[CherryPie99]

Ok, I feel stupid asking this. First I'll let you know that I don't cook. Ever. My DH does all the cooking and has since we moved in together in 1998. We both come from families where each meal consisted of a large piece of meat, potatoes, and a scoop of a vegetable - usually corn. So that's what we ate. Every night.

So now on this journey we are starting to experiment with different foods. I tried sweet potatoes for the first time ever 3 months ago. Last week we bough asparagus for the first time. In doing some reading, I've seen the advantages of beans and how good they are for you.

So we bought some black beans (frozen) and DH cooked them and they were SO BLAND. Yuck! We have now bought pinto beans and navy beans in a bag - not frozen. Any suggestions on how to cook them?

To added to my pain the rearitis, I'll let you know that I can't eat anything even remotely spicy and I don't eat onions or peppers.

[river]

You could try this recipe for white chili:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...ipe/index.html

Omit the onions, cayenne pepper, poblano peppers and anything else in the ingredient list you don't like.

[beerab]

You can use beans in things like burritos and salads too. I love putting peas and garbanzo beans and all sorts of beans in my salad

Would you consider onion powder?

Also if it's a textural thing with onions you could try chopping them up very small and then sauteeing them before putting them into anything.

My favorite thing to make with black beans is a simple soup.

I take black beans, salsa (you can use mild) and cook together in a pot (the beans should be pre-cooked). Once hot I take half this mixture and put it in a blender and blend it up, then pour back in the pot and mix up. Then I put into a bowl and add a dollop of sour cream and mix together- SOO good

I didn't put amounts because it depends on how much you want to make, but probably for every cup of beans I'd do 1/4 cup of salsa unless you really love salsa and want more.

[peanutt]

Try mashing red beans and making red bean burgers.
-1 can of red beans, mashed
-2 tbsp barbecue sauce
-1 tsp chili powder (it doesn't make it spicy, just adds flavor!)
-onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper
-1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix that all together and form into patties. Fry the patties in a pan witha drizzle of olive oil.

[indiblue]

Yes, add a packet of Taco Seasoning (Hormel's I think?) to cooked beans to make tacos. Or onion power and garlic powder.

I like you don't really like plain beans, but fortunately there are tons of things you can do with them. You can also make black bean burgers, black bean chili, daal (actually that uses lentils not black beans, but it's sooooo good).Go to Allrecipes.com and at the top click "Ingredients" so you can search by ingredients. Type in black bean and see what pops up. That's what I usually do for inspiration.

[joyfulloser]

Mmmmmm...beans! I love beans! Sorry...no pinto beans recipe...but if you ever want a killer black eyed peas dish (carribbean style and spicy!) I'll shoot you over the recipe. I also have a killer recipe for low fat chili with kidney beans!

Beans...beans...beanzzzzzzzzzzzz!

[ERHR]

I believe the question was how to cook dried beans, right? I assume that's what you meant by in a bag. Just google it. You have to either soak them for a long time (hours/overnight) or boil them to reconstitute the water. Personally, I have tried several methods for working with dried beans and have never been successful so I just buy canned beans and rinse the liquid from them. I have never heard of frozen beans, but some kinds of beans are bland on their own without spicing them.

I often make beef chili with black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans. I also add black beans to my spinach salads. Another good dish is black beans and stewed tomatoes with sauteed onion and garlic, seasoned with red pepper and served over brown rice.

[MindiV]

For the dry beans, the easiest way to do it is soak them overnight and cook them for 4-5 hours on low in a crock pot. If you don't soak them, cook them 7-8 hours. Add seasonings to your tastes. Use in tacos or burritos, make into patties or eat them by themselves. We also have been known to chop up turkey smoked sausage in there, too, and use them as a meal all by themselves. Love beans.

Use any leftovers to make homemade refried beans, or eat for lunch or dinner the next day.

[katy trail]

cooking them with chicken both or other type of broth really helps with the flavor, in addition to seasonings. aromatic veggies also help, like a few smashed cloves of garlic-just peel it, squish it, and add it to your cooking liquid.

i really love different kinds of beans with bell peppers, olive oil and garlic. my kids love that too. have some greens cooked in evoo, garlic and chicken broth and that could be your meal. if you need meat, just add some turkey sausage to the beans.

[thymeleaves]

I cook (soak overnight, then boil for an hour or two, depending on the beans) a lot of beans at once, and then I freeze them, with the cooking liquid, in one cup, two-serving containers. You can cook them up with most anything; here's my easiest black bean soup recipe, which I think would go with pintos as well:

Saute an onion and a garlic clove until soft.

Add a cup or two of black beans; an equal amount of tinned tomatoes; and one chipotle chili in adobe sauce, with a smidgen of the adobe sauce. (The rest of the tinned chipotle in adobe sauce will last for a long, long time in the fridge, or you can freeze the chilis in an ice cube tray.) Simmer for 10-20 minutes, or until the liquid reduces somewhat. Puree about half the soup with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, or blender, or whatever, and stir the puree back into the soup to thicken it. Serve. It will have a kick from the chipotle and adobe sauce; if you really don't like spice, remove the chipotle's seeds before adding it to the soup.

You can gussy it up any way at all: Add cumin after the onion and garlic clove have softened; throw additional veggies into the soup base; serve with cilantro, yogurt, red onion, avocado, etc.