Beans and more beans and tuna

[Tengu]

I am having bad trouble with money of late...but my coupboards are full of food. The foodbank have helped and all my friends have foisted marvels upon me.

I now need ideas as to make it edible.

I have enough tuna to reconstruct a whole fish, I fear. I will eat tuna (or any fish) under duress....

(What is wrong with tinned salmon or sardines? Why tuna?)

I have beans. Lentils. Big white things. Small white things. Mixed beans. Heck, even baked beans.

(The kidney beans are for chili con carne. I know what to do with those).

Beans are certainly a great thing to have, and one that is nicer, in my taste, than tuna. I just need some ideas as to what to do with them.

(These things are all tinned if you wanted to know)

 

[Toddy]

You can turn tinned beans into veggie burgers. Just drain, add some seasoning, a little flour, and if you have any left over veggies, cut those small and add to the mix. Leave to sit and sort of bond for a little while and then mould into burger shapes and either bake in a Yorkshire pudding tray or fry, with care.
If you have egg you can add half of one to the mix and use the other half to dip the burger before coating it with cornmeal or flour or breadcrumbs.
Season the coating really well though. Black pepper goes well with lentils but so does chilli.

Lentils make really good soup, or a base for a stew, as well.
Italian lentils are just lentils with onion, celery, carrot, salt and pepper and a couple of bay leaves. Makes a tasty side dish that I'm quite fond of and there's no reason you can't use tinned ones if that's all you have to hand.

M

 

[Olly]

If I had white beans (white kidney beans, haricot or cannellini) + some veg (onion/celery/carrot etc) + stock, I'd be making a cassoulet.
There are plenty of recipes out there for tuna cassoulet too!

 

[Robson Valley]

If my memory serves, beans & lentils make up many of the dishes as parts of the so-called Mediterranean Diet.
You have internet = all sorts of evangelical foodie sites.

I can eat very large amounts of curried tuna*, especially on toast. Same with tinned baked beans.
The above ideas for beans are good ones.

* fine dice a medium onion and get that going in a little oil in a pot.
- add more oil and add some flour, stirring to cook it a little.
- add the curry powder of choice. I have several that I like.
- add maybe 1/4 tsp salt.
- now, off the heat, slowly add and stir in some milk to make almost a gravy.
- add one or two good glugs of Worcestershire sauce and stir. I use Lea & Perrins.
- drain and dump in a can of tuna ( I prefer chunk light tuna packed in water. So does Heidi-cat)
- carefully fold in the tuna so the pieces don't get broken up too much.
- make 2 slices of dry toast (to soak up the gravy).

This is pretty good for stale bread on its last gasp before the bin.
At +45C in the kitchen, sit on the floor to eat.

 

[Woody girl]

I love tuna! Tinned that is, preferably tuna chunks in oil. Tuna mayo sandwich or on oatcakes is guaranteed to get me salivating! How many tins of tuna do you have?
I like to make a veg stew and pop in a tin of mixed beans or whatever I happen to have. Chickpeas make a good curry I'm told.. (don't like curry personally) or there is hummus. You can use any beans for that it doesn't just have to be chickpeas. I love broad beans hummus just loose the tough skins and mash with a fork unless you have something to wizz then to a puree with.
Baked beans are good in a sausage and onion casserole sort of cowboy stew. I also pad out a cottage pie with baked beans sometimes if I can't afford a whole lot of mince.

 

[santaman2000]

I’ll start with the kidney beans (also known as “red beans”) That’s the beans you use to make “Red Beans & Rice” (a Cajun dish)
-1 can red beans (kidney beans”
-1 cup cooked rice
-1/4 cup of “the trinity” (equal parts of chopped celery, onion, and bell pepper)
-Cajun seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper —- mix to taste)
-1/2 pound of smoked sausage
-enough veg oil to sauté the trinity and brown the sausage

Heat the oil in a skillet or small Dutch oven (c iron is preferred but use what you have) brown the sausage (I’ll give a few options after the recipe) remove the sausage and sauté the trinity in the same oil then add the beans, season with the Cajun seasoning and heat throughout.

Here’s where the options come in (my preferred option is Option 1)

Option 1: Serve it by dishing up the beans in the bowl (with a generous amount of cooking liquid and all) then adding a scoop of rice on top as well as a serving of the sausage (a link about 6 inches long)

Option 2: This option needs to start before browning the sausage. Cut the links into pieces about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick then brown them. Remove from the oil as before but add them back after sautéing the trinity and adding the beans. Serve the beans and sausage mixture as before by spooning it into a bowl and adding the rice on top.

Option 3: prepare as per option 2 then stir all the rice into th meat and beans before spooning into bowls.

 

[Janne]

Beans?
Bean -
-soup
- mashed
-stew
Rice’n beans, a staple for many a poor in Central America.

Mixes well with everything, can replace meat in all dishes.

Bean salad:
Drain a two cans of beans, save some of the sticky water.
Mix beans together, add chopped onions, chopped carrot, olive oil, vinegar ( balsamic preferably) and the sticky water.
Stir. Eat.

Canned tuna?
Delish drained, mixed with mayo, capers, finely chopped onions, black pepper. On bread, or on baked potatoes.

Canned tuna?
Delish to stir into a tomato sauce ( tomatoes, garlic, thyme, pepper, onion) on top of pasta or rice.

