Canned beans are already cooked, so add them at the end to heat through. Or, start from dried beans, but it takes experimentation to get them to the desired texture.

Starting with red beans from scratch is on my list. I was hoping to get 80% of the taste with 20% of the effort -- seems like a simple enough dish, after all -- but last night I was watching a video of a guy making his own coconut oil (not just milk) from fresh coconuts, and it's clear I'm going off the deep end.