Gone with the Wind! (Tesco Value Red Kidney Beans)

Member Name: jo@145

Product:	Tesco Value Red Kidney Beans
Date:	24/04/09 (310 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent value, plenty of fibre and adds to your 5 a day vegetables

Disadvantages: Can cause flatulence

Where ever you look these days we're being told to drink more water or eat 5 a day fruit and vegetables, and I have to admit I sometimes find it quite hard to do this.

Red Kidney beans help as half a can is equal to 1 of the 5 a day and if you add more vegetables to a chilli dish with the beans you can make it up to perhaps 3 out of the 5 a day!

I have been experimenting trying some of the Tesco value things and as the tomatoes are certainly quite tasty I decided to try the Red Kidney beans which are in water. The can has the usual Tesco logo and there is a picture of the kidney beans, plump and red. On the back of the can is all the information that one may need to know, and also a small guideline of amounts on the front.

The can is recyclable metal and contains 400grams, which when drained is 240grams of beans which are produced in Italy. I always rinse the beans as the water is usually quite thick from the starch in the beans, and then add to the chilli or whatever I am making, or they can be turned into a pan and heated gently for 4 -5 minutes or heated in the microwave time depends on wattage. Kidney beans are suitable for vegetarians and beans are a good source of fibre for everyone.

The beans taste like any other red kidney beans, the skin is firm and the inside soft and creamy in texture. Because they are usually mixed in with other foods the taste blends in and gives bulk to the meal. I haven't found a difference in the quality compared to the more expensive brands.

Usually I would give details for 100grams of the food, but because I usually eat half a can at a sitting in my chilli I will give these details. There is 125kcal per half tin and 8.3grams of protein which is why they are good for vegetarians. There is very little fat just 0.7grams, 21.4grams of carbohydrate and 7.4grams of fibre, plus a trace of salt. The good thing is that they only cost 14 pence a can!

I remember lots of scares about people being poisoned with red kidney beans but this is because they needed to be soaked for about 5 hours and then cooked, tinned beans are much safer as they are already cooked.

There are many ways of using red kidney beans, I use them most for Chilli Con Carne, but they can be added cold to a salad with rice and sweetcorn and other ingredients, or made into soup with peppers, tomatoes and onions and lots of spices. Nigella has a recipe for red kidney bean dip, again with garlic and spices added and I'll add an easy supper dish which has lots of fibre!

Sausage and Bean casserole
2 x 14 oz can kidney beans
2 tblsp oil
6 -8 sausages
1 large chopped onion
1 green pepper
1 clove garlic crushed
2 tsp. cumin
½tsp chilli powder
2tsp Tomato puree
14oz Tin Tomatoes
14oz can Baked Beans
Seasoning

Method
Heat oil in frying pan, slice and fry sausage for 10 minutes, add onion, garlic, peppers and spices and fry for 2 minutes. Add tomato puree, tomatoes, baked beans and seasoning. Rinse kidney beans and stir into pan and simmer for 15 minutes or pop into oven to heat through. Can be served with jacket potatoes, rice or crusty bread and a green salad.

There is a downside to Red kidney beans because they can cause flatulence, but not everyone suffers and they are good for fibre in take!

Summary: Red kidney beans