Beans at High Altitudes!

A long time ago...more than six years now, I published a chart that summarized how to soak beans...which "neutralizers" for which beans, how long to soak them, at what temperature water, and how to cook them. I gleaned the information from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. When I asked Sally to review my chart for accuracy, she said that I had missed the baking soda. "Baking soda"?! There was no mention of baking soda in her chapters on beans! Yikes! Sally provided me with a report to read through on how to make beans more easily digested  that had been published in Wise Traditions, the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation. In order to make my soaking chart accurate, I needed to include baking soda as one of the neutralizers for specific types of beans. So I updated the chart, got her "thumbs up", and had it printed. My chart is called "Preparing Whole Grains and Legumes for Ease of Digestion and  Nutrient Availability". It has been available on my website since 2010. It is hand-illustrated and hand-lettered, and it has well served many people around the world since then.

As some of you know, I moved to Colorado in 2011. I now live at almost 5,000 feet, after living at sea level for all of my life until then. Living at high altitude demands some changes in the kitchen. One of those changes has been in cooking beans. Now, while we are not big bean eaters in my house, I do soak beans for chili, and lentils for soup, etc. I have found the easiest way to make the perfect beans at high altitude. I shared that information in my latest post on Selene River Press, in "Perfect Beans at 5,000 Feet". You can find that article here. I hope you enjoy it!

Order your own Bean and Grain Chart!

Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon Morell