Credetian Pan Boiled Red Kidney Beans

I’m a vegan (with the exception of a little dairy, here and there). I’m a fan of Tim Ferriss and his 4 Hour Trilogy of books. I need protein. Tim promotes protein. Without meat, beans are probably my greatest friend.

I’ve been vegan since November 4, 2008. In the autumn of 2012, I began to get headaches that simply would not go away for days. I would fall asleep with a headache and wake up with a headache. The worst part is, they had the quality of a hangover headache – without the fun of getting drunk the night before.

That was about the time I dug into the The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life, concerned with my middle aged waistline getting bigger (yes, you can be vegan and fat – look at Alec Baldwin…). Ferriss is an advocate of a high protein diet. Even for omnivores, he suggests lots of beans. Amazingly, when I started eating beans at two to three meals per day, my headaches went away. I dug into this cause and effect a little more and found that headaches were caused by a lack of protein – a stupid little detail that I’d overlooked before.

My standard bean recipe is a can of beans (red kidney, white kidney, romano, navy – doesn’t matter which) and a can of diced tomatoes, mixed with a bunch of spices and brought to a quick boil in a sauce pan. Below is something I came up with sans tomatoes that gives my days a little variety. It can be a meal for folks like me or a side dish for regular dead, rotting animal flesh comsuming people. It would blend well with the Very Cheesy and Corny Ground Beef Roll. Goes well with red or white wine, German beer or Jack Daniels.

Credetian Pan Boiled Red Kidney Beans

Ingredients

540 ml (19 ounce) can of red kidney beans
1 yellow cooking onion, peeled and chopped
6 white mushrooms, chopped
1 TBSP minced garlic
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
3 TBSP soya sauce
3 TBSP lemon juice
3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
3 TBSP balsamic vinegrette salad dressing
2 cups of water

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan.
Saute onions, garlic and mushrooms until onions are opaque.
Drain and rinse kidney beans.
Place kidney beans and the rest of the ingredients into the pan, along with the onions, mushrooms and garlic.
Heat on high until water starts to boil.
Reduce to medium-low.
Stir occasionally.
When water has been absorbed or evaporated (reduced), remove from stove top. Should take 20-30 minutes.
Serve immediately. (or don’t – your call)