Beans the wonder protein!

Wow this Blog has only been active one day and I've already been emailed a couple questions!

Many people wonder about beans....and I needed to do plenty of research on these little bundles of joy before I even attempted cooking them. As a matter of fact when I was in the first grade and one of our assignments was to draw a picture of "Things I Don't Like".....beans made it into my collage of scribbles along with a rough drawing of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey (I grew up with a sister who was 12 in 1988 so let's just say I was subjected to watching the movie quite a few times and even having to be taught a few of the dance moves....but that could be a whole other blog).

Needless to say, I eat beans once or twice a week as the central protein in my lunch. This is without any signs of flatulence!

Here is the deal. Beans are difficult to digest and this is where many people's aversion to them comes from. This also is one of the things that can produce gas. Because of this beans need to be soaked and when I say soaked, I mean put in a pot and forgot about for a good 6-8hrs. Trust me....I made the mistake of not soaking. It was not pleasant!

After that experience I chose not to work with dry beans anymore. I buy all natural canned beans....but I still soak them....because I just don't want to go back to that unpleasant digestive experience. I rinse them several times and soak for like an hour. After I soaked the beans in the picture I cooked them in a hot pot with:

3/4 cup of water

dash of a seasoning that I found at a Sicilian place. The owner told me it tastes great in spaghetti sauce (but the way he said "spaghetti" was so crazy!)

1/2 a cup of Newman's Own Roasted Garlic and Pepper Pasta Sauce (am I allowed to say brand's on the internet? it was on sale, buy 2 for $3.00*)

I let that sit for like 10 minutes and mixed it with some brown rice. A co-worker who came in from going out for Spanish food place told me next time he would bring in some beans and I would make him his Spanish dish. In honor of the Sicilian guy I am calling this Sicilian Rice and Beans.

*most food I make is just a culmination of what was on sale at Whole Foods. There really isn't a recipe or even a plan for that matter!