Legumes are not very common among everyday side dishes, but for good reason. After all, beans contain a lot of protein, which is absorbed by the body by 70%. It also contains essential amino acids, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, zinc and others. It goes well with various vegetables and is a suitable side dish for any main dish.
Recipe for red beans as a side dish
Ingredients
Red beans | 430 g |
tomato paste | 45 g |
onion | 120 g |
vegetable oil | 35 ml |
water | 2.6 l |
parsley | 15 g |
black and red pepper | 3 g |
salt | 4 g |
Step-by-step preparation
- In order for the beans to cook faster, they need to be soaked. Pour 430 g of red beans into a bowl and fill it with cold water. The water should completely cover all the beans. Leave it for 3-4 hours, or better yet, overnight. Before cooking beans, make sure they are free from blemishes and completely smooth and firm to the touch.
Beans go well with any meat or fish. This type of dish can be eaten during Lent and served for vegetarians.
Video recipe for making red beans as a side dish
Don't miss the video with a detailed description of this recipe.
A more dietary version of beans as a side dish can be prepared in a slow cooker. In the next recipe I will tell you how to do it correctly.
Recipe for bean pate “Armenian style”
Ingredients:
- 300 g dry red beans;
- head of garlic;
- a bunch of cilantro;
- 50 g walnut kernels;
- salt pepper.
Preparation:
Rinse the red beans, add water and leave for at least 7-8 hours, the easiest way is overnight, especially since some cookbooks suggest soaking the fruits for a day. Drain the water, rinse the beans under running water and cook until completely soft, adding hot water if necessary during cooking. Drain through a colander until the water is completely drained. Peel the head of garlic, chop the cloves, finely chop the nuts and cilantro. Mix all ingredients and grind 3 times with a manual meat grinder or 2 times with an electric one. Season the resulting pate with salt and pepper, taste and add salt if necessary. Under-salted pate tastes like an unfinished dish. Place in a vase and garnish with parsley. Serve with pita bread, which can be made into a roll, or with toasted bread.
To obtain a richer oily taste, you can fry 1 chopped onion in sunflower oil with 3-4 cloves of garlic until transparent, then add them along with nuts and cilantro to the red beans and chop everything together.
Video recipe
How to deliciously cook red beans as a side dish in a slow cooker
Ingredients
Red beans | 320 g |
water | 400 ml |
salt | 4 g |
Step-by-step preparation
- Take 320 g of beans and soak them in water for 10 hours or overnight.
- When it swells, drain the water from it and put it in a slow cooker.
- Pour approximately 400 ml of fresh water into the multicooker bowl. There should be enough water so that it is 1 cm above the beans.
- Close the lid and set the “Stewing” program for 2 hours, but it all depends on the type of beans. If you prefer your beans very cooked, simmer them 20 minutes longer.
- When the multicooker finishes working, add salt to the beans and stir.
- If there is any water left in the bowl, you can drain it. Serve beans hot or cold with any meat or fish dish.
Video recipe for cooking red beans as a side dish in a slow cooker
See how easy it is to make a hearty and delicious side dish for lunch or dinner.
How to cook red beans: recommendations
Recommendations for cooking beans
- To soak beans, choose a large container, because it absorbs liquid very well and becomes several times larger during the settling process. In addition, the dimensions also increase during cooking.
- When you stew beans, they sometimes turn a dark brown color. To avoid such situations, do not cover the beans with a lid.
- If you cook beans in the summer, be sure to put them in the refrigerator to settle so that they do not spoil
- During the cooking process, all harmful substances “leave” from the beans. This is why it is so important to monitor readiness. If you eat an undercooked product, problems may arise.
- If you want the beans to remain in the same shape as they originally were, add a little salt at the very beginning. For a loose state, add salt at the end.
- If you constantly stir the beans, they will boil. This should be done if you want to make pate or puree soup.
If you are a supporter of melting nutrition, then red beans will certainly be included firmly in your diet. It contains many useful substances and retains them even after cooking.
Recipe for stewed beans with vegetables
Ingredients
Red beans | 530 g |
carrot | 140 g |
onion | 120 g |
dried bell pepper | 90 g |
tomatoes | 260 g |
vegetable oil | 35 ml |
water | 1.7 l |
dill | 12 g |
khmeli-suneli seasoning | 5 g |
salt | taste |
Step-by-step preparation
- Soak 530 g of red beans overnight, and in the morning, rinse them and put them in a pan with clean water (1.5 l). Place the pan on the fire and cook the beans for about 30-40 minutes until half cooked.
- Cut 140 g of carrots into small cubes.
- Also finely chop 260 g of tomatoes.
- From the finished beans, drain the water in which they were boiled and pour in 200 ml of clean hot water.
