Kidney Bean/Rice stew... And rules for soaking beans!

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
1 green pepper chopped (I used 1/4 bag of frozen Trader Joe's pepper mix)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. cumin
salt and pepper
Jalapeno Pepper sauce (just shake some in)
2 cups red kidney beans drained
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups veggie broth (I make my own- which is another post:)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups brown rice (soaked)

heat oil in a deep pot. add onion, celery, peppers, garlic, bay leaf, cumin, salt and pepper. saute' veggies 5 minutes. Add hot pepper sauce, beans, tomatoes, broth, and water. bring to boil. add rice, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked.

OK- I follow lots of Nourishing Traditions cooking. So I do use dry beans. I start soaking my beans two days before making a dish. On Saturday I put two cups kidney beans in a glass bowl added 2 Tbs. whey or lemon juice (your choice) and boiling hot water to cover the beans. Let that sit until the morning you are going to make your soup. Drain, rinse and put in pot with 3 cloves crushed garlic. Boil and reduce to simmer (cover) for about 4 hours. Then strain and use two cups of these cooked beans for above recipe. Freeze the rest for a later date:) I am constantly soaking and/or cooking beans and freezing them during fasting periods that way I have lots of beans on hand (like right now I am soaking beans for our chili dinner on Sat. night and yesterday I soaked pinto beans for dinner on Friday night- the pinto beans are on the stove cooking with garlic and on Friday I will mash them for refried beans:) Once you get started soaking beans and cooking beans and freezing beans you will end up with a nice supply of beans to use during the fast!

Rice- soak rice in hot water and whey or lemon juice for 6 hours. Then add to recipe (no need to cook before adding).

Review- I liked this a lot. DH added more jalapeno sauce and red pepper flakes- he wanted it to be spicier.