I can cook! (or, the yummiest beans you'll ever eat)

If you know me well at all, you are thinking: "oh God, she can't cook, why is she lying?"

Being a housewife (there's no point in pretending, that's just what I am) means that if I want to eat before 8pm, and I usually do, I have to make dinner. Husband gets in too late for me to wait for him to make something. We were really conscious how fat we could potentially get living in the US but miraculously, neither of us have put ANY weight on, mostly because you get sick of junk food eventually, but also because I started really caring about cooking.* I really wanted to try and make something bean-based as a way to get better carbs than the usual pasta, potatoes and bread.**

The bean recipe is really easy and I can totally account for its full-proof-ness (that is totally a word...)

Image by Scott Bauer, for the Agricultural Research Service, USDA

Martha Stewart's Pinto Beans
'Adapted' somewhat from Martha Stewart Living magazine, Nov 2012

400g Pinto Beans
'Stock' veggies- I used a couple of carrots, celery, a few cloves of garlic and half a large onion
Olive oil
4 teaspoons of salt


1. Soak the beans (I didn't know how to do this either, but Martha says either put them in a bowl of water in the fridge overnight, or just boil them for one minute, then take them off the heat and let them sit, covered, for an hour. I used the quick method, obviously, and it worked.) Don't drain the water they soak in. 
2. Add your 'stock' veggies.
3. Add water to cover the beans by about 3 inches, add a splash of olive oil and the salt, then simmer until soft (but not falling apart.) Martha says 30-45 minutes, I call bullshit. Mine took an hour at least.

Done! Then you have tasty tasty beans to do with as you wish. I froze mine in little tupperware tubs and then just stick them in things as I want. We've eaten them in a tomato type dish, and then at the weekend I made this- the most amazing white chilli soup recipe ever. The beans were perfect in it. I think Tacos with these instead of refried beans are next on the agenda. 

One day, when I have mentally recovered enough, I shall tell the story of the time I made Nigella's Chilli Jam. It's still too soon. 



*Still eat super noodles some nights, I'm not going to lie.
**I no longer can eat rice thanks to a dose of food poisoning two years ago. I don't really miss it to be honest, I was never really a fan and I cannot cook it properly. Seriously, it always turns out crap.