- Add chopped carrots and tomatoes.
- We also put 90 g of dried bell pepper into the pan, which can be replaced with fresh pepper if desired.
- Add salt to taste and 5 g of khmeli-suneli seasoning or any other.
- Mix all ingredients and add 35 ml of vegetable oil.
- Stir again, cover the pan with a lid and simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
- Grind 15 g of dill and serve hot with ready-made beans.
Video recipe for stewed red beans with vegetables as a side dish
I suggest watching the video to see how easy it is to prepare this hearty dish.
Pay attention to the recipe for a side dish of zucchini, and for those who liked my recipes for a hearty side dish, I recommend watching how to cook delicious pearl barley or prepare fresh spinach for a side dish. I also can’t help but recommend a recipe for delicious buckwheat.
Red beans are a valuable source of all the necessary vitamins that provide a person with normal functioning of the body. It helps strengthen the immune system, optimize the functioning of the nervous system and improve the appearance of the skin. Doctors also recommend consuming this legume for people who suffer from metabolic disorders, heart and vascular diseases. Moreover, regular consumption of dishes based on red beans will provide you with energy, relieve stress, and also make you feel rested and full. Due to the low calorie content of the product and the feeling of satiety after eating a side dish of beans, this plant is extremely popular among those who want to get rid of extra pounds and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Red bean side dish recipe
Kitchenware
- You will undoubtedly need a sharp knife and a wooden board for cutting the ingredients.
- A frying pan with high edges and always a lid will be very useful.
- A wooden spoon is useful for stirring foods while cooking.
- I suggest choosing dishes in advance to serve the finished dish on the table.
General list of required ingredients
products | quantity |
Red beans | 200 g |
onion | 80-100 g |
carrot | 100-120 g |
garlic | 3 cloves |
tomato juice with celery | 400 ml |
fresh parsley or dill | bunch |
salt | taste |
spices (hops-suneli, dried dill, bay leaf, black pepper, coriander) | taste |
vegetable oil | 30-40 ml |
How to choose the right ingredients
- Choose small beans. Scientists claim that such beans contain more vitamins necessary for human health. Moreover, medium-sized beans will reach full readiness much faster when boiled or baked.
- High-quality dry beans must be clean and free-flowing; the presence of foreign debris indicates a low quality product. The beans themselves should be completely smooth and firm, without any blemishes. Do not buy flaky or wrinkled beans - such a product can ruin your dish and harm your body.
- When purchasing packaged beans, pay attention to the packaging; it must be in perfect condition, without any damage.
Cooking red beans in stages
Preparing Ingredients
- Peel the carrots, garlic and onions and rinse under cold water.
- Then cut the carrots into small cubes.
- Then chop the onion into medium squares.
- Next, cut the garlic into thin slices.
- Finely chop the parsley with a knife.
Preparing the bean side dish
- Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and place it on the fire to heat up.
- Then pour the chopped carrots and onions into well-heated oil.
- Simmer the vegetables for five minutes, remembering to stir them constantly so that they do not burn.
- Add tomato paste to the fried vegetables, mix everything and simmer the mixture a little more under a closed lid.
- Then pour in the beans, boiled until ready, and add salt, bay leaf and spices to your taste.
- Cover the pan again with a lid and continue to simmer the bean mass for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Then add chopped garlic and chopped herbs, mix everything.
- Cover the mixture with a lid and remove the pan from the heat.
The final stage
- We set the pan aside and let our dish brew for about 40 minutes.
- Afterwards, place the bean side dish on plates and serve.
How to cook red beans
How to properly cook red beans for a side dish so that they turn out tasty and don’t get overcooked? At one time I really needed an answer to this question. So I decided to share with you two ways to cook red beans.
First way
- In the evening, pour the beans into a saucepan and fill it with boiling water.
- Then cover the pan with a lid and leave the beans in this form overnight.
- First thing in the morning, drain the water, then pour boiling water over the ingredient again and put the pan on the fire.
- Cook the beans for twenty minutes until fully cooked.
Second way
- Pour cold water over the beans, put on the fire and wait until it boils.
- Then add granulated sugar at the rate of one tablespoon per liter of water.
- Boil the beans for twenty minutes, drain the water and add boiling water, then the beans will not turn out too sweet.
- Boil the beans for another five to seven minutes and remove from heat.
How to cook red beans without soaking?
Many housewives are interested in how long to cook red beans, and whether it can be done without prior preparation. As we have already said, if you do not carry out this procedure, the product will take longer to cook, since it will take time to soften.
It is important to understand that soaking not only makes the beans soft, but also removes from them all the harmful substances that are often present in legumes. These substances prevent seeds from germinating prematurely. And after the inhibitors (that’s what these substances are called) are dissolved in water, the seeds become quickly digestible.
