Beans

Cheap, healthy, full of fiber... Beans. I love them- any shape, any size. They don't have much flavor of their own, lending themselves to lots of delightful creativity.
You can buy them in a can, but canned beans have a lot of extra sodium. Plus, it's more economical to cook them yourself. And dried beans are beautiful sitting in jars around the kitchen.
For the sake of convenience, I cook a pot at one time, and then drain them and spread on a cookie tray in the freezer. Slip them into a ziploc bag, and you can grab a handful and heat them up anytime!

Basic Sketch of How to Cook Beans:

1. Place beans in a pot with plenty of water and allow to soak overnight.
2. Drain and pour in new water.
3. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes or until soft.


There are lots of variations, methods that include adding baking soda to reduce the deleterious side-effects of beans (which do tend to decline as your body becomes used to eating more fiber!), as well as changing the water more often, adding spices, etc, but this is a quick and simple way to get the job done.

To make a quick refried bean dip, I grabbed a handful of beans, a bit of beef broth, and lots of delicious spices- including cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. A clove of garlic from my garden added some additional depth to the flavor. I even threw in a few roasted peppers that I had frozen when I had an abundance from my CSA share for a bit of extra color and nutrients.


These were placed in a small pan, and heated slowly for an hour or so while I worked on homework.


Total active time required for this process? Probably 35 minutes... about the same time that it would take for me to go to the nearest grocery store for a can of refried beans. Plus- these are far more economical, low sodium, and delicious!
Good cooking doesn't require a lot of time- just a bit of planning :)