Save tonight's dinner! Black beans in the slow cooker need your help.

[Anonymous]

I soaked black beans yesterday and threw them into the slow cooker this morning on low with chopped garlic, onion, a bay leaf, a pinch of cayenne, and a little cumin. I'm home from work and just tasted them and they taste bland, boring and a little crunchy. What can I do with these to pull off a good dinner tonight? I thought I would have black bean soup or beans over rice but this needs a quick fix to taste good!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you need some salt for one and probably some garlic powder and more cumin. Do you have any salsa on hand to mix in? You could have beans over rice with a dollop of spicy guac if you have an avacado.

[Anonymous]

Vinegar can add some sweet tang and give a depth of flavor. Balsamic or red wine. You can take a cup of beans out of the pot, experiment with additions to see what you think, and then extrapolate back to the whole pot.

[Anonymous]

How much liquid did you use? I'd throw them in a pot with water, bring it to a boil and simmer until tender.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I added some balsamic, some leftover tomato paste I found in the fridge, salt, and cumin. They are just covered with liquid (water that I added this morning). They are still a little crunchy though! They definitely taste better and I'll continue to play around.
I usually stick with canned beans because I prefer the texture but I've been wanting to learn to work with dry beans, instead. Are they always this crunchy? They soaked over 24 hours and have been in a warm crock pot since 8 this morning. Will they ever soften up?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Black beans take a really long time to cook. I just made a bb soup last week and I think they cooked for 3 hrs (on reg stove) and still my husband complained they were a little crunchy. But the flavor is so much more potent than with the canned ones.

I like the suggestions you've gotten. I also like to add some nice sharp cheddar to my bb soups and sprinkle with cilantro. I also add chili powder and A LOT of cumin and touch of cayenne. Some oregano can be nice too.

Hope it works out!

[Anonymous]

OP,
You need more liquid. Read a few recipes for crockpot black bean stews and chilis to see where you went wrong. To save this, I'd transfer to stovetop, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until soft.

[Anonymous]

OP back. At the end of the night (about 7:30 I served up), the soup was pretty good. DD, age 5, raved over it, and she's particular. At the very end I wanted to add a little sherry but I only had marsala wine and so I splashed that in. I used an immersion blender to blend half the soup so the consistency was nice. Ultimately, the recipe looked like this:

1 bag dry black beans, pre-soaked for 24 hours
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/2 onion, chopped small
tiny serving of leftover steak, chopped small
3 cups water
3 TBS tomato paste
1/2 cup balsamic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 cup sherry/marsala/whatever you have on hand
1 avocado
sour cream
lime

Put everything in the crock pot and cook 8 hours on low, 2 hours on high. Blend 1/2 of bean mixture with immersion blender and return to crock pot to warm through. Spoon into bowls and top with diced avocado, 1 tsp sour cream, and a squeeze of lime juice

It would have been amazing with sliced sausage!

[Anonymous]

I don't have a crockpot but when I do make beans I cook them for several hours on medium heat.

[Anonymous]

I always use the quick soak method, OP, when I cook with dried beans. Next time, pour boiling or near boiling water over the beans in the crackpot and let them go all day. They won't be crunchy and you won't be exposed to bpa from the canned beans.

[Anonymous]

I regularly cook dry beans in the crock pot: 1 cup beans to 4 cups water. No pre-soak needed. Cook on high for 4 hours.