So. Many. Beans!

I have had a big bag of dried red kidney beans from the grocery store bulk bins sitting in my cupboard for at least three months and have been SO intimidated by the thought of preparing them. I'm not sure why, but I just haven't wanted to make the commitment of soaking them overnight and then still feeling motivated enough to actually cook them the next day. Last night, in my quest to clean out the cupboard, I decided to get serious: it was time to conquer the kidneys...and to do it with as little effort as possible (per usual)!

Enter our friend, the slow cooker...

(source)

After a quick rinse in a colander, I threw the dried beans (~ 1 lb)  into the slow cooker and put on a large pot of water to boil. After the water had come to a boil, I filled the slow cooker (mine is a large 4 qt model) and put in about 1/4 cup of garlic and onion powders. I would have loved to use fresh garlic and onion, but we were out of both, so powdered won this round! After I stirred up the ingredients, I turned the slow cooker to high (after reading here that cooking on low may make the beans waterlogged) and left it be! I put the mix on at about 9:00pm and turned it off at 5:00am when I woke up this morning. It worked out perfectly and they were well cooked without being mushy! One thing that totally surprised me is just how much water the kidneys took in. I woke up this morning to a slow cooker almost filled to the brim with beans and with hardly any water in sight!

And as for how I plan on eating a full pound of kidney beans? Excellent question, and I plan on getting creative! I took a scoopful for lunch today and mixed it with roasted sweet potatoes and a spoonful of hummus. Interesting combination but it tasted great! For dinner tonight, I threw together this quick recipe:

Red Beans and Rice (generously serves 4)


4 c cooked kidney beans
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
8 oz smoked sausage of choice

Pretty simple here...throw all of the ingredients except the sausage into a large pot and heat at medium-low heat for about 10 minutes (or until uniformly warm). While ingredients are warming, slice the sausage into bite-sized pieces and throw into pot. Tastes great served over brown rice!

This is getting to be pretty long so I think I will call it a night...plus I still have to perfect my recipe for kidney bean ice cream before it gets too late (kidding!!). Have a great night!