Need meal ideas for Beans

[3xMama]

I am trying to further reduce our food bill and bought a bag of beans to help with that. The only thing is, I have no idea what to make with them!!  Which, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how backwards of a thought process that was!! So would you mind helping me out and just throw out some general meals that feature beans? Not even necessarily recipes, just ideas of meals to make. I have great northern beans. TIA!!!

[ollyoxenfree]

Baked beans (I just posted a recipe for maple baked beans in the bean soaking thread. The bacon and maple syrup add to the cost, but you could omit the bacon and substitute molasses or brown sugar for the maple syrup). 

Bean dip (similar to hummus) 

Bean soup - with other veggies, like kale and potato and possibly a little chicken or sausage

Saute cooked beans with a little diced onion, garlic, some dark greens (kale or spinach or chard) and some halved grape tomatoes, fresh herbs and freshly ground pepper

[MrsGregory]

I beans.  So cheap, so healthy, so freakin' delicious.

Buy the dried beans and soak them, they're so much tastier and once you get a feel for dry beans, you can't imagine canned, I promise.  Everyone ruins at least one pot of beans.  It's OK to cry about burned beans.

Here's what I make with beans on a regular basis, sorted by bean type.

Navy Beans

White Chili (w/ or w/o chicken)

Sweet Beans (for Beans on Toast, or with Corned Beef)

Baked Beans and Brown Bread

Portuguese Sausage and Bean Soup

Bean Cassoulet (w/ or w/o chicken)

Cannelini Beans

Bread and Bean Soup

Garlicky Beans and Green over Polenta

Black Beans

Black Bean Soup

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

Cuban Black Beans

Red Beans

Red Beans and Rice

Red Chili (w/ or w/o meat)

Pink Beans

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup)

Habichuelas Guisadas

Pinto or Aztec Beans

Borracho Beans

Refried Beans

Chickpeas

Hummus

Roasted Chickpeas (more of a snack, this)

Rice and Gandules (yes, I cheat)

Harira

Falafel

I'm sure I'm forgetting something I love to make with beans.  I'm happy to type up my method if you like, or answer any questions googling might leave you with.  I'm also happy to just slink back to my cupboard with my beans and mutter to myself, if that's the mental image my excitement about beans has left you with. 

[weliveintheforest]

Bean soups, chili, casseroles, burritos, baked beans. You can make refried beans for quesadillas, or freeze the soaked and cooked beans for using later.

You can mix and match different types of beans in different recipes.  I made a tortilla pie that was SO GOOD last week and I used black beans but any kind would work.

[3xMama]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

I beans.  So cheap, so healthy, so freakin' delicious.

Buy the dried beans and soak them, they're so much tastier and once you get a feel for dry beans, you can't imagine canned, I promise.  Everyone ruins at least one pot of beans.  It's OK to cry about burned beans.

Here's what I make with beans on a regular basis, sorted by bean type.

Navy Beans

White Chili (w/ or w/o chicken)

Sweet Beans (for Beans on Toast, or with Corned Beef)

Baked Beans and Brown Bread

Portuguese Sausage and Bean Soup

Bean Cassoulet (w/ or w/o chicken)

Cannelini Beans

Bread and Bean Soup

Garlicky Beans and Green over Polenta

Black Beans

Black Bean Soup

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

Cuban Black Beans

Red Beans

Red Beans and Rice

Red Chili (w/ or w/o meat)

Pink Beans

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup)

Habichuelas Guisadas

Pinto or Aztec Beans

Borracho Beans

Refried Beans

Chickpeas

Hummus

Roasted Chickpeas (more of a snack, this)

Rice and Gandules (yes, I cheat)

Harira

Falafel

I'm sure I'm forgetting something I love to make with beans.  I'm happy to type up my method if you like, or answer any questions googling might leave you with.  I'm also happy to just slink back to my cupboard with my beans and mutter to myself, if that's the mental image my excitement about beans has left you with. 

Thank you for these ideas! I'd have never thought of so many ways to use beans! The sad thing is, I was a vegetarian for years and years but I never even considered beans. I always bought the processed soy meat replacements. So far I don't have too many questions, the directions seem pretty straight forward, put in water, soak over night, boil. If I come across issues though, you bet I'll be back! 

Silly question: What kind of bread do you use for baked beans and brown bread? Also, what do you pair that with? Salad?

Oh, and btw, I totally LOLed over the mental image you conjured of slinking off to mutter over beans. Thanks for the laugh, I really needed it! 

[MrsGregory]

Oh, you're welcome.  I really do talk to my bulk food shelf.  It usually starts with a need to organize it, and see just what I've acquired, and the conversation goes from there.

So, with dry beans, this is my method (and there are many):  I put the beans in a strainer and wash them and pick them over for rocks.  Then I soak them overnight, discard that water, rinse again, and boil with any seasoning other than salt or tomatoes or vinegar.  Those things will make your beans fail to soften.  The cook time varies from 40 minutes to 2+ hours.  You can tell the beans are done if you lift a spoon out, blow across them and their skins loosen.  Then I add the rest of the recipe, or drain and add the beans to another pot, whichever.

