Beans

Rhino

My friend got me a lot of beans, because they where on sale and she's really nice like that.

I have some Black Beans, some Pita beans, some Gazebone beans and some Dark Red Kidney beans.

The directions basically say boil them and then eat them. I'm ok with this, but just eating a bowel of beans doesn't sound tasty. Is there any way to flavor them up a bit without to much trouble?

I have some rice and I was thinking beans + rice equals yummy.

Any other ideas? Again, please; not to much effort, something quick and dirty to get a good meal out of these.

variant

I always make burritos at home, spanish rice + beans + tortilla + pace salsa... So delicious.

Technicality

Soup?
Water + Chopped veg + beans + stock cube + anything else you fancy

Rhino

Mmmm

devoir

The soup thing works well for me. Last weekend I cooked up a massive load of fresh vegetables up with some water and pepper. Capsicum, corn, mushrooms, carrot, onion, tomato, broccoli, plus a can of mixed beans. 210g of tuna with a couple of large scoops of that, and that's lunch.

PirateJon

How I'd eat them.

Black beans = soup, burritos, over rice

Pinto beans = burritos, chili

garbanzo beans = hummus

Kidney beans = burritos, chili, over rice


Also see about getting lentils. Fucking great for you, don't need to be pre-cooked, and makes fantastic soup.

Rhino

ok. I think I will go with the soup idea. I love soup.

What's a good recipe? Remember, I'm not good at this so go slow please!

I love veggies though! the more the better.

jothki

I eat a ton of packaged beans and rice mix stuff, I have no idea how good it is for me but it's fairly tasty. If you want to go for that kind of thing with fresh beans, you might be able to mix in a sauce or something. I have no idea if you can buy that kind of thing by itself, though.

devoir

As I said, I just put together a whole load of vegetables. I start with about a litre of water on low boil, with a bit of salt and pepper. I then start preparing the 'hardest' vegetables, generally carrots. You peel, chop and whatnot, dump them in the water, stir everytime you put in a new batch of vegetables, and generally just let it go as long as you desire.

That's for a basic, tasty, no additive, chunky soup. The beans I tend to add after everything else is said and done, but it'll depend on whether your beans are already pre-cooked or not.

Doctor Pain

heres the best chow:

beans, rice, ketchup, small diced steak.

mix it all together, get a spoon and enjoy.

-Spitfire-

Rhino wrote: »

I'm ok with this, but just eating a bowel of beans doesn't sound tasty.

Did nobody else think this was a really hilarious typo?

There's lots of resources on the 'net for storage and preparation of dried beans. Beans are tasty, flexible and good for you.

You can use any recipe which calls for canned beans and just substitute the dry ones, but they do fluff up to 3x their size when cooked so make sure to measure an appropriately smaller amount at the outset.

embrik

I can't recommend anything specific, but quick use of my Google-Fu has turned up the Bean Bible -" Bean recipes, baked beans, bean soup, bean facts, anything and everything about beans!"

Zsetrek

If they're dried beans, soak them overnight. Next day, sauté a mirepoix (diced onion, carrot and celery) in olive oil over low heat in a large pot until soft. Add diced garlic and bacon or salami strips and cook until fragrant. Put in a decent whack of paprika, cook for a tiny bit more, and deglaze the pan with some wine (Vermouth is nice). Add your soaked beans, a can or two of crushed tomatoes (or fresh, if they're good), tomato paste, and stock to cover. You can add molasses or sugar to make the beans sweet, and you'll probably need to season it quite heavily with salt. Throw in some herbs - fresh or dried basil, oregano, parsley - whatever takes your fancy. Transfer the mixture to a heavy ovenproof casserole dish, and put into a pre-heated oven - about 200 degrees C - and cook until the beans are tender, which usually takes about 2 or 3 hours.

It's really easy to do bulk meals with a recipe along these lines, and if you do it on the weekend, you can freeze down meals for the rest of the week.

Rhino

Thanks guys.

Some of the beans are canned, I'm going to start with those since they seem easiest.

I'm going to go with devoir's soup plan at first and see how that turns out.

How long you typically have to boil carrots?

Zsetrek

Depends on how large you slice them. Generally, though - longer than a piece of potato the same size.

devoir

Rhino wrote: »

Thanks guys.

