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Nah, I generally try to cook beans that don't take too long to soak. I eat a lot of lentils (or split peas) during the summer.

Been eating pinto beans lately. Boil & soak 'em for an hour, drain, rinse and then cook for about 45 minutes. I put in a little BTB, some fennel seeds and maybe some caraway. Regular pot, no pressure cooker. Not too labor intensive. Tastes better than canned beans as well. I usually make enough for 4 or 5 portions, divvy 'em up and stick 'em in the fridge. you can definitely cook 'em in a pressure cooker if you want.

Yeah but that's the thing... I get home around 7 pm so that 1:45 to cook the pinto beans is just too long. I do cook a lot of lentils though! I need to make another batch of those this week.

Throw those beans in water before work if you can remember! Also, Roman/cranberry beans taste similar to pinto but take a bit less time to cook in my experience. A good sub if you need good beans ASAP.

Speaking of lentils, made a big 3-lentil dal last night. My curries are very hit or miss but this one was a hit.

Yeah, I don't soak beans overnight. If you do, you cut down on the cooking/prep time when you're actually preparing 'em.

45 minutes cooking time for a lot of kinds of beans isn't really too bad.

Instant Pot for the beans.

I started chopping up a couple of tomatillos and putting it in the rice cooker along with the rice. Plus a little salt.

Chankgeez wrote:

Yeah, I don't soak beans overnight. If you do, you cut down on the cooking/prep time when you're actually preparing 'em.

45 minutes cooking time for a lot of kinds of beans isn't really too bad.

Black beans are the fastest non-lentil legume if you're in a super hurry, too. They're also one of the healthiest ones!

What sort of dishes are you guys making with all these beans? Do you mix them in stuff or go for it by itself?

I am poor. Beans're my primary source of protein. Everything else is incidental.

(during the summer there're more vegetables. )

Chankgeez wrote:I am poor. Beans're my primary source of protein. Everything else is incidental.

(during the summer there're more vegetables. )

dunno how it is where you are, but chicken livers are about $1 a pound where I am.
ever looked into using that for hearty, mineral-rich dinners with big flavor?
livers go a loooong way when you add them into veggie entrees.

I don't generally eat meat. Thank you though.

I'll stick with the bouillon and spices for flavor.

Chankgeez wrote:I don't generally eat meat. Thank you though.

I'll stick with the bouillon and spices for flavor.

Oh - I thought you were framing it as a financial problem. NBD.

Well, I can't afford as many vegetables as I'd like.

Not to repeat myself but when I make beans I either go full red beans and rice or use sausage and make a filling for burritos and shit. I like the way red beans mash out in sauce when I make RBNR, and sometimes I'll add diced celery and onions for the last 10 mins and maybe some chopped chorizo

Achtane wrote:What sort of dishes are you guys making with all these beans? Do you mix them in stuff or go for it by itself?

I want to get into making more flavorful bean soups to have as pretty much standalone grub, maybe with some bread. For now I accompany them with rice or sweet potatoes and always some other veggies. When I make lentils it's either a curry, a north african soup, or a salad; in any case they're pretty well stand alone yumminess.

friendship wrote:Throw those beans in water before work if you can remember! Also, Roman/cranberry beans taste similar to pinto but take a bit less time to cook in my experience. A good sub if you need good beans ASAP.

Speaking of lentils, made a big 3-lentil dal last night. My curries are very hit or miss but this one was a hit.

I'll pick up those beans and do the early soak! That's some good tips.

PeteeBee wrote:
I want to get into making more flavorful bean soups to have as pretty much standalone grub, maybe with some bread.

This is something I've been meaning to dive into to save some real cash year over year - because regular bread is STOOPID CHEAP to make, and we eat a lot of locally-made loaves that are great, but none of them are something that WE MUST HAVE. We don't live in a particularly expensive area of the country, but some of our go-to breads can be $5 a loaf. We will go through nearly five loaves a month.
So turns out we're dumb, trendy AND lazy.