It needs to be soaked for seven to eight hours, so it is recommended to leave it overnight. If you forgot to cook beans, and it’s time to cook lunch, then use a little trick.
Soaked beans
Many experienced housewives use the method of changing water to boil unsoaked beans faster. As a rule, it is necessary to replace the water two or three times during the cooking process. Then cooking will be faster.
- First, rinse the beans to remove any excess residue. Place them in a saucepan and fill with water so that the beans are covered by three centimeters
- Place on the fire and wait until it boils. No salting required. When the water starts to boil, simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- After this, you can drain the first portion of boiling water and refill with cold water.
- Do the same thing again
When you have already counted three replacements, let the beans boil for about another hour.
In this case, you can do without draining. To do this, after boiling, add two to three tablespoons of plain water. The temperature difference will allow the product to cook faster.
Please note that you will have to constantly monitor the process so that the water does not have time to boil away, otherwise you will get fried beans instead of boiled ones.
Helpful tips for cooking red beans
- Before soaking the beans, sort them out, removing all spoiled beans, and then rinse them under cold water in a colander.
- Opinions differ regarding soaking beans. Some chefs say that it is best to soak it in water overnight and only then boil it until tender. Others argue that soaking is not required at all, it is simply necessary to add two tablespoons of cold water to the pan every half hour while cooking the beans.
- In order for the beans to cook faster, I advise you to salt them not at the initial stage of cooking, but ten to fifteen minutes before they are ready.
- If you urgently need a side dish of red beans, but do not have time to soak and cook the dry product, replace it with canned beans. However, remember that canned beans must be rinsed under cold water before direct consumption. This way you will get rid of the excess salt found in canned foods.
- Never cook different types of beans together; you may end up with an inedible mixture. One type of bean may be overcooked while another is still raw.
- When pouring beans overnight, be guided by the following proportions: for 300 g of dry beans, 2.5-3 liters of water are needed.
- After soaking, be sure to rinse the swollen beans under cold running water.
- When cooking beans, I advise you to add bay leaves and allspice to boiling water - these spices will add a unique aroma to the prepared side dish.
- In order to cook beans in a slow cooker, remember that for two multi-cups of beans you need to take ten multi-cups of water. Next, you need to set the “Stew” program and cook the red beans for 90 minutes.
How long should you cook red beans until they are done?
Red beans
It is important to understand that to decide how long to cook red beans, you need to take into account the shelf life of the product. The longer this period, the longer it will take to cook. In addition, the speed of preparation largely depends on the presence of processing. If it is, then in just an hour you will receive a finished product. If without it, you will have to spend about four hours.
Cooking red beans in a slow cooker usually takes no more than 1.5 hours. At the same time, the steamer copes with the task almost twice as fast. This process takes about 40 minutes. It is always important to check if the beans are done. To do this, take a few pieces, and you need to try them. If you find that one of them is not ready, continue cooking, checking periodically.
Other possible cooking methods
- How to cook delicious pearl barley as a side dish? In fact, the task is simple, but it requires knowledge of some subtleties.
- If you don’t know how to cook delicious buckwheat as a side dish, then you are depriving your family of a wonderful, very aromatic and nutritious dish. Try to cook it, and you definitely won’t regret it!
- Zucchini has a stimulating effect on intestinal function, provides additional nutrition to the heart muscle and removes excess fluid from the body. Therefore, I recommend diversifying the family menu with a side dish of zucchini, which goes perfectly with meat dishes.
- It is also useful to know how to cook fresh spinach as a side dish, since this dish is very useful for both adults and children.
How to cook delicious red beans
Beans are indispensable during fasting and in vegetarian menus. In this article we will discuss how to cook delicious beans for a strict vegetarian diet without using products with animal proteins and fats in recipes. All of the above dishes are quite universal, easy to prepare and have almost no national coloring, but we will put off the famous Georgian lobio and American Idaho soup, which is also often prepared only in water, until next time.
Video recipe for cooking red beans
It will be useful to familiarize yourself with the video below, after studying which you will understand how to quickly and easily prepare a side dish of red beans. Moreover, you will get an excellent opportunity to appreciate the magnificent appearance of the ready-made side dish and finally decide for yourself whether you want such a dish to decorate your table.
I wish you to always cook in a good mood, in which case you will undoubtedly end up with a masterpiece of culinary art!
Bean dishes are especially popular in Greek and Mexican cuisines. Almost without exception, they go well with meat and fish dishes. Often, such dishes can be independent, since the beans themselves are quite filling. In this topic, our authors share proven recipes for bean side dishes with photographs and step-by-step preparation.