Simple + Healthy Portuguese-style Kidney Beans
Inspired by my grandmother’s recipe, canned kidney beans are quickly simmered on the stovetop with cumin, tomato sauce and aromatic onion for a cozy side dish or even a simple dinner served with rice and greens.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion 1 small-medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3 14 ounce cans kidney beans rinsed and drained, or 4 ½ cups cooked kidney beans
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt cut in half if using salted beans
- 1 cup passata sauce or just canned, plain tomato sauce
- ½ cup water or more as needed
Optional
- 2 links your favourite sausages something like the Field Roast garlic + fennel
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Turn heat down just slightly and add onion. Cook 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until onion is silky, tender and translucent.
- Cook onions longer if need be (larger the onion is, the more cooking they need) as it's essential they're no longer crunchy. BUT you don't want them brown, so turn heat down as needed if browning. When I cook in stainless, I need to cook at medium low but in a nonstick, I cook just below medium.
- Add cumin, salt and garlic and stir constantly for one minute.
- Add beans, tomato sauce and water. Stir, place lid on the skillet and cook for 10 minutes.
- When you lift the lid, the sauce should have darkened a bit with spots of the oil glistening on top. If not, put lid back on and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Now, simmer them uncovered, stirring occasionally, until you have the desired level of sauciness. I find this is usually 3-4 minutes. If yours looks dry, go ahead and add a bit more water as needed and then simmer until it looks saucy but not runny.
If you want to add sausages, do this!
- My grandmother would simmer her sausages in the beans but I don't think that vegan ones hold up as nicely this way. What I would do is slice the sausages into rounds and pan fry them first and set aside while you prepare the recipe. Then, just stir them into the kidney beans at the end of cooking.
Notes
If you've got lots of time, you could absolutely let these kidney beans simmer covered on the stove on medium low for even longer, always with the lid on....but I was determined to get a quicker recipe on the table with all the flavour I remember!