Fried red beans

Lately I’ve been trying to integrate more beans into my diet. With the onslaught of garbage food levelled against us all its important to make stands where possible. Lately I’ve been making a stand with my crock pot and beans.

The other day I found a bag of red beans which I acquired at the farmers market. I soaked them overnight and then slow-cooked them the next day to just the right texture where they still have some integrity to them and are not too soft and flavorless.

I then have a bean fest the same day I cook them. At the end of the day I put the leftovers in storage containers and refrigerate them.

When I’m hungry I can then just spoon some from a container into my electric wok and cook them on a very low temp. I like to just put them in the wok and leave it on for say 20-30 minutes. For this to work the setting has to be real low.

What happens is the beans dry out. They never get super hot. They can cook this way for a really long time.

When I serve them in a bowl the flavor is unbelievably good. One never gets beans made like this anywhere. These red beans have this kind of smoky, ruddy flavor that is exquisite and deeply gratifying. I only put Real salt and a little bit of hot pepper powder on them.

I guess this shows that we poor humans can easily not appreciate what we have. Here is this amazingly wonderful food which, because it requires a certain, dedicated way of preparing, many people miss out on. Instead one sees the standard cooked beans everywhere which don’t come close to these slow-made ones in terms of delicacy and richness of flavor and texture. What a shame! I believe its our duty to appreciate and not take for granted beautiful things like beans which we have been blessed to enjoy.