from the US says she can find them at a local shop. That's awesome. If you are one of the lucky ones, you must absolutely try this Gigante bean salad. It's delicious, nutritious, full of protein and will keep your hunger at bay. It's actually incredibly filling.

Also, the beans taste creamier and they sort of similar in consistency to butter beans, just bigger. I could eat Gigante beans day in and day out and never get bored with them. In fact, I recently ordered a 15kg bag all the way from the UK. I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

Now, the tricky part is cooking the Gigante beans. To be honest, this was trial and error for me. I use a pressure cooker for all my dry beans and while I use the included manual as a guide, I noticed that it's not always accurate. For example, when making black beans, the timings are super different.

And that's fine because I'm also going to tell you the trick to figuring out how long you actually need to cook Gigante beans when just starting out. First of all, I never soak my dry beans. Partly because I forget to do it the night before.

How to cook Gigante beans

So cooking Gigantes beans without soaking will take a little longer in the pressure cooker. Second, I have an old school pressure cooker. I cook my Gigante beans for 1 hour and 45 minutes once the pressure accumulates in the pot.

So basically I add the Gigante beans with about 3 litres of water and some vegetable stock. I put the lid on and seal. I allow the water to start boiling and once I can hear that loud whistle, I reduce the heat to a simmering level and let it run for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

When the 1 hour and 45 minutes is up, you can allow the pressure cooker to have its own natural release or do a quick release. Either way, I recommend that you take one Gigante bean out and taste it. Is it cooked? It should sort of melt in the mouth and you should not meet any resistance whatsoever. If it's not cooked, put the lid back on, bring the pot back to pressure and cook the beans for another 15 minutes. Repeat the test.

While most small beans are easier to cook, Gigante beans are well...giant! So you do need to ensure the middle is fully cooked in order to enjoy that gorgeous buttery taste of the beans. It is trial and error as every instant cooker and hob is different.

For example, I need 1 hour and 45 minutes for my induction hob, but before I had an ordinary hob so I needed to cook my beans for 2 hours and 10 minutes.

How to make Gigante Beans Salad

Once the Gigante beans are cooked and have that amazing buttery interior, drain them and add them to a large bowl. Add the chopped onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper as well as fresh oregano. Toss to mix the ingredients and serve in bowls, hot or cold, as you prefer. If you find the onion to be too pungent when raw, swap it for spring onion instead, as it's milder.

This recipe has been developed entirely by Yuzu Bakes. Any resemblance with other recipes is purely coincidental.

Gigante Beans Salad

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• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total: 2 hours 5 mins
• Serves 6 people

Categories: Lunch, Salad, Sides Cusine: Greek

Description

This super simple recipe is about making a super easy gingante beans salad. Learn how to make gigante beans into a delicious, fully vegan and satisfying salad which takes just a few basic ingredients.

Ingredients

(USA / Metric)

• 2 3/4 cups white beans (gigante beans, dry)
• 2 large onion (chopped)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 wt. oz oregano (fresh)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp, ground peppercorn
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cubes vegetable stock (optional)

Instructions

• 1. I use dry gigante beans for this recipe but you can also use ready-made beans from a can. To cook the gigante beans I recommend you do so in a pressure cooker. I cook a full bag of beans in one go. Here in Germany, a bag of beans is 500g (2.75 cups).
     To cook the beans, wash them in cold water then add them to the pressure cooker. Add around 3 litres of water (12.6 US cups) and the vegetable stock if using. Cook them for 1 h and 45 min. You can check the recommendations on your own pressure cooker as times may differ.
  2. Quick-release and open the pressure cooker: if you see that the beans are not cooked, simply put them back on the hob and cook them for another 15 minutes. Check again, repeat, if needed. If you never cooked gigante beans before, it's best to start with a 1 hour and 30 minutes and take it from there. For my pressure cooker, I need precisely 1 hour and 45 minutes, once the pressure accumulated in the pot.
  3. Once your beans are cooked, drain and add to a large bowl. Add the chopped onions, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh oregano and salt and pepper. Toss and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve hot or cold according to your preferences. We usually enjoy this salad as a main for lunch.

Nutritional Information

Total Nutrition Facts

Serves 6 people

Amount Per Serving
Calories 309
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 19 g			24%
	Saturated Fat 3 g		13%
	Trans Fat 0 g		0%
	Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat 13 g
Cholesterol 0 mg			0%
Sodium 792 mg			34%
Total Carbs 29 g			11%
	Dietary Fiber 8 g		29%
	Sugar 3 g		5%
Protein 9 g			18%
Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 4% Calcium 13% Iron 28% Vitamin D 0% Magnesium 18% Potassium 13% Zinc 13% Phosphorus 17% Thiamin (B1) 10% Riboflavin (B2) 7% Niacin (B3) 3% Vitamin B6 14% Folic Acid (B9) 0% Vitamin B12 0% Vitamin E 28% Vitamin K 38%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice

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