topic Re: Question About Beans in Recipes

Question About Beans

Winkk — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 14:44:22 GMT

I wasn't sure where to post this but I thought you would give me good advice. I want to start eating beans for their protein and fiber. But, I hate beans especially lima beans. I was looking for suggestions that might direct me to some beans that can be used either in a salad or a stir fry.

I know this is rather vague, but any advice would be welcomed. TIA!

One more thing, do all beans have to be soaked before you use them?

Re: Question About Beans

ChynnaBlue — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 14:59:49 GMT

I like garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, or black-eyed peas in salads.

You can soak beans overnight to help them cook faster (about 45 minutes faster), but it will also soak the flavor out.

If I want beans for salads, I used canned beans. I keep some canned black beans around and heat those up when I cook rice or quinoa and add some beans over the rice or quinoa.

Re: Question About Beans

IamMrsG — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:12:26 GMT

Soaking beans, whether overnight in cold water or for an hour in water brought to a boil, serves two purposes: It shortens the cooking time and removes some of their gaseousness. The new school of thought is that it also reduces flavor.

If you use dried beans, you must understand they are dirty and the bag can contain small rocks. The beans must be picked over before using. I have found it is easiest to pour a bag onto a cookie sheet and rake them a few at a time into a bowl, looking for rocks.

If you choose to soak the beans, do not use the soaking water. Instead, drain and rinse them before using. Again, dry beans are dirty.

Re: Question About Beans

PINKdogWOOD — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:13:48 GMT

@Winkk Beans, beans the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you...

Well, I think you get the drift but I disagree with the ending of this little rhyme. DH & I love beans, eat all sorts often. There are so many you can try as side dishes, in dishes.

We love mexican food and always have usually refried or black beans on the side and in fact Saturday for dinner we had tamales, a fab new cole slaw recipe that was killer and had garbonzo beans on the side. Garbonzos go by many names - hummus is made of finely ground garbo's, you'll find these called --- but they're all the same. I tossed them in my little veggie grinder not quite a puree, added Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime spice, a little olive oil, pepper, heated them - YUM! You can find black beans refried too, very tasty.

We'll also eat navy beans, great northern beans (both very similar), white cannellini beans (look like kidney beans but totally different flavor), dark & light kidney beans, you can find white lima beans too. Pinto beans, fava (a white/tan speckled), there are pink beans too, don't forget there at at least 4 colors of lentils. These are just a few of our favs.

Google beans and find a huge list hopefully with pictures so you know what they look like. We use beans in soups, stews, salads too. Most if not all that we buy are canned and there's nothing wrong with that, just easier to use and always ready vs dried beans that take longer to prep ie washing/soaking usually over night.

Good for you for wanting to incorporate healthy wholesome beans into your meals/diet. Enjoy all that you try and don't be afraid to try all that's out there.

Re: Question About Beans

alliswell — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:13:55 GMT

If I'm in a hurry, I use canned (drained and rinsed) but the nice thing about preparing them yourself is you control the amount of salt, the seasonings you like, etc., what you add or not and it's fun to experiment. Don't forget pinto beans too, green and yellow split peas, lentils, and there's also a "white" kidney bean. It's amazing how many different kinds of beans there are.

Re: Question About Beans

Winkk — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:24:50 GMT

@IamMrsG wrote:
Soaking beans, whether overnight in cold water or for an hour in water brought to a boil, serves two purposes: It shortens the cooking time and removes some of their gaseousness. The new school of thought is that it also reduces flavor.

If you use dried beans, you must understand they are dirty and the bag can contain small rocks. The beans must be picked over before using. I have found it is easiest to pour a bag onto a cookie sheet and rake them a few at a time into a bowl, looking for rocks.

If you choose to soak the beans, do not use the soaking water. Instead, drain and rinse them before using. Again, dry beans are dirty.

@IamMrsG Thanks for the information, I never knew that. Actually, I don't know much about beans at all.

Re: Question About Beans

Winkk — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:27:35 GMT

Thanks everyone. I'm going to Google all the beans I can and go from there.

