When Carlo Guardado craves a flavorful, satisfying lunch, his favorite go-to is a bowl of beans with a tortilla. An important staple of his Mexican heritage, beans, packed with protein and fiber, are just as filling as “a big, hefty sandwich,” Guardado says. As much as he enjoys eating beans, the chef likes cooking with them even more, incorporating them into entrées, side dishes and appetizers. His two favorites are cowboy beans and dirty rice with roasted vegetables. Having owned and cooked in restaurants for about 17 years, he recently shifted to working independently, consulting for restaurants and cooking for farm dinners and special events. His preferred cooking method is over live fire on a grill he hauls to events in a chuckwagon. After living in other states and abroad, Guardado moved back to his San Diego County hometown of Fallbrook about five years ago, shortly thereafter meeting Mike Reeske of Rio Del Rey, a small farm in nearby Valley Center that now supplies him with all his beans. Reeske’s heirloom dried beans have much better flavors and textures than typical store-bought varieties, Guardado says. An heirloom bean variety is one that was grown continuously over several generations in one small area. Planted today, these beans cultivated by indigenous people still have the same distinct flavors that developed in each variety’s unique growing conditions. In contrast, the bean varieties familiar to most Americans have been bred for mass production and to create a uniform product. Story by Linda DuBois ∞ Photos by David Poller Retired science teacher aims to revive heirloom varieties The Johnny Appleseed of beans
Chef Carlo Guardado makes a pot of cowboy beans on a fire grill he hauls to events in a chuckwagon. He buys all his beans from Rio Del Rey, a San Diego County farm that grows about a dozen different heirloom varieties.
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