So, Baked Beans and Brown Bread.  The Brown Bread is a boiled bread, and you'll want to pan-fry it in, say, something healthy like butter.  MmmmmMMmMmmMMmmmmMMMM. 
 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/slow_cooked_boston_baked_beans/

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/boston_brown_bread/

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

I beans.  So cheap, so healthy, so freakin' delicious.

Buy the dried beans and soak them, they're so much tastier and once you get a feel for dry beans, you can't imagine canned, I promise.  Everyone ruins at least one pot of beans.  It's OK to cry about burned beans.

Here's what I make with beans on a regular basis, sorted by bean type.

Navy Beans

White Chili (w/ or w/o chicken)

Sweet Beans (for Beans on Toast, or with Corned Beef)

Baked Beans and Brown Bread

Portuguese Sausage and Bean Soup

Bean Cassoulet (w/ or w/o chicken)

Cannelini Beans

Bread and Bean Soup

Garlicky Beans and Green over Polenta

Black Beans

Black Bean Soup

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

Cuban Black Beans

Red Beans

Red Beans and Rice

Red Chili (w/ or w/o meat)

Pink Beans

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup)

Habichuelas Guisadas

Pinto or Aztec Beans

Borracho Beans

Refried Beans

Chickpeas

Hummus

Roasted Chickpeas (more of a snack, this)

Rice and Gandules (yes, I cheat)

Harira

Falafel

I'm sure I'm forgetting something I love to make with beans.  I'm happy to type up my method if you like, or answer any questions googling might leave you with.  I'm also happy to just slink back to my cupboard with my beans and mutter to myself, if that's the mental image my excitement about beans has left you with. 

Those are all really good ideas! I just have to go google the recipes.  And the bolded made me LOL. If I had a bulk shelf (still trying to establish my pantry, after having to start a complete house, furniture and all, completely over), I would probably talk to it too. I appreciate the image. Thank you. :)

[bmcneal]

I found a recipe I'm going to try. It's bean and bacon macaroni. Not sure how it's going to taste, but it sounded and looked really good. :)

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by 3xMama 

Silly question: What kind of bread do you use for baked beans and brown bread? Also, what do you pair that with? Salad?

 I made a simple loaf of multigrain bread for the maple baked beans we had for dinner a few nights ago. I used honey as the sweetener and about a cup of multigrain bread flour to one and half cups of white bread flour. It wasn't too heavy but it was tasty and matched well with the beans.

[SweetSilver]

Mostly we do pinto beans around our house--I make a huge pot, cook for hours with bacon and salt* then freeze the rest.

Last night we had our favorite ultra-cheap dinner: beans with fried onions and jalapenos, cabbage and hot sauce (you can add rice or quinoa here, too.)

*Salt in the cooking water:  some folks say adding salt right away makes cooking time longer.  However, in my experience and the reading I do in cookbooks (like Fanny Farmer) it is not salt, but acids that can make for firm beans.  Adding a good amount of salt at the *beginning* of cooking vastly improves even the plainest beans.  Use a judicious hand, and then taste for saltiness in the last part of cooking, adding more if necessary.

Also, I cook my beans for a really long time.  In fact, we call this bean pot "creamy beans" because they are so smooth and wonderful.

[meemee]

what beans did you get? i also love lentils and actually make a pasta sauce with lentils. and even a pizza crust for my starch free friends. 

for winter i love doing traditional 'american' meal combination of winter squash - usually butternut squash - quinoa and black beans. http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/quinoa-black-bean-and-squash-salad-recipe/2/

black bean burgers http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/02/spicy-butternut-squash-fries-black-bean-quinoa-burgers

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/a-vegetarian-thanksgiving-table/?ref=health chloe's black eyed peas and cauliflower

you can pretty much put beans in anything. 

also be aware - depending on its age beans may take a long time over theri regular time to cook

http://www.grow-cook-eat-beans.com/types_of_beans.html

[MrsGregory]

SweetSilver, you salt your beans before they're cooked?  Some women just want to watch the world burn. 
 

[mt_gooseberry]

My DH is from Mexico, and we eat a ton of beans!

Frijoles a la olla (Pot Beans):  cooked beans eaten with their broth, tortillas, queso fresco, and salsa

Refried beans:  smear on fried tortillas (tostadas), top with queso fresco; use as a side dish

Put beans in burritos, chimichangas, sopes, meatloaf, burgers, quesadillas, soups, chili, etc. (either refried or just cooked)

Molletes:  mini-French breads (called bolillos, you can get them at any bakery, even Walmart) cut in half length-wise, spread with refried beans, sprinkled with queso fresco, broil til' cheese is melted, top with salsa

Great northern beans are good 'cuz they have a really mild flavor, you can put them in anything to stretch your resources a bit.

Feel free to PM me if you want more details!