Please recommend a bean cookbook for me? Getting enough protein issues.

[CrazyCatLady]

My daughter and I have been not getting anywhere near enough protein. We can't do dairy, can only afford limited soy stuff, can't afford much meat (and I choke on it anyways), I'm allregic to nuts. So that leaves us with beans.

Is there a bean cookbook out there with lots of recipes that all don't include spicy ingredients and peppers? We're not really the biggest fans of bell peppers.

But we love beans and I really need some ideas on how to cook them.

Thanks

[bandgeek]

Sorry I don't know of a cookbook. I can share some of the things I do though.

Anything mexican of course. Bean burritos, mexican pizza (mix refried beans and salsa for the "sauce" then top with other toppings, cook, then top with lettuce), black bean burritos, beans dips and chips, ect. Just omit the cheese. No sense adding the fake stuff.

I like adding small white beans to pasta. I saute zucchini and onion and sometimes squash, add sauce, pasta and beans and you have a good, filling, easy meal.

Mashed potato bowls....Scoop mashed potatoes in a bowl, top with black beans, and whatever else sounds good. I usually do corn and tomatoes. Sorry if that sounds weird. It's actually really good!

Cornbread and beans is really good. I just flavor the beans with onion and garlic and throw in some apple cider vinegar and sometimes a little sugar.

Black bean soup. Minestrone soup. These are things you can google for recipes. If the recipes are complex, just cut down on some of the ingredients. I find they have a lot of unnecessary things in them that drive up the cost.

Don't forget about whole grains. Lentils are cheap and a great source of protein. I have a whole other list of recipes for those if you want it!

[CrazyCatLady]

Thank you so much! That is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. Everything you mentioned looked simple and good. Especially the mashed potato bowls. My dd and I are simple eaters, we still eat many dinners out of muffin trays like we're toddlers or something.

So feel free to share your lentil ideas with me as well.

[staceychev]

Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen

[GoGoGirl]

The Moosewood Daily Specials cookbook has a chapter on bean soups. You can add a couple of cans of beans to pretty much any soup recipe. I love bean soup!

Here are some things I do with beans...
--Hummus
--Mexican stuff (beans and rice, tortilla soup, black bean soup, beans/veggies/salsa burritos, black bean and sweet potato burritos)
--Beans and greens (saute an onion and garlic, add a box of frozen chopped greens, a can of beans, and spices). It's good over rice, or with tomato sauce.
--Vegetarian bean soups

And lentil ideas...
--Lentil sloppy joes
--Honey baked lentils
--Spicy Ethiopian lentil stew
--Lentil soup, but I'm still trying recipes and looking for an awesome one

[lelabeth]

My husband grew up on a farm in Mexico and is the oldest of 10. There are a lot of beans in his past. Here's how he does them, no soaking or fancy stuff required:

1. Dump a 1lb bag of any kind of bean into a small soup pot (about 1 gallon size??) and fill it near the top with water. Add a little piece of onion and a good amount of salt.

(I know salt is not supposed to be that healthy, but he does put enough in that they have a flavor.)

2. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, and cover. Putter and do other stuff. Cook for an hour or two, checking occasionally to make sure beans still have enough liquid, they probably will. Voila.

If you want, when they are almost done you can take the cover off and help some of the extra liquid evaporate off, which will create a nice thick beany "gravy" of the remaining liquid.

To refry cooked beans (from the pot or from a can):

1. Heat about 2 Tbs of your favorite cooking fat in a pan on medium-high heat. Slice a few shreds of onion into it and sizzle them for a minute or so. Add about two to three cups of beans and their liquid and mash them down with a spoon onto the onions, add a little salt to taste if necessary, and cook for 5 min or so until it's thick and onion-y tasting.

Or instead of mashing, you can cook for 5 min and throw the whole thing in the blender for a smooth, dip consistency.

[cristeen]

I really like the honey baked lentils, but I actually used the idea and turned them into baked beans using navy beans. Boil the navy beans first, and leave out the water from the recipe. You can also use maple instead of honey. I bake them until they have a nice thick coating, and not a whole lot of liquid in the pan - my 1 yo loves them.

I also like sweet potato soup with spinach and white beans. The recipe I use calls for sausage, but you can easily leave it out - I don't think it adds a whole lot to the flavor (it's a mild sausage). It's a really thick and hearty soup, made more hearty by adding cooked navy beans. I put the raw greens in the bowl and pour the hot soup over so I don't have a pot full of slimy greens. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...ge-Soup-240092

I also like Indian dals, which are just lentils with spices. You can go really complex with exotic spices, or keep it really simple with onions, garlic and salt.

Along similar lines, I really like Channa masala, which is a chickpea curry. Chickpeas with onions and tomatoes.

I get my bean recipes from all over the place because I'm really picky about legumes. But those are the favorite uses that come to mind, aside from hummus, of course.

[kittywitty]

The New Indian Cookbook? I forget if that's the name, but it's excellent. I can't stand spicy stuff in the slightest, but if there's anything spicy, I just leave it out.

