Dried beans ideas?

goldfinches

Hi James, here is a list of my favourite bean/lentil recipes and since you said you know how to cook the beans I'm including ones which ask for tinned ones too.

From Good Housekeeping a slow cooker dumpling stew that includes green lentils PS if you're not vegan you can use any fat that's solid at room temperature for the dumplings so don't bother spending a lot on their recommendation.

From BBC Good Food this red lentil and sweet potato pate and slow cooker vegetable stew with cheddar dumplings. PS you can see my version of the stew at the bottom of the Forum home page. Also their spiced lentil and butternut squash soup.

From BBC Food curried red lentil soup and all Dr Rupy's recipes as he's strong on beans and pulses.

From Nigella softly spiced mung beans and her white bean mash. Nigella has a lot of versions of hummus on her site but I haven't tried any of them because I always make Ottolenghi's one which I haven't included here because it is a bit of a faff, but it's on his site so you can find it there if you want a look.

From Yotam Ottolenghi in the Guardian this curried lentil soup at the top of the page which is a store cupboard lifesaver for me. 

This cookbook Skinny Slow Cooker Vegetarian is very useful and you can see some recipes in the preview so don't necessarily need to buy it, the other books in the same series might be worth a look at too if you eat meat.
Then this page on BBC Good Food might be helpful too.

I hope these are helpful and that you enjoy them as much as I do. If you have any questions let me know. 

Rosa_Damascena

Many of them are great with a simple dressing in a salad.

If you want a plethora of cooked bean dishes, get hold of an Indian cook book.

yadiyaaa

Ingredients

• 300 g of dried white beans (or use canned beans if you are short on time)
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 100 g of celery
• 2-3 dried peppers or chilli (optional)
• 6-8 tbsp of sunflower oil
• 1 tsp of sweet paprika
• 1 tsp of salt
• Black pepper to taste 
• Dried mint Dry 1/2-1 tsp or fresh 3-4 leaves, chopped finely 

Instructions

• If you are using dried beans: soak the beans in water overnight
• Drain the beans, add them to a pot and pour half a liter of cold water over them and bring them to a boil
• Drain the beans again, pour 2 liters of cold water, and cook until almost soft. 
• If you are using canned beans, start here: Dice the onion, carrot, and celery into small pieces, using a large frypan on low heat, and cook them in the oil until translucent
• Remove from the heat, and add the paprika and the flour and mix well and add to the pot with the beans and water
• Add the dry red peppers (optional) along with the other spices – salt, black pepper,  dried mint( very important), and/or parsley
• Cook on medium heat until the beans are soft, stirring occasionally 
• Serve with chopped fresh parsley or mint and crusty bread

Rosa_Damascena

yadiyaaa said:

Ingredients

• 300 g of dried white beans (or use canned beans if you are short on time)
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 100 g of celery
• 2-3 dried peppers or chilli (optional)
• 6-8 tbsp of sunflower oil
• 1 tsp of sweet paprika
• 1 tsp of salt
• Black pepper to taste 
• Dried mint Dry 1/2-1 tsp or fresh 3-4 leaves, chopped finely 

Instructions

• If you are using dried beans: soak the beans in water overnight
• Drain the beans, add them to a pot and pour half a liter of cold water over them and bring them to a boil
• Drain the beans again, pour 2 liters of cold water, and cook until almost soft. 
• If you are using canned beans, start here: Dice the onion, carrot, and celery into small pieces, using a large frypan on low heat, and cook them in the oil until translucent
• Remove from the heat, and add the paprika and the flour and mix well and add to the pot with the beans and water
• Add the dry red peppers (optional) along with the other spices – salt, black pepper,  dried mint( very important), and/or parsley
• Cook on medium heat until the beans are soft, stirring occasionally 
• Serve with chopped fresh parsley or mint and crusty bread

I would be inclined to add some finely grated garlic into the mix a couple of minutes before taking the veggies off the heat.

purpleivy

We have had Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Cullen Skink today. It uses beans instead of the traditional potatoes. I stick in some sweetcorn as well.   He says leeks or onions but we like the leeks. 

sillyvixen

JamesO said:

Thank you but I think it tastes good because you've done it before and know what you're doing. When I've tried just 'throwing in' spices and things from the fridge then I either get chilli (which I know how to make and tastes good) or something horrible that I then have to eat because I don't like to waste food.

FrugaiMacDugal said:

That's my kinda cupboard stuff.

1 onion roughly diced,

1 tin chopped toms,

throw in any herbs/spices you have,

throw in a handful of pulses,

add beans, drained if from a can, keep juice., 

add any old veg from freezer.

you might need to add juice from tinned stuff,

see what turns out, can adjust portions to suit.

Have on a bed of rice, bulgar wheat, cous cous, quinoa, pasta, your choice.

If you don't like it can you add something to it to make it more palatable, I once made a chickpea tagine from a recipe, I made 8 portions to take to work with couscous. The recipe sounded nice but in reality was quite bland, I ate the first lot , but subsequent portions were laced with hot sauce to give a bit of flavour. Nothing wasted just enhanced for little cost.