Last night, I met a few of my girlfriends for drinks where we just happened to talk about beans.

More than one person at the table last night lamented they have no idea how to cook beans. One person said ; “I open a can, heat it up and serve it!”.

And while she is narrating her little stories around beans, I am thinking – OMG! Really? That bad, huh? I would find that so totally unappealing. So – girlfriends (you know who ya’ll are!) – this post is dedicated to you.

Now, being a vegetarian and growing up in India means knowing how to cook beans. Indians are generally comfortable around pressure cookers and whistles that often scare Americans! (well, admittedly, some Indians too!)

I know most people have little or no time, and probably little or no patience to sort through recipes – I get that: That’s why I started Cook Aunty. But sometimes, you dont want a chef in the home – it also gets expensive calling one frequently – and not everyone has the spare money.

So, if you want some partially-home-cooked food but want a hassle-free experience, go to the store and buy some pastes and sauces. And although I am a big fan of dry beans cooked in a slow cooker or in a pressure cooker, feel free to use cans.

Here are different things you can do with cooked beans:

1. Cut and saute some fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic in olive oil – Once you’ve sauteed them for 3-5 minutes, throw in the cooked beans (strain them and throw the water out if they are canned), put some salt, pepper and chili flakes and garnish with fresh cilantro

2. Give your beans a Spanish touch – buy Goya’s Sofrito sauce which has everything, (except salt ) that you need to spice up some beans (no, I don’t mean chilli powder!) It has tomato, onions, peppers and garlic so it saves a lot of time in the kitchen! And, trust me, it is delish. Or use Goya’s Recaito which is a cilantro-based sauce

3. Play around with coconut milk – Throw in some cooked noodles, and strained beans and some spices (I do recommend Indian spices because I am partial to them, but a Thai or a Malaysian satay paste would work as well) – I make a mean Burmese dish where I put tomato (small can) sauce in the coconut milk with some sauteed veggies and cooked beans

4. Indian cooking curry sauces (especially the red ones that go well with chicken such as Tikka Paste or Cilantro-Tomato-Ginger pastes) can be used with all sauteed veggies and I would encourage you to experiment using them with cooked, strained beans – particularly chick peas or red-kidney beans. (try them canned, if you are trying them for the very first time!) Add a dollop of fresh whipped cream and it just gets yummier!

So, go ahead girlfriends – spice up your food and your lives – and ping me if you need help figuring something out 🙂