[catnip]

My favorite bean recipes:
Black bean sweet potato enchilada casserole
Pasta e'fagoli
Soupy Navy beans with garlic, lemon and sage (I often add kale to this)
Pineapple black-bean tacos
Chili
Frijoles de la olla
Tortilla soup
Lentil loaf
Red lentil tacos
Red lentil spinach curry
Lentil-nut stroganoff
Lentil-nut shepherd's pie

[bandgeek]

Lentil mini-loaves-cook lentils until very soft, drain them, then mash them with ketchup, sauteed onion ad garlic, ketchup and anything else that sounds good. Toss in some uncooked quick oats and combine. Pat it down into greased muffin cups and top with more ketchup. Cook for about 30 minutes at 375*.

Lentil tacos. Just boil the lentils and drain, cook it with taco seasoning just like you would ground beef. Then put into taco shells or tortillas and add toppings.

Shepherd's pie. Boil lentils, combine in a casserole dish with tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, sauteed veggies (I like carrots, celery, and cabbage) and sauteed onion and garlic, season with italian type seasoning and salt and pepper, then top with mashed potatoes and bake for 45 minutes at 350*. This recipe is time-consuming unless you make the potatoes and/or lentils beforehand.

Lentils are good in any indian curry or dal recipe. You can google them for ideas. Again, you can usually just omit pricey ingredients.

Don't forget about chickpeas! You can make hummus by putting chickpeas, tahini, salt, garlic, and lemon juice in the blender. Tahini can sometimes be pricey. I don't know if hummus is any good without it.

Chickpea crunchies- Drain chickpeas and blot them dry. Season with seasoning salt, paprika, coriander, garlic powder...basically any seasoning that sound good to you. Seasoning salt alone would probably do it if you don't have a huge selection of seasonings in your house. Bake them for 30-40 minutes in a 325* oven. Check them to make sure they don't burn and maybe even turn the oven down for another 10 minutes so they can dry out a bit without burning. They make a great snack.

Chickpea nuggets-put chickpeas, onion, and garlic in the blender and whiz it into small crumbs. Dump it in a bowl and add italian seasoning to taste, salt and pepper, 1 egg OR some milled flax seed and water to bind it, then add bread crumbs until it holds together. Form it into nuggets, then dust with flour. Bake or fry them until golden. You may want to try adding vital wheat gluten for added stability because dipping in ketchup was difficult. They don't *need* ketchup though. They are pretty tasty by themselves.

I forgot about bean burgers before. Mash cooked or canned black beans (drained) in a bowl and add bbq sauce, sauteed onion and garlic, anything else that sounds tasty, and quick oats to bind it. Form it into patties and fry over medium for 5 minutes on each side. Put on buns with the usual toppings.

[DevaMajka]

Ita with the honey baked lentils (though I use molasses, and only 1tbsp)! very yummy!
We also like the Chickpea crunchies mentioned by the pp, and the lentil sloppy joes from veganomicon!

I add cooked red lentils to my spaghetti sauce. I don't add a lot, but I figure every bit counts.

Falafels- they are pretty easy if you have a food processor, and you can bake instead of fry them, and imo they are just as good.

Southwestern pasta (the bell peppers aren't necessary, Imo). You can also add kale or spinach to dishes like this.

I make hummus without tahini (I use wayyyy less oil).

chili- here's the recipe I'll try next time I make it, but I'll cook it on the stove.

Chickpea "stroganoff" - I made punk rock chickpea gravy and put it on egg noodles. I added frozen peas and carrots, and we all quite liked it. I didn't have all the herbs and spices, I just kinda added what I had, subbed some, and left some out.

[DevaMajka]

oh, I can't believe I forgot to add one of my all time favorite meals: Black bean chilaquile
the recipe calls for cheese, but I don't add it. I like it better without- it seems too greasy and heavy with cheese. I do like it with sour cream on top, but it's also good with guacamole, or just diced avocado. Also, I use rice instead of tortilla chips for the bottom layer to make it cheaper and healthier.

We just had spicy vegetable hotpot from vegan with a vengeance (I think). I left out the "spicy" part, because ds1 won't eat anything even remotely spicy. It's basically this recipe, minus the yogurt, flour, and using 1cup veg stock instead of 2c water plus stock cube. (actually, the recipes are really really similar- both from different cookbooks, and I don't think the same author. Makes me wonder which came first).
I halved the recipe, and it made enough for the 4 of us. I used a whole apple, and a splash of ACV (it was a little bit bland without the spicy part)

[ameliabedelia]

Black bean burgers are really good. You could mash the beans by hand, but I like to use a food processor. Just mix cooked black beans with salt, pepper, eggs, crushed crackers (put in whole if using a food processor and let it all mix up), shredded carrot. I also add some mayonnaise...keeps them really moist. The lightly fry them in a pan until brown on the outside.

You can also make similar chickpea patties, although I find that chickpeas don't hold together as well as the black beans do.

We do lentil/rice tacos. Cook equal parts of lentils/rice, add salt and taco seasonings and serve over corn chips. I make my own corn chips from corn tortillas. Just brush with olive oil on both sides, sprinkles with a little salt. cut into pieces, spread on cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 450 degree for around 8 minutes.

Lentils can be added to pasta sauce.

Those lentil loaves sound good, I want to try those.