Green beans are easy to can. You pick them, quickly snap or cut them in half or short pieces, simmer them for four minutes or less, pack them in jars, and process them in the canner for less than half an hour. Canned beans are delicious and versatile; they can be served as a side…
Bean Recipes
White Bean Soup with Variations
White bean soup is hearty and well suited for cold weather. Basic bean soup is easy to make; follow one simple rule for best flavor: keep the heat low; bean soups burn easily. Variations on bean soup are many: you can add leftovers, fresh vegetables such as greens sliced thin or chopped, pasta, cooked vegetables—carrots,…
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
This all vegetable and black bean chili is warming and filling. I serve this chili over a hot baked (and buttered) potato. Chili and chunks of potato are perfect after a winter afternoon in the garden. This recipe calls on dried black beans—but you could also use pinto beans, navy beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans,…
How to Make Dried Bean Soup With No Recipe
Dried bean soups are hearty and perfect for chilly days. Black beans, navy beans, kidney beans, lima beans may be used. For a velvety, smooth soup, purée or whir the beans in a blender after cooking; for a soup with texture, purée only half the beans. Water is the common liquid ingredient for dried bean…
Borlotti Beans: Kitchen Basics
Just tender cooked borlotti beans–often called cranberry beans–are a tasty late summer snack. Use your thumb to pop open the fresh-picked speckled pods, place a few handfuls of beans in a skillet and cover with just an inch of water; add a couple of cloves of garlic, pepper corns, and fresh sage, and simmer…
Black Bean Soup
The black bean – Phaseolus vulgaris – is kidney shaped and just short of blocky looking with a cream-colored flesh, and, of course, a matt to shiny black skin. Why is the black bean found in so many cuisines? Two reasons: it holds its shape when cooked, and its floury texture absorbs the flavors of…
Dried Beans: Cooking
Dried beans eaten fresh meaning during the season just after they have been harvested and dried–will undoubtedly be the best tasting. But a big plus for dried beans is that they have a long shelf life if stored in a dry, cool, airtight container away from sunlight. Quite easily, you can keep dried beans on…
Dried Beans: Kitchen Basics
Beans are legumes whose seeds or pods can be eaten at various stages of maturity and belong to many different plant species. They have been used as food for thousands of years. Beans can be divided into three broad categories: • Edible pod beans can be eaten fresh seed, pod and all. These beans are…
Hummus Recipe
Hummus is the Arabic word for “chickpea”. The chickpea is also known as the garbanzo bean; “garbanzo” is the Spanish name derived from the Greek. Hummus is also the name given to the Middle Eastern sauce or paste that includes cooked and mashed chickpeas mixed with sesame or olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and…
Chickpeas: Kitchen Basics
The chickpea can be used in appetizers, mixed salads, soups, main dishes, puréed, and ground and made into flour. Garbanzo bean in Spain, pois chiche in France, ceci in Italy, hummus in the Middle East, gram in India, chickpea in the United States: by any name, the chickpea is a staple in cookery throughout much…