Beans (from dried beans) & Rice, Demystified. + Homemade Veggie Stock!

Cooking beans using dried beans was for a long time, something that was largely a mystery to me.  I remember watching my Granny soak beans in a lot of water overnight, and knew it had something to do with preparing dried beans, but the package directions were pretty vague.  Maybe not so much vague as direct and to the point.  It's a skill worth knowing, though.  Dried beans are cheap, and beans are healthy for us!  They're a great source of protein!  This recipe will work with any type of dried beans: pinto, black, garbanzo, red, etc.!

Homemade veggie stock is another component of this recipe that I knew was simple, but it seemed SO HARD.  Primarily because no on had ever explained it to me.  Here's a quick tutorial  that will have you breezing through it in no time.

Veggie Stock:

1.  Save all of your vegetable scraps.  Onion peelings, onion tops, carrot peelings, carrot tops, the bits of celery that you chop off and don't use, kale stalks, bell pepper hearts/stems, mushroom stems, broccoli stems, and on and on and on.  There are some vegetables that won't work well...corn, lettuce, tomatoes, are a few examples.  Cabbage tends to stink up your house, so I generally leave that out.  Anything that won't work in your stock, you can throw in the compost.  I try to buy organic food, and it makes a difference in your stock, too (especially since you're cooking the peelings and such with stock).  Keep a gallon-sized freezer bag in the freezer, and throw your scraps in your stock bag each time you chop veggies.  Once you have a substantial amount, it's time to make stock!

2.  Put your frozen vegetable scraps in a crockpot, cover them with water (fill it up), put the lid on and turn it on low.  I usually do this the night before I'm using it (and this works well if you're making beans because it's ready when your beans are finished soaking) and it's ready the next morning.  

3.  In the morning, you need to strain out the vegetable scraps.  I use a large container (to catch the stock) and a colander to catch the veggie scraps.

4.  You're done!  Cool the stock if you're not using it right away (put that container you dumped it in into the fridge).  Once it's cooled down you can separate it into smaller containers for freezing or even freezer bags for use later.

Beans (from dried beans):

1.  Choose a bag of dried beans (one or two pounds will fit in a standard crockpot).

2.  The night before you plan to serve the beans, put them in a colander and rinse well.  Pick out any rocks or beans that look bad.  Do this as you're starting your veggie stock.

3.  Put the beans in a large container, and cover with water.  Make sure the water covers the beans by several inches, as the beans will expand as they rehydrate.

4.  Cover the container with plastic wrap or a dish towel, and go to bed!

5.  The next morning, drain your beans in a colander, and rinse them.  Once you've drained the veggie scraps out of your stock, pour it back into your crockpot, add your beans to the crockpot, put the lid on it, leave it on low, and leave it for the day.  Make sure there is plenty more stock than beans.  It's best to stir the beans a time or two throughout the day, but it's not absolutely necessary.

6.  IMPORTANT!!!  Do NOT add salt to your stock/beans until they are finished cooking.  Salt makes the skins tough, and it will take days to cook them this way.  Feel free to add herbs or bay leaves if you like (but it's not necessary...all those veggies will lend a ton of flavor on their own).

At dinner time, your beans will be done!  Make some white rice and serve with vegan cheese, vegan sour cream and salsa.  Or serve on a tortilla!  With hot sauce!  Enjoy!