Budget-Friendly Dried Beans

Posted Thu, 10/01/2009 - 2:14am
Featured resource: 
Cuban Style Black Beans
White Bean Soup with Rosemary, Basil, and Garlic Croutons
Caribbean Beans and Greens Wraps

—by Caroline Daykin

The current economic recession that followed close on the heels of a global increase in food prices has been enough to discourage even the most ardent supporter of the organic movement. With organically produced chicken as high as $9 per pound, and certified organic skim milk at around $3.50 for a half gallon, budget-focused organic consumers face a challenge in procuring their protein.

Fortunately, nutrient-rich plant seeds, otherwise known as beans, are still available for next to nothing. Ranging from $1.75 to $2.29 per pound, dried beans are one of the most affordable ways to eat organically.

It's not hard to cook beans

The word “dried” may strike fear into the hearts of many readers. While even a novice cook is capable of opening a can of beans, draining the liquid from them, and adding them to a recipe, the ability to prepare beans from scratch is much rarer. Considering the simplicity of the bean-cooking process, this fear strikes me as unnecessary.

While the process for preparing different kinds of beans varies, there are several basic instructions to follow. Before dried beans can be cooked, they must be soaked, a process that softens and rehydrates them and dissolves enzymes that are difficult to digest.

Place the beans in a pan large enough to accommodate the legumes as well as their required water. Add enough water to exceed the height of the beans by two inches, and soak for at least two hours. (If you are using black beans, take time to enjoy the luminescent purple color the beans lend to the water after they have soaked for awhile.) If you’re pressed for time, use the quick-soak method: Bring the beans and water to a boil, cook for two minutes, turn off the heat, and allow them to soak for an hour.

When it comes time to cook the beans, add several more inches of water to the pan, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium low, and cook for one hour or until the beans are tender. You can sample a few beans to assure yourself of their tenderness by removing a few from the pan with a spoon and letting them cool for about 30 seconds. Drain the beans, and add them to dishes that call for cooked or canned beans.

The “Vegetarians in Paradise” Web site features a chart with more bean variety-specific information about cooking times. Something to keep in mind when working with lima beans is the importance of adequate cooking time, as these beans contain a potentially toxic substance that is destroyed by cooking.

If, alas, you have cooked more beans than your recipe calls for, prepare them for storage by placing them in a container with some of the water they cooked in. Cooked beans will keep for four to five days in the fridge or up to six months in the freezer.

They're good for you!

While the above argument may very well have convinced the reader of beans’ economic virtues, it neglected the fact that beans also have an impressive nutritional profile. Most varieties provide eight of the nine essential amino acids that must be obtained through food (soybeans are the only known vegetable that provide all nine essential amino acids), and are thus a good source of protein.

Beans contain fatty acids, B vitamins, iron, calcium, potassium, and vitamins A and C. They are also high in fiber, a nutrient that helps to lower cholesterol levels, keep blood sugar in check, prevent colon cancer, and control weight by providing a feeling of fullness.

While the nutrients beans contain are certainly nothing to scoff at, in order to consume a balanced diet it’s important to remember that, unless they are soybeans, beans do not contain all of the essential amino acids. This problem can easily be overcome by supplementing your diet with grains, which make up for what beans lack in terms of amino acids. (Legumes and grains do not, however, need to be eaten at the same meal.)

Another bean caveat is the relative difficulty the body has in absorbing iron from plant sources as compared to animal sources. However, consuming iron from plant sources along with vitamin C aids in iron absorption.

Entire books have been written on the controversy over the health properties of soybeans. While much has been made (mostly by manufacturers of soy products) of their ability to fight heart disease and cancer, recent research has called these claims into question. One study even found that eating one serving of tofu a day increases the risk of dementia. However, the study involved only elderly people, and there is other evidence that the phytoestrogens in soy products may protect the brains of younger people.

Some commentators have suggested that the possible health risks associated with soy products result from the consumption of highly processed versions of soy, such as tofu, rather than in an innate defect in soybeans themselves.

Beans from the dawn of time

People have eaten beans since the Stone Age, and beans went with them when they dispensed with hunting and gathering and settled down to farm during the Neolithic period. A look at crop rotation’s earliest appearance in recorded history (765 C.E.) reveals that beans or other legumes were grown on one field, grain was grown on a second, and a third was left fallow.

In Europe, the variety of bean that was consumed for most of history was fava beans, which can be eaten either fresh or dried, and can be ground into meal to make bread. During Middle Ages winters, dried favas and lentils were among the few vegetables most people had access to.

Despite their important role in European history, fava beans are labor-intensive. They must be shelled and boiled for 30 seconds, and then peeled. Perhaps for this reason, in the Age of Discovery fava beans were replaced by New World haricot beans, a large family that includes cannellini, great northern, red kidney, navy, and black beans. Haricots are the mature seeds of the green bean plant.

These recipes (see links at the top of this articel) call for black or cannellini beans. If you are feeling adventurous or are unable to procure the requisite variety of bean, feel free to experiment with other haricots.

References

[Caroline Daykin is a freelance writer, college graduate, and cashier who enjoys books on tape, knitting, and researching obscure topics.]