Canned tuna?
Make lightly toasted bread slices, place drained tuna on top, a slice of tomato, some cheese, grill.
Delish!

You can do a search on the Internet. ‘ easy Bean recipes ‘
Canned tuna recipes

If you know more languages than English, search in those languages and you will get far more interesting and fun recipes that way.

If I want something interesting and unusual, I add ‘arabic’, Israeli, Izraeli’ plus the main ingredients

Do a Shakshuka tomorrow and enjoy life!

 

[santaman2000]

Next I’ll work on the tuna.

First dish is tuna salad
-2 cans of tuna drained (I presume you cans are about 5 ounces of tuna)
-2 boiled eggs chopped
-a couple of tablespoons of chopped celery
-1 tablespoon of sweet pickle relish
-about a tablespoon of mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients together and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour for the flavors to marry. Serve as a spread on bread as a sandwich or on a plate with saltines.



Second dish is tuna croquettes
-2 cans of the tuna drained
-half as much breadcrumbs by volume as the tuna (saltine crumbs are better, rolled oats will work)
-a quarter teaspoon of mustard powder
-a small amount of chopped onion (optional)
-1 raw egg beaten

Mix all ingredients together and form into patties about half the size of burger patties. Fry gently in either veg oil or melted butter until brown then turn and fry the other side. Serve with the sauce of your choice.

 

[Billy-o]

bean and tuna salad ... can of any beans, can of tuna, thinly sliced onion, olive oil, oregano ... maybe some sweet chili dipping sauce mixed in w/crusty bread

melt - mix tuna with chopped up pickles and mayonnaise and olives, layer that over either toast/muffin or corn chips, cover with cheese,sprinkle with oregano, grill

nachos - similar - cook beans with corn in tomato sauce plus chili, cool, layer over corn chips, cover with cheese, grill. Eat w/cold beer and tv

might need to buy some oregano

 

[Janne]

Would your budget / money situation permit you to buy spices, onions and garlic?

IMO even very bland ingredients can turn delicious adding those.

You mentioned Baked Beans. Those are easy. Open can. Take a spoon. Eat.
One of my favourite foods when I am alone at home, eating quality British Baked Beans, straight from a can, room temperature.

 

[Woody girl]

Cold baked beans! at least heat them up. I'm sure they were never made to be eaten cold.

 

[Janne]

Heated baked beans is a different kind of fish.....

Both delicious though. Try it, with an open mind..

The best part with a cold can is that delicious layer of mushed up beans at the bottom.
Piece de resistance as they say in France!



I find that the taste of Baked beans varies a lot between the brands. My favourite is Branstons.

Have you guys tried the oats milk Oatly? Once empty, cut the carton open. Delish layer of pulverized oats lurk at the bottom.


If you have cans of small beans ( preferable Black Beans) you can make a Caribbean soup called Black Bean soup. Very nice. Very!

If you have waaay to many cans, maybe you can try to make your own baked beans?
The British version. Healthier.
Should be quite easy!
I thought of that last night before I fell asleep. Will give it a try this weekend.
Tomato puree, salt, garlic and onion . Should be nice?

 

[Broch]

Pick up a copy of Delia's Frugal Food - it was my cooking bible when I was student and had no money (in the late seventies!). You can get the kindle edition for a few quid but about the same for a second hand copy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Delias-Frugal-Food-Delia-Smith/dp/034091856X

 

[Toddy]

Or Jack Munroe's "Tin can cook".
JM lived on food bank foods for a while, and got very capable of making decent meals just using cans.

 

[Janne]

Years ago, I bought a cookery book with simple recepies, with cheap every day ingredients for one of our young nurses back in Crowborough.

It had a name something to do with milk deliveries or similar. One of those classic British household cooker books.

 

[bobnewboy]

'Tonno e fagioli', or 'fagioli e tonno' is one of my favourite italian dinners. Very filling as its plenty of carbs and protein, but also very nutritious, yum...

Have a look here: https://memoriediangelina.com/2009/06/28/fagioli-e-tonno/

Cheers, Bob

 

[Nice65]

Cold baked beans! at least heat them up. I'm sure they were never made to be eaten cold.

Nonsense, cold baked beans are a camping midnight staple, superb after an evening round the fire and a few beers. I’ve had up my sporkage from LMF plastics to titanium because they keep snapping. Trying to eat them with a debit card isn’t really recommended, though just about possible.

Have you got a toastie maker Tengu? Toasted cheese with beans is very good, probably even better with some tuna.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Cold baked beans! at least heat them up. I'm sure they were never made to be eaten cold.

I worked for Heinz nearly 40 years ago, and can assure you that the beans are cooked and ready to eat straight from the can. You should try them, delicious.

 

[Woody girl]

Nonsense, cold baked beans are a camping midnight staple, superb after an evening round the fire and a few beers. I’ve had up my sporkage from the LMF plastics to titanium because they keep snapping. Trying to eat them with a debit card isn’t really recommended.

We will have to agree to disagree there . Cannot eat cold baked beans without calling for hughie .

 

[Nice65]

Hugh Fairlee Unstable. Yes, I’ve called him myself on occasion, but not after cold beans Cold beans are great, best straight from the fridge with a lump of cheddar and bottle of Lee&Perrins.