Caitríona Redmond: My cowboy beans recipe is perfect for pairing with wedges

Caitríona Redmond's cowboy beans.

What’s your superpower? Mine is being able to rustle up a meal with short notice with whatever I can find on hand. Yes, of course I am a huge advocate of meal planning but the past week was so busy that I didn’t manage to get to the shop, never mind set out a weekly schedule for what we were going to eat.

I was winging it and this was more of a ‘seat of my pants’ situation than a carefully calculated and planned use of what I had to hand.

I’d arrived in this position after a few days away over Easter, swiftly followed by some work and college deadlines. I walked into the kitchen on Monday afternoon and realised I had not set foot in there bar brewing the odd cup of tea, never mind making a full-blown dinner. It wasn’t intentional. I always set out with the best of intentions. Sometimes life gets in the way.

There comes a point in everyone’s life where they just feel like they want someone to take them by the hand, organise the kitchen, cook the dinner, and clean up after them. That was my day. I felt like a petulant teenager rummaging in the presses because I really, really didn’t want to have to go to all this effort. Still I was the adult and the parent and the bank balance wasn’t going to extend to take-outs.

My brain was simply too full with other stuff to make the mental leap to being inventive over dinner, yet I had to be. I’ve written before about storing ingredients as meals rather than ingredients as a category and this was a moment where I thanked my past self. In the same drawer in the freezer I found chopped onions, chopped peppers, frozen peas, and cooked meatballs. While in the dried goods press I had a box with beef stock cubes and rice. I was onto a winner.

After popping the meatballs into the airfryer, and the rice on to steam, I made up a punchy gravy with the onions, peppers, and beef stock. Dinner was ready in just 20 minutes and even better, everybody ate it. In fact, they liked it so much they asked me to put this magical dish onto the monthly meal rotation.

While I’m working my brain is full of work related topics and normally cooking is my Zen moment where I get to chill out in the kitchen. This kind of frenzied last minute cooking doesn’t come naturally to my organised brain but in the end it turned out okay. That’s all that matters.

Not every moment of culinary inspiration at the last minute works out well. There was the time I decided to make sausage rolls and took out the pastry from the freezer in advance. It was only when I folded the pastry over the sausage meat that I realised it felt a little ‘loose’ and it was sweet cookie dough, not pastry. Believe it or not, last night’s pad Thai style noodles were a lumpy mess after I had forgotten to presoak the glass noodles. I try, that’s all that matters.

Home Truths

Ultra-processed foods and convenience meals have been hitting the headlines lately.

Some people define these type of foods as meals or dishes which contain chemicals rather than raw ingredients, overlooking the importance of preservatives to keep a dish at its freshest for longer. It’s bad news for anybody who relies ready-made meals or the odd freezer lasagne to supplement their diet.

Still, it’s important to understand that these convenience foods have their place. For some people with sensory or neuro-diverse needs being able to choose a meal that looks, feels, and tastes consistent 365 days of the year is vital to their varied diet. Then for others, the benefits of having a fallback option in the freezer will save them far more than what they would spend on a takeaway in a pinch.

Either way, convenience foods have a place on the supermarket shelves for a long time to come. While I don’t embrace them, I do recognise their value and how they have helped my budget in the past and will in the future.

Cowboy Beans

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

This is a great option for freezing.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 3 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 3 hours 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1lb sausage meat

• 2 red onions, chopped

• Lots of garlic (I used 7 cloves finely chopped)

• 1 large mug of beef stock

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tsp chipotle chilli flakes

• ½ tsp white pepper

• 3 stalks celery, chopped

• 1 large courgette, chopped

• 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped

• 1 tin of black beans, drained

• 1 tin of butter beans, drained

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• ¼ tsp black treacle

Method

1. Take a very large saucepan and place it onto a medium heat. Start by frying off the sausage meat. Then add the onions and a little splash of stock at this stage if you notice the bottom of the pan getting sticky.

2. Add the garlic, seasonings, and tomato puree before stirring in the vegetables, beans, tomatoes, and finally a little bit of black treacle. Cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 hours on low until the vegetables are tender. I put the lid onto my casserole and cooked it in the oven at 150Cfor 2 hours.

3. Serve on a bed of fresh potato wedges, lashings of parsley or coriander (or both) and maybe some chopped cooked bacon if you’re feeling luxurious. Allow to cool before bagging or boxing and freezing for another day.