There’s Nothing to Eat in This House

chopnchat ♦ August 2, 2012 ♦ 4 Comments

Sometimes you have to get a little creative. Ok, a lot creative. To that end, I was tired of everything that showed its pretty face in the fridge. The soup. The cold salads. Even…dare I say it?  The HUMMUS. And I realized that there was a certain bean that had been experiencing more than its fair share of neglect. True that I love chickpeas. I add them to way more than is reasonable. But that is okay because it makes me happy. And happy is as happy does.  But I digress.

So, here is the short of it. I made something so delicious and off the taste path I have been on lately because I scraped together a bunch of random pieces to marry the RED KIDNEY BEANS.  And it was good. So without further ado…

Center Stage Kidney Beans

Gather up:

1 can red kidney beans

1/2 cup chopped red onion (all I had left)

1 diced carrot (still one left in the veggie box)

1 celery stalk, sliced

7 banana peppers ( is the correct term cubanels? No matter…) sliced and chopped

6 chopped garlic cloves

2 T. olive oil

heaping half cup of sundried tomatoes, chopped ( I used the ones in oil and patted them dry. Almost.)

heaping teaspoon of oregano

heaping teaspoon of paprika

heaping teaspoon of chili powder

teaspoon of dried parsley (cupboard was bare of fresh)

a shake of celery salt

half teaspoon of salt

a lot of freshly ground pepper

3/4 bean can of water (there must be a better way to say this)

It sounds like a lot but it is not. Basically, I just grabbed all the kids who wanted to play together nicely, so there you go with the spice choice.

Do it like this:

Heat the oil and toss in the red onion. Soften. Add the garlic. Soften. Add the celery and the carrot. Add the chopped peppers. Toss  and soften a little. Add the sundried tomatoes, the beans and the water. Heat through. Add all the spices. The fire is at medium. Now, lid it, turn the heat to low and let cook a half hour or so. Watch you do not burn the beans…open, stir and add a bit more water if need be.

That, my dears is it. Have a nice bowl of beans only or make more of it than it is by…

Put the beans over brown rice, quinoa, wild rice, whole grain pasta, sauteed zucchini, a nuked sweet potato…the possibilities are unlimited.

Top with fresh chopped tomato, onion, avocado, grated carrot, crumbled whole grain crackers…whatever makes you smile.