26 Ways to Eat More Beans
Because they’re chock full of protein, endlessly versatile, and most importantly: delicious
Slow-cook them with ham for a hearty stew or simply throw a handful on toast with broccoli rabe—beans can transform anything from a cold salad to a chunky soup to nachos. Here are our 26 favorite ways to eat black beans, white beans, kidney beans, fava beans—basically any legume except for chickpeas and lentils, which have cooking methods all their own.
This version of the soup bean and pasta dish reverses the order of its stars turning it into a pasta dish laden with creamy beans and a creamy sauce. Get the recipe for Pasta e Fagioli »
Made with confit duck legs, pork belly, and two kinds of sausage, this meaty, resplendently rich cassoulet is worth treasuring all winter. Get the recipe for Dominique Ansel’s Cassoulet »
These are savory baked beans, but they have no Boston sweetness. Think of this gratin as a meatless cassoulet meant to accompany a roast or salad.
You can serve this soup the day you prepare it, but after an overnight rest on the refrigerator, the beans will have absorbed some of the broth and the soup will have a deeper flavor. Get the recipe for Fatback and Heirloom Bean Soup »
In Emilia-Romagna, chef Carla Rebecchi taught Jenn Louis to make this borlotti bean stew with shell-like gnocchi called pisarei. A fresh herb sauce laced with speck tops it off. Get the recipe for Bread Crumb Dumplings and Bean Stew with Parsley-Speck Pesto »
Author Nancy Harmon Jenkins uses olive oil three ways in this version of the venerable Italian soup: for sautéing garlic, rubbing on the toasts that accompany the dish, and finishing the soup.
The silky, custardlike base of this autumnal pie is made from sweetened navy bean purée spiced with nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon. Get the recipe for Navy Bean Pie »
These stewed pinto beans can be eaten with tortillas for a light meal, or as a side dish for many roasted or grilled meats.
In autumn, markets in Italy begin to fill with such staple winter vegetables as broccoli rabe. This pungent, bitter flower is not broccoli at all but comes from a variety of turnip.
Flavored with molasses, maple syrup, and rum, the classic New England bean dish is simple to prepare; all it takes is time. Serve it with hearty brown bread to mop up its flavorful sauce.
If you prefer, you can use canned red kidney beans in this satisfying side dish, served alongside Braised Oxtail with Butter Beans. Simply skip the first step and rinse one 15-oz. can of beans before adding them to the pan in step two.
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