Re: Question About Beans

RedTop — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:55:32 GMT

My family loves beans; pinto, cranberry, great northern, navy, kidney and yellow eye beans are our favorite. I do soak my beans, but if I make a last minute decision to cook them and don't have time to soak, I boil the beans 5 minutes, drain, and then start the cooking process again. I season our beans with bacon or ham, and add salt after the beans are soft enough to eat. After adding the salt, I turn the heat up and boil the beans faster to thicken the soup.

We prefer to eat our beans as soup beans, in a bowl with a side of cornbread and onions. We do not like 15 bean soup, or to have other things added to the beans, like greens, onions, garlic, tomatoes, etc. I use leftover pinto beans in burritos and taco salad. I have been eating beans my whole life, and could eat them for breakfast.

Re: Question About Beans

Annabellethecat66 — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 16:02:18 GMT

Here's some Bean Recipes: Old El Passo Bean Recipes

http://www.oldelpaso.com/search/searchresults.aspx?term=Beans&gclid=CPeP94Kt9csCFdgcgQodagQNAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CILBgIOt9csCFRNDDAodg-cLnw

And if you want EASY recipes using canned beans, here's some:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/bean-recipes

The ideas are limitless....like someon said just google: "Show me some recipes using beans:. The sky is the limit.

Re: Question About Beans

123SuzyQ123 — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 16:19:01 GMT

I make homemade soups and stews at least once a week. I always put at least two different beans in the soup/stew. Lima beans, kidney beans, even pinto beans get dumped in there! I put green beans in pretty often too.

I was raised on pinto beans. My Mom would soak them for hours before she cooked them. She would throw in a big ham hock, or some bacon, or a big chunk of salt pork. Sometimes we would have those beans and some cornbread as the entire meal!! Times were tough back then! That was her only way of feeding a family of 7.

I grew to love those pinto beans and think of her everytime I cook them now!

Re: Question About Beans

IamMrsG — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 17:03:55 GMT

suzieq4 wrote, in part: "I was raised on pinto beans. My Mom would soak them for hours before she cooked them. She would throw in a big ham hock, or some bacon, or a big chunk of salt pork. Sometimes we would have those beans and some cornbread as the entire meal!! Times were tough back then! That was her only way of feeding a family of 7..."

@123SuzyQ123 Tough times or not, this is a delicious meal! I require a raw onion to eat alongside, though.

Re: Question About Beans

BaileyBop — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 17:04:43 GMT

@PINKdogWOOD wrote:
a fab new cole slaw recipe that was killer and had garbonzo beans on the side

I am a cole slaw lover, any chance of you posting the recipe?

Re: Question About Beans

123SuzyQ123 — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 17:34:48 GMT

@IamMrsG, Iam, yes! You are right! We would have onion with the meal sometimes too!

Re: Question About Beans

Zhills — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:21:45 GMT

Here are some bean tips that I have found useful....

Practice moderation. For the bean newbies, try eating them in small amounts to give your body time to adjust, and then increase your consumption.

For some of us, though, beans will always be a tricky beast, but that doesn't mean we need to stop eating them! We can reap the benefits from even a quarter or a third of a cup. So instead of hoovering two heaping bowls of black bean chili, go for a half cup serving – and pack your plate with plenty of veggie goodness, too.

The Basic Idea

Here’s the no-nonsense overview. Read below for details with pictures.
1.Sort out the bad beans (photos below)
2.Soak the beans overnight or 8+ hours
3.Resist the urge to stir a lot
4.Pour off soaking water, add fresh water
5.Season by adding with fresh vegetables, like a carrot, ½ an onion, some rosemary, celery.
6.Do not salt.
7.Cook for an hour or more until tender.
8.If desired, salt to taste after they can be easily smashed between two fingers.
9.Remove the seasoning vegetables.

