Recipes

[Winkk]

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?

[ChynnaBlue]

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.

[IamMrsG]

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.  

[PINKdogWOOD]

@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.

[alliswell]

  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.

[Winkk]

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@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.

[Winkk]

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

[RedTop]

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.   

[Annabellethecat66]

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

http://www.oldelpaso.com/search/searchresults.aspx?term=Beans&gclid=CPeP94Kt9csCFdgcgQodagQNAQ&gclsr...

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.

[123SuzyQ123]

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!