Authors: Cobaia Kitchen, Grok 4, Claude Sonnet 4.0
Photos: Cobaia Kitchen, Nano Banana
This Georgian-inspired plant-based experiment emerged from a collaboration between culinary curiosity and artificial intelligence—specifically Grok 4, which helped tackle the challenge of creating something novel and sustainable for the Cobaia Kitchen blog. The brief was quite specific: design a dinner for three that avoids chickpeas and eggplant, uses ingredients readily available in German supermarkets, represents a less common cuisine in Western countries, keeps preparation under 30 minutes, and maintains a low carbon footprint. Georgian cuisine seemed like a promising direction, being relatively unknown in Western kitchens despite its rich culinary heritage from the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Lobio, a traditional bean stew that has sustained mountain communities for centuries, paired with mchadi—the country’s beloved cornbread dating back to when corn was first introduced to the Caucasus region in the 17th century—appeared to tick all the boxes on paper. While the final result was more of a learning experience than a triumphant kitchen victory, it served as an interesting exploration into one of the world’s more underrated culinary traditions, demonstrating that not every AI-assisted recipe experiment leads to immediate success, but sometimes the journey itself offers valuable insights into both technology and time-honored flavors. The story that follows is worth savoring—perhaps while your own mchadi fries.
Please read the review before cooking!
Georgian-Inspired Red Bean Lobio with Mchadi
Equipment
- Medium pot with lid
- Small saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Knife and cutting board
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
For the Lobio Stew
- 400 g canned red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika sweet or smoked
- 10 g fresh cilantro chopped, about 2 tbsp
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Mchadi Cornbread
- 150 g cornmeal
- 150 ml water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Prep the aromatics (10 minutes): Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Chop the cilantro. Drain and rinse the kidney beans.
- Start the lobio (10 minutes): Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add diced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add minced garlic, cumin, coriander, and paprika; cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly.
- Simmer the stew (15 minutes total cooking): Add kidney beans and vegetable broth to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, add half the cilantro, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Make the mchadi (10 minutes, simultaneous): In a small saucepan, mix cornmeal, water, oil, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5-7 minutes until it forms a thick porridge-like dough. Shape into 3 small flatbreads and fry in a dry pan for 2 minutes per side until golden.
- Serve: Divide the lobio into bowls, garnish with remaining cilantro, and serve with warm mchadi on the side.
Notes
Serving suggestions:
- Check the ingredients of your vegetable broth
Emission Hotspots:
- While canned beans are convenient, they carry a higher environmental cost than their raw counterparts.
- Shop to home transportation, if a combustion car is used
Sustainability tips:
- If you have extra cornbread, transform it into croutons by cubing and toasting in the oven for salads or soups
- Walk or bike to the supermarket and farmer’s market to cut transportation emissions
- Cook the stew in a rice cooker (e.g. the Reishunger Digital Reiskocher) to save some energy
- Give all your fresh cilantro to the Guinea pigs 🐹. They love the treat, and you’ll keep both your furry friends and cilantro-sceptic guests happy.
- Choose a different recipe to avoid food waste
Carbon Footprint
Featured Story
Digital Disaster: Grandpa Goes Missing
Harold Kowalski had exactly three digital skills: turning his iPad on, occasionally answering FaceTime calls from his granddaughter Emma, and—fatefully—booking flights on what he proudly called “the Google machine.” When Emma started her exchange program in Georgia, Harold decided it was time for an old-fashioned surprise visit, the kind his own grandfather might have attempted back when men wore hats and knew how to fix radiators. Armed with nothing but stubborn Midwestern determination and a credit card he’d memorized after forty years of the same numbers, he navigated through booking websites with the methodical precision of someone defrosting a freezer. Georgia was Georgia, right? How many could there possibly be?
The first clue something had gone spectacularly wrong came when Harold stepped off the plane in Tbilisi and couldn’t find a single Waffle House or Coca-Cola billboard featuring peaches. The second clue was the alphabet, which looked like someone had sneezed in cursive. By the third clue—friendly locals speaking what sounded like a beautiful blend of Russian and ancient elvish—Harold had reached that uniquely male moment of crisis where admitting you’re lost feels worse than wandering into oncoming traffic. But Georgian hospitality, it turns out, is the antidote to Minnesotan stubbornness. Within hours, he found himself adopted by a family who spoke enough English to explain his geographical predicament and enough patience to introduce him to khachapuri, wine that had been fermenting since before Columbus got lost himself, and something called lobio that reminded him of the bean soup his own grandmother used to make.
Three weeks later, Harold returned home with stories that made him the undisputed champion of the VFW bar, a suitcase full of Georgian spices, and a profound appreciation for getting spectacularly, wonderfully lost. Meanwhile, Emma had filed missing person reports in three states, organized search parties, and was considering hiring a private investigator when her grandfather finally called from Duluth, asking if she knew what “qvevri wine” was and whether she thought their family had any Georgian ancestry worth exploring. She didn’t know whether to hug him or throttle him, but she did know one thing: next time Grandpa Harold wanted to visit, she was buying the plane tickets herself.
Culinary Reality Check
Not quite the culinary jackpot we hoped for—this AI-assisted Georgian experiment turned out more like a promising first draft than a finished masterpiece. Perhaps next time we’ll use GPT-5 again to handle the heavy lifting.
Taste
Decent but nothing to write home about. The coriander notes came across as “soapy” to one of us (a known cilantro-skeptic, so no foul). Cornbread? Pleasant enough for me, politely rejected by my co-taster.
Portion Size
Promised dinner for three, delivered more like a light lunch for two. The soup portions were disappointingly modest, though the cornbread showed up in adequate quantities—small comfort when you’re still hungry.
Combination
Desperately needed something fresh to break up the monotony. A hastily assembled tomato-cucumber salad became the unlikely hero of the meal, rescuing it from terminal blandness.
Texture
Beans stayed brothy; many classic lobio bowls are half-mashed for extra body.
Spices
Simple seasoning that played it safe, perhaps too safe. Compared to the aromatic complexity promised by authentic recipes online, this felt like Georgian cuisine with training wheels.
Timing
The soup came together quickly enough, but the cornbread had other plans, lingering in the pan longer than a houseguest who’s missed the last train.
Processing
The bean steps are clear; the mchadi method feels off. Ease back the water, use a proper slick of oil when frying, and skip any porridge pre-cook detour.
Completeness
Key elements missing: walnuts and a fresh counterpoint. Interestingly, walnuts were omitted by Grok, allegedly due to concerns about fat content. Add walnuts and freshness (e.g., pomegranate, salad) to better round out the dish.
Environment
At least the planet approved—low carbon footprint means you can feel virtuous about your culinary disappointment.
Health
Health-wise, it ticks the plant-based boxes and delivers solid protein from legumes, though it could use more vegetables and nuts to really hit its stride nutritionally. Think of it as healthy food that’s still finding itself.
Tips for Redemption
Thicken the stew, toast and fold in walnuts, dial coriander to taste, fry mchadi in oil, and serve with a bright salad—otherwise, consider another Georgian blueprint.
