Bean Basics

Do you have bags of beans lurking in your cupboards? It’s time to take the plunge and cook them. It’s okay if they’re old. Archaeologists have successfully sprouted beans found in the pyramids. Older beans are still live, they just take longer to cook.

Start by sorting the beans, discarding any small stones. Rinse them and put them in a pot with water to cover by two inches. The beans could expand to three times their volume as they cook, so use a large pot.

While the water is coming to a boil, throw in a chopped onion and carrot, a couple of cloves of garlic, a few sprigs of fresh parsley (or thyme or rosemary), and a bay leaf. These additions are optional but flavorful. You’ll be discarding them when the beans are cooked.

Leave the pot simmering on the stove while you go about your day. Check it every hour or so, adding boiling water from the kettle as needed to keep the beans covered. I have beans from last year’s harvest that cook in under two hours. Older beans can take six hours or more.

To tell if they’re cooked, fish one out and bite it. If you are going to use the beans in a salad, they should be slightly firm (although never crunchy). For a stew they can be softer. If you’re going to purée them for a bean loaf or hummus, they should mash between your tongue and the roof of your mouth.

Once the beans are cooked, drain them and discard the vegetables and herbs. You now have the basis for many wonderful meals.

Larry and I take bean salads to work most days (along with a green salad, it’s a nutritious lunch). After draining the beans, I toss them in vinegar, season them with salt and pepper, and leave them on the counter to cool. I then toss them with a vinaigrette and add chopped vegetables for crunch. Bean salad will last at least five days in the fridge, depending on the vegetables you add.

Or leave them plain, tossed with a little dressing so they don’t dry out. They’ll last a week in the fridge, easy to add to green salads or stir into cooked greens.

You can also store cooked beans in the freezer for up to six months, ready to use in soups and stews.