Beans, Cabbage and Corn Bread Migas on Sweet Potato Puree
Today I present a traditional recipe from the North of Portugal, which I transformed a bit to make it less heavy. Bean, bread crumbs with cabbage are traditionally made with fried bread crumbs, but I like to prepare it in the oven (equally crunchy, but less greasy and so healthier). This type of bean is very common in Portugal and has properties similar to those of azuki beans, and is therefore an excellent food to nurture our kidneys and the water energy of our body. In addition, it also includes cabbages, which were very consumed in the past but a bit forgotten nowadays. For this reason, I decided to share with you this recipe that combines a legume, dark green leafy vegetables (rich in iron, calcium and vitamins) and also cereal (in this case corn, or wheat – if you use another bread).
Servings Prep Time
8doses 1h
Cook Time Passive Time
20min 8h
Servings Prep Time
8doses 1h
Cook Time Passive Time
20min 8h
Ingredients
Beans, Cabbage and Corn Bread Migas
  • 300g corn breadyou can also use other traditional bread
  • 300g black-eyed pea
  • 150g dark green cabbage leavesI used brocoli leaves
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1strip kombu seaweedor bay leaves
  • 2tbspoon oregano
  • 1tbspoon fresh thyme
  • 6 tbspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1tbspoon sea salt
  • 1branch fresh coriander
Sweet Potatoes’ Puree
  • 1kg sweet potato
  • 3tbspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2tbspoon sea salt
Instructions
Beans, Cabage and Corn Bread Migas
  1. Soak the beans for 8h.
  2. Pour the water of soaking and wash the legume in abundant water.
  3. Place the beans in a pressure cooker along with the kombu seaweed and add water 2 fingers above the legume. Close the pan and place on the stove, letting it cook for 5 to 7 minutes after raising pressure.
  4. After this time, place the pan under cold water so that it loses the pressure, open it and remove the beans from the water of its cooking.
  5. Smash the corn bread, or grind it in a food processor, along with 2 cloves of garlic.
  6. Arrange the bread crumbs and garlic in a baking dish and sprinkle with the oregano and thyme, a little salt and season with olive oil. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.
  7. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool down to become crunchy.
  8. Apart, wash the cabbages and remove the harder stalks. Place it together and form a roll with it. Then, with a very sharp knife, cut it in julienne (strips) very slim.
  9. In a frying pan, place the 4 chopped cloves of garlic remaining, with olive oil and sauté for few seconds, then add the cabage leaves and salt. Let it cook on medium heat, for 5 to 7 minutes stirring constantly. Depending on the type of cabbage that you use this process can be more or less time consuming, the important thing is that the cabbage gets tender and keeps its color alive.
  10. Whenever the cabbages are tender, pass it to a pot, where you can then add the beans and finally the bread crumbs. Mix it all together and in case it gets too dry, add it olive oil, until a smooth preparation is obtained.
  11. Serve it with chopped coriander on top.
Sweet Potatoes’ Puree
  1. In a pot put water to boil to bake the potatoes.
  2. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes. Chop into pieces of similar size and place in the pan with the water already boiling, adding a pinch of salt.
  3. When it becomes smooth (about 8 to 10 minutes), drain the water, add a little olive oil and reduce it to puree in a food processor.
Recipe Notes

Although I consider this a fairly balanced dish, note that the whole grains are not present, since only flours are used in bread. Therefore, I prepare these migas only sporadically, giving preference to recipes where whole grains are used instead.

I advise to have as side dish for this recipe some raw vegetable, such as lettuce, watercress, arugula, or some other fermented vegetable.