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Lupini Beans - Tasty Little Bites

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Sunday, September 16, 2012 Under: food and recipes
                                 

The first time I was served these yellow beans in the local café with a beer, I did not know what they were.  In the meantime I learned to appreciate these "Petiscos" (Portuguese for "tasty little bites") as a delicious snack, especially since I found out how healthy they are!

Lupini beans are the yellow legume seeds of Lupinus genus plants, that grow all over Europe and are a common snack food in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Egypt. The Lupini bean is a member of the pea-family. They are power-packed beans full of protein (almost as much as soy beans), fiber, and low in oil and starch and because of that weight loss is commonly associated with eating Lupini beans. They are full of the amino acid arginine which also helps lower blood pressure, lowers cholesterol & trigs, and lowers blood sugar levels. Lupini beans also act as a pre-biotic thus improving large bowel health.  Be careful though if you suffer from peanut allergy! In that case you should avoid eating Lupini beans.                                                                                                                                                   
                                 


But how do you eat these Tremoços, as the Portuguese call them?  Most people prefer not to eat the tough skin of the bean. You should make a small tear in the skin with your teeth and "pop" the seed directly in your mouth. Experts rub the skin off with their fingertips, but this method requires a lot of exercise. 

You can buy lupini beans here ready made in jars with brine, but you can also make them by yourselves.  This is the way it works:

Soak 250 grams dried beans for 8 hours or overnight in water. Cook them in lots of fresh water until they are tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain and transfer to a bowl or pot. Cover with water again. Keep them refrigerated. Drain, rinse and cover with fresh water as often as you can, up to every 4-6 hours, till the bitterness has gone (taste!).

Once you find the lupini beans edible without any bitter aftertaste, keep them in airtight container covered in water and add about 3 tablespoons of salt (or more or less according to taste). Store covered in that brine in the fridge.  
 

In : food and recipes 


Tags: tremoço  lupini beans  petiscos  snack  portugal  algarve  sao marcos da serra   
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