Legumes - Dried chickpeas, dried lentils, dried beans

[Toomessy]

When I say dried I mean not the canned ones that are precooked.

I have noticed that British people don't know what to do and how to cook dried legumes in casserole dishes rather than boil them.

Whoever ask if and how they cook them the either respond that they don't cook them or they just boil them. Their legume diet go as far as canned beans which full of sugar and preservatives or hummus.

I come from a country where legumes are a big part of our diet and as a kid I used to have legumes casserole once a week either in the pot or in the oven.

Am I right or have I just spoken to a small percentage of people and British enjoy casserole legumes?

Weirdest ever example of an OP posting and then disappearing never to return! OP where are you, you're missing so much bean chat! Ha ha.

I come from Spain where dried legumes dishes have always been part of our diet. I still eat legumes 2-3 times per week specially in winter.

These days there is no need to soak lentils and beans but if you want to cook dried chick peas, soak them in water overnight with a good pinch of salt.

As far as I can make out running a slow cooker for four hours uses less than 1kWh which even now only costs about 30p.

I've just had a chickpea stew - does that count?

Nothin wrong with canned beans but you don't get the variety.
Also the smaller beans don't take too long to cook even without a pressure cooker.Once cooked they freeze well too.

Oh no, why waste valuable lentils when you could use finished bean vines instead? The finished product will break a bit every time you move, unless you keep it damp in which case it'll go mouldy, but at least you dont need to attempt to spin lentils, and you can eat them for breakfast instead.

Nothin wrong with canned beans but you don't get the variety.

I have tins of butter beans, cannelloni beans, borlotti beans, red kidney beans, lima beans, black beans, as well as chickpeas and lentils, in my storecupboard.

::puts hands up::
I've a cupboard full and other than the lentils for lentil soup, I don't use them. They're just there. Bags and bags full. Waiting. Maybe for the zombie apocalypse and we'll be surviving on dried goods? I use canned ones quite a bit though. Maybe I need to try and meal plan because I never know what we fancy til on the day so canned are quick and easy.

I need to dig out the cookbooks and make something.

Lima beans and butter beans are the same.
Canned lentils are over priced and unnecessary as the need very little cooking time.
The only cans I have for emergencies are chick pea,butter beans and kidney beans are they have longer cooking times.
However you use them they are tasty and good for you.Especially good for weight watching as they are filling without the carbs.

I tend to use cans for speed. Apart from lentils. If I'm doing a casserole type thing I will bung a tin in. If you are cooking after work soaking / long boiling isn't that practical. It'd be something I did as part of planned weekend cooking.

Quite. They do come with instructions and a surprising number of British people can read.

Lima beans and butter beans are the same.

Thanks ever so much for that. It was a can of four bean mix and I couldn't be bothered typing the rest. Here it is for you: lima beans, great northern beans, kidney beans, chickpeas.

Canned lentils are over priced and unnecessary as the need very little cooking time.

I find them useful as a storecupboard backup, but not very palatable.

Get one of those bags, and put them into a large jam pan of water and soak overnight.

Then drain the next day and refresh the water [don't add salt] and boil until you can squish one with a fork.

Drain, let them dry and cool and then freeze, giving the bag a good squeeze to seperate them a few hours after putting in the freezer.

Then when you come to need them, you can just grab a good handful or cupful from the bag and bung them into whatever you are cooking.

A good recipe for refried beans is to get half a cup out for each person, and put them in a pan with a covering of water and cook until the water is gone. It just softens them up a bit more. Tip them out. Add oil to the pan and when hot, put in cumin seeds, chopped onion and pepper and chilli pepper and cook for about 10 mins. Once cooked, add back in the beans and a small amount of tomato puree and a splash of water. Once all hot, use a masher or tip out and whizz with a hand blender, return to pan to heat up again and season to taste. Spoon onto a plate, surround with tortilla chips, grate some cheese and put under a grill for a few mins until cheese melts.

@AlisonDonut thanks! I never thought about freezing them. Which is daft because I have a freezer full of cut and frozen veggies, bags of excess mash from meals I make and my fave, meatballs I make in bulk. I just dip into the freezer bag full of them when I want to do a quick pasta meal that the kids adore. It would make a lot of sense to have beans and such in there too. After all, I made a sausage and bean casserole just tonight, using up various canned beans.