I think it is
safe to say I almost never buy canned beans.
And it has been years and years since I've bought refried beans because
homemade refried beans are so much better!
I buy dried
beans and cook them myself. Not only are
dried beans much less expensive but I know how they were prepared and what is
in them. I like knowing what is in my food
and I find as time goes on that is becoming more and more important to me.
Cooking dried
beans is super simple and if you happen to have a slow cooker the task is just
that much easier because you don't have to babysit them.
Most of my
recipes use two cups of beans for soups and chilis. I double those recipes quite a bit so it
isn't unusual for me to cook up four cups of dried beans at one time.
I loosely
measure my beans into a colander as it is not an exact science. Then sort through them to remove any funky
looking beans, but more importantly I'm looking for stones. It is quite common in the harvesting process
to pick up small pebbles and lumps of dirt and you certainly don't want to eat
those. So you really want to take your
time and make sure you don't have any of those left in your beans.
Next I put the
colander in the sink and wash the beans with warm water. It gives me another opportunity to look for
stones too. After they are thoroughly
rinsed I give the colander a good shake and let them drain.
I set my slow
cooker on high and add two quarts of hot water to the pot. Then put in my beans and allow them to cook
for up to four hours. Every once in
awhile I'll check them and stir, adding water as needed. You can
smell them cooking when they start to get done.
So I check them and test them for doneness toward the end of the cooking
time.
For most
recipes I cook my beans until they are tender, but not mushy. For refried beans I cook them until they are
pretty soft.
What is really
nice about cooking your own beans is that you can incorporate the cooking
liquid which is full of all kinds of healthy goodness right into your
recipe. With canned beans you have to
rinse that off and I always think it has kind of a snotty consistency and
appearance. So yeah, you'd want to wash
that off, but more so, what is that? Home
cooked dry beans never seem to have that.
???
So not only is
cooking your own beans more economical, but they are super simple to make
too. Dried beans last a really long time
and store well. I buy my beans and
legumes in the bulk bins and also at the dollar store. There are tons of varieties to choose from
and I encourage you to get a bunch of different kinds and try them. Lentils and split peas too.
I love me some beans any kind.
ReplyDeleteThey are so good! :)
DeleteI always cook the entire bag, then freeze any I don't need right away in pint or quart size freezer bags. Works great when I have to have beans in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteI love to keep containers of beans in my freezer for recipes too.
DeleteRefried beans cooling on our counter right now!
ReplyDelete- Molly
Yum! Way to go Molly!
Delete