Here is something you will never hear me say: "Mmm. I feel like eating some beans right now."
I eat lots of so-so tasting foods because they are good for me. I'm talking about not-so-terrible-tasting-food-but-not-what-I'd-pick-if-I-had-any-choice-in-the-world food. Beans fall into this category. All, that is, except for one.
When it comes to a little gem called the nyimo bean (pronounced like the famous fish Nemo), you can consider this one of my happiest Zimbabwean discoveries. As I was reminded when boiling not-so-yummy lima beans this past week, the tantilizing treat of the nyimo bean is one of Africa's best kept secrets. Nyimo beans are the easiest, cheapest thing to cook, and terribly tasty as part of a meal or anytime-snack by the handful.
Known as an earth-pea, ground-bean, hog-peanut, Congo-goober, and a number of other things, these morsels of many names are considered a "grain legume" of valuable protein. Full of affordable protein accessible to any class, these nutrient rich legumes are known for growing in (and improving) marginal to poor soil and are strong against low or inconsistent rainfall levels and high temperatures. Pretty ideal!
I was first introduced to nyimos by a teacher visiting an orphanage with me in Harare, who would boil a big pot of them and hand out handfuls to the children. Pretty soon I had adopted the habit. As a delicious way to pass out desperately needed protein, nyimo beans and bananas became my method of choice for healthy snacks of starch and protein. (Both of these foods were especially good because they are kept clean inside of their skins until being eaten!)
The nuts can be eaten fresh from the ground (cracked out of their shell much like a peanut), shelled and roasted, or boiled in slightly salty water- my favorite! When boiled (usually for about an hour), the salt seeps into the shell and adds just a little flavor around the bean. When the beans are cooled, the woody-gelatinous shell slides off easily, allowing the beans to be popped straight into the mouth.
'Tis the season for nyimos right now... If you can find some, do indulge in these goodies. And then, mail me a few!
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(Terrible pictures; sorry.) Here in a kitchen hut during Shona tea, a large pot of nyimo beans are
passed around with a tea cup for scooping and serving a tasty pile onto the plate!
I miss you, nyimo beans!
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