Cooking in the Time of Drought

I love my pressure cooker. It allows me to make dinner with nutritious beans in less than an hour.

My grandmother, who preferred to be vegan, gave me my pressure cooker on my 18th birthday. Many years later, it's still going strong. (I have replaced the seal a couple of times.) I used to bring down the pressure by running water over it. Now that I treasure every drop coming out of the faucet, I have learned to bring down the pressure quickly, but without water.

I put the sorted and rinsed beans in the pressure cooker, add cold water to cover by at least 4 inches, then cover and put on high heat until the pressure comes up to full. I turn down the heat until it's just simmering. Most beans take about 15 minutes; chickpeas take 22 minutes and soybeans would take even longer. When the timer goes off, I put the pot on the counter, aim the steam release in a direction where it will do no harm, and open it up. Steam flies. (I like to think it's steam cleaning my kitchen.) When the steam finishes, the lid unlocks and I can open it. I make sure to lift the lid away from me, because it's still mighty hot.

When the steam stops rising, I take out a bean and cut it with a knife to see if it's cooked through. If not, I put the lid back on, put the pot back on the burner, and let it simmer — not under pressure — another 3-4 minutes and then test another bean. They'll be done soon.

Then I drain the beans over my trusty pyrex jug. When the water cools I pour it on my plants.

Good beans, cooked quickly, with no water wasted.