Kidney Beans are one of the more colorful of the dried bean family. They are the standard for Chili con Carne, and a host of Mexican dishes. Their dark to light red color make them very attractive for salads as well as main dish entrees. Kidney Beans are a dark or light red kidney shaped member of the legume family (plants that carry seeds in a pod), dried Kidney Beans are an excellent source of protein, calcium, and iron.

To prepare dried beans, soak for 8 hours or overnight in a ratio or 3 parts water to 1 part bean, bring to a boil and simmer for up to 2 hours. If beans haven't been soaked for 8 hours, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes, then let stand, tightly covered, for 1 hour. One cup of dried beans will expand to 2 to 2-1/2 cups after cooking. Look for smooth surfaces and bright red color and avoid cracked or wrinkled surfaces. Store dried beans in an airtight container for up to 1 year. There are a wide array of canned Kidney Beans now available if using dried beans is too time consuming. Simply skip the soaking process, rinse and drain the beans well, then
proceed with your recipe cutting down on the total cooking time.

Here is a very good site for more information on Kidney Beans:
http://food.epicurious.com/run/fooddictionary/browse?entry_id=8798


http://food.epicurious.com/s97is.vts?action=filtersearch&filter=recipe
filter.hts&collection=Recipes&ResultTemplate=recipe-results.
hts&keyword=kidney+bean

http://www.vegweb.com/food/beans/index-beans-kidney.shtml