Coconut Milk-Braised Greens with Cranberry Beans

Here we go, part III of my From the Farmer CSA basket. In my last post, I talked about my first time cooking and eating garlic scapes. Now, I am happy to report that I am no longer a stranger to dried beans and have successfully cooked dried cranberry beans! That may not sound like much, but it is something I can cross off my culinary bucket list. 

Oh, and as an aside: remember when I told you my basket came with an English cucumber? Well I also planned to share my dill-cucumber salad recipe that Aaron requested after trying some at a wedding over Memorial Day. I prepped it on Monday, then let it marinate in the fridge. When I got home from work and planned to take pics to show you,  this is what I found:

Have you ever have a roommate eat your food from the fridge like it was his/her own? Well, I should have told Aaron to hold off until I got home. I wasn’t kidding when I said he loved cucumber salad! At least he enjoyed it.

Anyways, back to the cranberry beans. So I received the beans and braising greens in my From the Farmer CSA basket. I thought they would make a good pair: lots of protein and fiber in the beans, with even more filling fiber from the greens.

Remember, I had no idea what cranberry beans tasted like when creating this recipe. (Spoiler: they do not taste like cranberries.) I thought about one of the few times I eat cranberries: in my brother’s cranberry relish at Thanksgiving. The relish is unique in that he uses fresh oranges, so I figured I’d add fresh orange zest to the coconut milk to lighten it up. I also added red pepper flakes, which gave the zesty-coconut milk a bit of a kick. I bumped up the protein and kept the dish vegan and gluten free (for no particular reason) by serving over quinoa.

I’ll admit, I get nervous testing out new recipes on Aaron for dinner, without a back-up plan, but this went off without a hitch! I would highly recommend this dish, and it passed Aaron’s “sriracha test.” If you can’t find cranberry beans, you could use dried pinto or kidney beans instead.

Coconut Milk-Braised Greens with Cranberry Beans
Ingredients
1/4 lb dried cranberry beans
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 pinches of red chili pepper flakes (1/8 tsp)
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
8 oz braising greens (ex. collards, Swiss chard, rainbow chard, kale)
Zest of 1 orange

Directions
1. Place dried beans in a large bowl with a tablespoon of salt and fill the bowl with lots of water. Cover and allow beans to soak overnight.
2. Drain and rinse beans, add to a large pot, and cover with lots of water. Much of this water will be absorbed or lost as steam, so be generous! Bring water to a boil, then cover and allow to simmer for 60-90 minutes.
3. In a medium or large sauté pan, add oil over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté until transparent, about 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and ginger and cook another minute.
5. Add coconut milk and red chili pepper flakes and bring milk to a boil.
6. Add braising greens, stir well to combine, bring heat to medium low, then cover and allow to braise, about 10 minutes.
7. Two minutes before greens are done, add orange zest and stir.
8. To serve, layer beans and grains over your favorite whole grain. Serve immediately and enjoy!