I’m Ellen Kanner. I love beans. I want everyone to feel the same way and that’s why I created the e-book, Beans: A Handful of Magic.
I’m based in Miami where climate change is real. We’re ground zero for rising tides. My subscribers and students cook more than they did pre-pandemic, but it doesn’t come easy, it isn’t fun, and they struggle with soaring food costs. They can feel overwhelmed. We all can. Beans are a delicious answer to all these issues.
I grow beans. I’m not a farmer, but I have a raised bed garden in my tiny backyard where I grow greens, herbs, tomatoes, and of course, beans.
I plant beans as a cover crop to enrich the soil between our spring and fall growing seasons and also in winter just because I love them. They’re easy to grow, self-pollinating, and are drought, frost and heat tolerant. Miami doesn’t see much frost, but we’ve got plenty of heat and drought, and beans can take it. They’re low carbon, low water, high yield and per pound, require a tenth of the resources it takes to produce beef. They’re sustainability superstars.
They’re sustainable, affordable, nourishing, and let’s not forget delicious. I’m a storyteller as much as a cook and recipe developer. In my newsletter, Broccoli Rising, I like to give cultural context and convey the love and labour that goes into growing our food and feeding people. Miami is made up of many cultures and many flavours, and every one has a bean recipe that fills the belly, gladdens the spirit, and stretches the budget.
Classic Cuban black beans, creamy, coconutty sos pwa from Haiti, smoky Peruvian beans, Caribbean pigeon peas and rice, often made with a little habanero kick and more, beans are culturally appropriate whatever your culture is. They’re the most versatile thing in the kitchen, the little black dress of cuisine.
I’m excited to make my eBook available to everyone this Earth Day,
and I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, Broccoli Rising. Reading is good. Cooking and eating are good too. I want to lure everyone back into the kitchen and to the table. I want us to cook and eat together. Beans are my answer for saving money, eating better, building community, and protecting the planet. So let’s cook up a pot of beans and let’s eat.
Find BEANS – A HANDFUL OF MAGIC EBOOK available for purchase here
About Ellen
Ellen Kanner is the author of the award-winning book Feeding the Hungry Ghost, contributor to numerous outlets and writes the Substack newsletter, Broccoli Rising. She’s a Gourmet Guru for the Global Pulse Confederation and ambassador for the American Pulse Association, providing outreach and original content and recipes. She created and spearheaded the symposium Pulse Innovation Miami, and created programming for Pulse Innovation Austin. She is glad to share her passion for beans and is grateful to the Beans is How Coalition for making her ebook Beans: A Handful of Magic available as a free download through May 22, 2024. Please share with everyone.
“Ellen can make you laugh even as she makes you dinner (probably beans,}” says Fran Costigan, the bean-eating Director of Vegan Pastry at Rouxbe Culinary School. “She’s your legume-loving BFF in the kitchen and on the page, with vegan recipes that are doable, delicious, and always come with a hefty dose of insight and backstory.”
“Delicious sounding recipes along with all the cultural/historical/nutritional info, and touch of progressive politics, good humour, humility and spirituality, make Broccoli Rising one of the best newsletters that I receive and perhaps the most enjoyable to read.” Richard Ives, Director of Operations and Programming at WLRN, the Miami NPR affiliate.