Veggies and spices that add great flavor:
◾carrots, put the whole thing in
◾garlic
◾onion
◾jalapeños
◾celery - this is a great way to use the tops of celery
◾cumin - found in the spice aisle
◾bay leaves
◾parsley
◾rosemary

Try sticking with the easiest bean varieties to digest such as: black-eyed peas, adzuki, anasazi, lentils and mung beans (general rule of thumb is the sweeter the bean, the easier to digest though sweetness is a relative thing!). The most difficult beans to digest are lima beans, navy beans and soybeans.

Being a Southerner, we always season with ham, ham hock, bacon or smoked turkey parts. Enjoy!

P.S. Do not combine with other gaseous foods! Try beans & carrots instead of baked beans and cole slaw or corn on the cob!

Re: Question About Beans

Winkk — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:02:16 GMT

Thanks everyone, I certainly learned a lot today. I appreciate the information.

Re: Question About Beans

Annabellethecat66 — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:05:39 GMT

Unfortunately I can't eat beans right now. I just had an attack of Diverticulitis. Was in the hospital for 5 days.

Dr says to not eat any roughage (specifically beans because of the shells) for about 5 weeks.

My favorite food is pasta ******iole from Olive Garden (get Top Secret Recipes) tastes just like Olive Garden.

Anyway, it is a good idea to soak beans overnight. It makes cooking them easy.

Navy Bean soup is especially wonderful too,,,,,I could go on, but I won't.

Re: Question About Beans

RespectLife — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:31:09 GMT

Hi @Winkk

I hear ya on the Limas! I don't care for any of the larger size beans that have a lot of 'stuff' inside.

I buy canned beans for almost everything except bean soup...then I use the dried.

Goya Black Beans are quite small. I also can find SMALL red kidney beans and SMALL white canneloni (sp?) beans. I use these in salads, stir fry, casseroles, main dishes, soups...everything!

Black beans are my favorite...Trader Joe also has a good quality canned black bean.

I love Garbanzo (chick peas)...they don't even seem like a bean to me since the inside is firm! LOL They are actually delicious in soups...hold their shape and firmness.

I just made a Garbanzo Bean salad that had fresh mango & fresh pineapple, the chick peas, pico de gallo and pineapple salsa! (herbs as well)

It was different and delicious! Got lots of compliments on it!

Re: Question About Beans

MadameQueen — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 20:15:24 GMT

I am trying to eat more beans as well as vegetables. I like escarole with cannellini beans or garbanzos with baby spinach. Both with a little oil and garlic. I put black beans in m quesadilla. I want to try making black beans soup and black bean burgers one of these days. I have also been making a white chili - chicken and cannellini beans that I got from McCormick's web site.

Re: Question About Beans

beckyb1012 — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 20:31:28 GMT

@MadameQueen wrote:
I am trying to eat more beans as well as vegetables. I like escarole with cannellini beans or garbanzos with baby spinach. Both with a little oil and garlic. I put black beans in m quesadilla. I want to try making black beans soup and black bean burgers one of these days. I have also been making a white chili - chicken and cannellini beans that I got from McCormick's web site.

Love that McCormick site and Bush's Bean web site has great recipes as well.

I so love to eat refried beans mixed with salsa, cheese and onion. Alone or with chips or tortillas.

Re: Question About Beans

scotnovel — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 21:03:59 GMT

@IamMrsG wrote:
Soaking beans, whether overnight in cold water or for an hour in water brought to a boil, serves two purposes: It shortens the cooking time and removes some of their gaseousness. The new school of thought is that it also reduces flavor.

If you use dried beans, you must understand they are dirty and the bag can contain small rocks. The beans must be picked over before using. I have found it is easiest to pour a bag onto a cookie sheet and rake them a few at a time into a bowl, looking for rocks.

If you choose to soak the beans, do not use the soaking water. Instead, drain and rinse them before using. Again, dry beans are dirty.

You CAN use the soaking water as long as you have rinsed the beans a few times thoroughly allowing that rinsing water to drain and then covering with fresh water to soak. I put my dried beans in a collander, rinse them and sort through while they are wet because the wetness makes it much easier to see the little stones or beans that you want to discard. When I am satisfied, I rinse them a last time, let drain and then cover with the soaking water that they then can be cooked in.