I didn’t trust the slow cooker.
Add ingredients and walk away? Wha? No hovering, no regular stirring? But what if it burned?What if it turned off? What if all the liquid evaporated, burned the dish, overheated the element, burst into flames, caught the curtains on fire, burned down the house and all the neighbor’s houses?
I might have let my imagination get the best of me, because folks have been using slow cookers for ages without a sudden uptick in neighborhood burnings. After becoming a mom the allure of that “add ingredients and walk away” line became just too enticing. And the idea that dinner could be ready any time between 4 and 7? Magical! The first few times that I slow cooked a meal, I was only willing to do it if I was going to be home all day long (threat of neighborhood burnings and all). But I quickly lost my fear as I learned how long different dishes took. I usually aim for dishes that take all day, as I can get everything in the pot during breakfast and not worry about it again until we get home at the end of the day. If I’m home more of the day, I might do some kind of shredded meat with cream cheese and salsa (chicken, beef and pork all work – although the chicken is the most likely to dry out if it cooks too long) and cook on high for 4-6 hours, pulling the meat apart with forks every once in a while.
Slow cooker beans have become a fast favorite in our house. We don’t even soak the beans ahead of time. However, you might want to. Unsoaked beans are more likely to make you gassy and this is a problem for some, but not all people. If this is a problem for you, soak your beans overnight in water plus about 1 tbs of salt (you can freeze them after soaking if you have a tendency to forget this step and want soaked beans at hand). But if soaking vs not soaking seems to make no a difference for you, fuhggetabout the soaking. Unsoaked beans taste beanier, which is very nice for those of us who like beans.
This Mexican influenced bean dish is super quick and easy to assemble. My toddler loves to pour in the ingredients and stir everything together. Her plastic bowls make perfect mise-en-place bowls for her to add things to the pot.
Mexican Slow Cooker Beans
2 cups dry black beans
4 cups water
1 boullion or broth cube*
2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tbs cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 medium onions, sliced or diced (cooks choice)
1 head of whole garlic cloves, peeled (or less if preferred)
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
Add everything to the slow cooker, cook on high for 8-12 hours, until beans are tender. If you want less liquid in your beans, in the last hour, remove the lid and allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Otherwise, just leave it alone and enjoy your beans. This tastes really good with cheese and tortilla chips.
