Slow Cooked Pinto Beans with Fennel Seed

 Slow Cooked Pinto Beans with Fennel Seed

2 cups dry pinto beans
1 TBS fennel seed
dash of olive oil
dash of salt
enough water to cover beans by 2 inches

Start by soaking the pinto beans in water for 2-3 hours.  After soaking, cook beans for 3-4 hours at a slow boil with salt and olive oil.  Add fennel seeds about 1-2 hours before beans are done.  Refrain from stirring beans, except to make sure they are cooked evenly, as the stirring breaks them apart, as does too-high cooking temperatures, so cook them at a slow boil. 

 Slow-cooked Pinto beans with fennel seeds, topped with sauteed red onions

Serve with jasmine rice, sauteed red onions, a green salad, and, if you can, Pine and Post Chardonnay, one of my favorite local and affordable white wines. 

Check out Pine and Post here.  Food and Wine describes Pine and Post Chardonnay as,

a steal of a Chardonnay in a terrific vintage for Washington white wines, with spicy oak notes balanced against lively apple and apricot fruit.

Pine and Post Chardonnay, below

Sauteed onions in a cast iron pan

 Above, Trader Joe's Jasmine Rice