Smoky red beans and rice from a bag of dried beans

Dried kidney beans usually cost less per serving than tins, as long as you plan ahead for the soak. This pot of smoky red beans and rice is cooked on a quiet afternoon, and the extra portions of beans go into the freezer.

One step is essential: dried kidney beans must be boiled hard for at least 10 minutes before they are simmered. Don't cook them from dried in a slow cooker without that boil first.

Ingredients for the smoky red beans and rice

• 400 g dried red kidney beans
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp chilli flakes or cayenne, to taste
• 2 bay leaves (optional)
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• About 1.5 litres water
• Salt
• 300 g long-grain rice and 2 sliced spring onions, to serve

Method

1. Soak the beans in plenty of cold water for 8 to 12 hours. Drain and rinse.
2. Put the beans in a large pan, cover with fresh water by about 5 cm and bring to the boil. Boil hard for at least 10 minutes, then drain.
3. In the same pan, soften the onion, pepper and celery in the oil for 8 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, thyme, chilli and tomato purée and stir for 1 minute.
4. Add the beans, bay leaves and 1.5 litres of water. Simmer, partly covered, for 1½ to 2 hours until the beans are completely soft, stirring now and then and topping up with water as needed. Crush some beans against the pan to thicken, and add salt at the end.
5. Cook the rice following the pack instructions. Serve the beans over the rice, scattered with spring onions.

Budget swaps

• Short on time? Use 3 drained tins of kidney beans, skip steps 1 and 2, and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Pepper and celery are flexible; a diced carrot works in their place.
• Smoked paprika gives the smoky flavour without sausage. If you have a little sausage to use up, slice it in at step 3.
• Store-label long-grain rice in a larger bag is usually worth comparing; check the per-kilo price.

Storage and leftovers

Cool the beans quickly by spreading them in a wide dish, then refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze the beans without the rice and cook rice fresh when you reheat them. Frozen portions also work in the half-mince, half-bean family chilli in place of the tinned kidney beans, or try white beans the same way in the garlicky white bean and greens stew.