Some of the beans are canned, I'm going to start with those since they seem easiest.

I'm going to go with devoir's soup plan at first and see how that turns out.

How long you typically have to boil carrots?

By the time you finish cutting up and adding all your other vegetables, the carrots should probably be at an edible stage. I tend to leave the whole pot to boil at medium heat while covered for about another twenty, thirty minutes. It's one of those dishes that you have a lot of leeway with and personal preference comes into it.

The Cat

recipe pinched from Shinto, possibly bastardised some:

Peel and dice a few potatoes, parboil them (as in, chuck them in boiling water but not for so long that they get squishy. Part boiled). Dice an onion, fry it up with some garlic and a tsp each of coriander and cummin. Or garam masala, that works too. Drain the potatoes and throw them in, stir on med-high heat for like 5 or ten minutes. Open a can of the kidney beans and drain/rinse them, then hurl them in and cook (keep stirring) for another 5 minutes or so. Take it off the heat and stir through some chopped up fresh coriander and mint. Serve with a little sour cream.

Damnit, now I'm hungry.

Underdog

Rhino wrote: »

Thanks guys.

Some of the beans are canned, I'm going to start with those since they seem easiest.

I'm going to go with devoir's soup plan at first and see how that turns out.

How long you typically have to boil carrots?

I find that testing the doneness of veggies is easier than coming up with a specific time frame. Every so often, just spear a carrot with a fork and pop it in your mouth.

Zombiemambo

White rice with black beans and a little lime juice is pretty delicious. Not anything but a side dish, mind you, but I like it.

PirateJon

DUDES!

One does NOT boil the soup carrots. You sweat them with diced onions and celery until the onions go translucent.

Vrtra Theory

I've always been partial to something called "three bean salad" - basically vinegar, salad oil, and salt and paper with a bunch of beans in it (I usually use red kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and green beans). Google has several recipes if that sounds interesting.

citric

You can turn the pinto beans or the black beans into refried beans. Cut up half an onion and a couple cloves of garlic (or use a couple teaspoons of jarred diced garlic). Put them in a pan with a couple teaspoons of oil. Cook until fragrant but not until the garlic turns black. Drain and rinse the beans then add them to the pan and mash them up and mix them with the onion and garlic. You can add a little cumin or chili powder too. Just cook it together for a while until it's all hot. These taste a lot better than canned refried beans.

Then you can use your refried beans in a quesadilla. Just put the beans on a flour tortilla with some cheese and salsa, top with another tortilla, and heat in a dry pan. Flip. Cook until both sides are crispy and the filling is hot.

Rhino

PirateJon wrote: »

DUDES!

One does NOT boil the soup carrots. You sweat them with diced onions and celery until the onions go translucent.

I'm a newbie at cooking. How do I sweat them?

Telemachus

Beans 'n Rice!

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil
chopped onion
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (15.25 ounce) can kidney or black beans, drained with liquid reserved
1 cup uncooked white rice

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic. When onion is translucent add salt and tomato paste. Reduce heat to low and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the beans and rice.
2. Pour the liquid from the beans into a large measuring cup and add enough water to reach a volume of 2 1/2 cups; pour into beans. Cover and cook on low for 20-40 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked. You can also add some frozen corn in here for some more fun.

Jimmy King

I generally make chili and a soup that is very much like the chili.

2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans kidney beans - the other beans would be good, too. I get the impression yours are not canned, but this should still more or less work
2 One lb browned beef or some chicken
Chili powder, pepper, etc to taste.

The soup I do the same except I put in salsa and water until whatever thickness I want and use taco seasoning rather than chili seasoning. You can use whatever seasonings you want, though.

Serphimera

Garbonzo beans are really good cooked in a garam masala curry sauce. Or throw them on a salad.
Kidney beans go well with chili.
Pinto beans and especially black beans are really good for burritos.

Here's my favorite soup recipe: Throw one or two ham hocks, about a cup of chopped celery, one onion, about a cup of beans (I like Butter Beans the best), and a few carrots in a pot. Cover with water and simmer until the beans are tender. Then remove the ham hocks, let them cool a bit, and shred the meat on them. Throw the meat back into the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.
This recipe would also be really good with lentils or split peas.