BlogHer - Beans Are a Great Choice for Good Health - Comments

Great idea

Kalyn Denny — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:44:57 -0600

I also love it when food that's inexpensive is delicious and full of nutrients. What could be better!

Beans are cheap

Cherre — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:59:41 -0600

I love it when good-for-you food = affordable food.
I soak my dried beans in water with a small piece of kombu for extra minerals.

http://doesabodygood.blogspot.com

Love split pea soup!

Kalyn Denny — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:17:30 -0600

Split pea is one of my all time favorites. Love it!

Now that I think about it, I think I might have learned about epazote from my sister-in-law who was born in Mexico. I don't think I've ever seen it fresh; I bet that's great.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

The Musical Fruit and Epazote

Figs with Bri — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:24:33 -0600

Yes! You should write about epazote. It's such an important herb in Mexican cooking. It grows like a weed too, huge and happy. I don't remember what season it prefers, but I know I've seen it at some of my farmers markets too. Helps a lot with the...uh...musical aspect of beans. I use beans at least 3 or 4 times a week in my cooking and just discovered split pea soup. I'd never made it before, and it was incredibly easy and fast. Not to mention tasty. With all the diet fads out there, I'm so glad you are talking about eating real, good, food.
www.figswithbri.com

Epazote too!

Kalyn Denny — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:16:48 -0600

Thanks for sharing some of your bean recipes. I do use canned beans sometimes, but I agree that freshly-cooked beans are always better. I love the idea of putting a bit of oregano. I'm also a fan of an herb called Epazote which makes beans less gas-producing.

Hmmm. I should write about Epazote for Blogher!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I love beans too!

ejm — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 08:17:29 -0600

I absolutely adore cranberry beans (aka borlotti, romano, saluggia, rosecoco, crab-eye). Here is our favourite way to prepare them: Borlotti (Cranberry Beans) Pasta Sauce

They're also great for fuhl, if favas are not available or too old.

And I also love black beans (aka turtle). I always include them in beans for refried beans. Their flavour is reminiscent of chocolate.

I know a lot of people use canned beans rather than dried because they think dried is too difficult. Not at all... one just has to be sure to remove any floaters after soaking them overnight AND to add zero salt and zero baking soda before the beans are the desired texture.

The other required addition for the preliminary cooking of beans (as far as I'm concerned) is dried oregano. There's something about it that sweetens the beans.

Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

My own favorite too

Kalyn Denny — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:13:55 -0600

I make soup with beans all winter long. As far as soup with black-eyed peas, for the last few years I've been making Hopping John Soup which is a big hit with my friends for New Year's Day. The Black-Eyed Pea Stew looked good to me too. Let us know how it turns out. Maybe you *will* get more good luck!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Can't have too much luck!

Cooking Up a Story — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:09:14 -0600

Thanks for this post, Kalyn! Legumes are a favorite of mine too, especially in soups. Like many others, I begin the New Year with the traditional Black Eyed Peas and Corn Bread meal. For some reason I don't fix it at any other time...would I have more luck, or less luck!?!
My oldest son commented I ought to use them in a soup. I took a look at the stew recipe you left a link to, and I think I'll try it this week.

Thanks, and Happy New Year, too!

Rebecca
http://cookingupastory.com/

No, "red beans" are not Azuki beans

Kalyn Denny — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:57:28 -0600

I didn't mean to say that they are exactly the same, so I'm sorry if it was confusing. I said "similar" beans are called red beans, and the reason I did is because in quite a few of the recipes I saw which called for Azuki beans the recipe said something like "use red beans if you can't find Azuki beans." I

It does sound like you know more about Azuki beans than I do, so thanks for the clarification! I wish I could taste them.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Azuki vs American "red beans"

leaustin — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:33:57 -0600

Are you sure those "red beans" I see in American groceries are azukis? They look a little different. As a half-Japanese girl I cannot imagine eating azuki beans unsweetened, but I love red beans and rice using those little "red beans" versus kidney beans.

Linda
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
http://moonbridgeblog.blogspot.com

Beans Are a Great Choice for Good Health

Kalyn Denny — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:59:58 -0600

All this month BlogHer is going to be talking about health, so for my contribution I decided I'd write about foods that promote good health. I've already started out with my own little love letter to sweet potatoes, and today I'm singing the praises of another one of the world's healthiest foods, dried beans and legumes. There are a lot of different choices in this category, but I found a good list of beans and legumes at the Mayo Clinic site. Some of the beans on that list are pretty common, but here's your chance to learn about a few new types of beans, and maybe find a new recipe to add to your rotation.

Azuki beans (also spelled adzuki) are a type of Asian bean. They are frequently eaten sweetened, and are the main ingredient in red bean paste, commonly used in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cuisine. In the U.S. similar beans are often just called red beans.

Cook some Azuki Beans:
Adzuki Bean Stew from Once Upon a Feast
Slow Cooker Adzuki Bean Chili from Blog Appetit
Azuki Bean Ice Cream from Bon Appegeek

Anasazi beans (also called Jacob's Cattle beans) are a type of speckled bean with a slightly sweet, nutty flavor. This is actually an ancient type of bean which was re-introduced when some were found among some Anasazi ruins and scientists were able to get them to germinate. Reportedly they are quite easy to grow. One thing which makes them popular is that they are less gas-producing than many types of dried beans. Barlotti beans and cranberry beans are similar to these.

Cook some Anasazi Beans:
Venetian Style Bean and Pasta Soup from Superspark.
Anasazi Bean and Cabbage Soup from Kalyn's Kitchen
Everything From the Pantry Bean Soup from The Perfect Pantry

Black-eyed peas are a bean you may have heard of, but many people haven't cooked with them. They are thought to bring good luck if you eat them for New Year's but truly they are delicious all year long.

Cook some Black-eyed Peas:
Black-eyed Pea Cakes from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Black-eyed Peas with Sujuk from Almost Turkish Recipes
Black-eyed Pea Stew from A Mingling of Tastes

Fava Beans were made famous by the movie The Silence of the Lambs, but truly fresh favas were considered a real delicacy long before that movie came out. These are grown almost everywhere, and have a lot of other names, including broad beans, faba beans, and horse beans. They're eaten fresh but also often dried, although true fans always prefer the fresh favas.

Cook some Fava Beans:
Cooking Fresh Fava Beans from Yogurtland
Fresh Fava Bean Salad with Pecorino from Lucullian Delights
Braised Fava Beans with Proscuitto from What Did You Eat

BlogHer Food Editor Kalyn Denny cooks beans whether it's summer or winter and blogs about it at her food blog, Kalyn's Kitchen.