I recently got a note from a reader named Emily: “Love your ability to spin a basic recipe into many variations! I would love it if you would devote a newsletter to suggesting different meals to make with a bag of dried beans. With food prices rising and fresh produce dwindling (at least here in the cold Midwest), it would be very helpful!”
Love this post so much. For Rancho Gordo's Marcella beans, my favorite, I always drop them in the slow cooker with 6 c water, onion, bay, garlic, salt (yes even in the beginning), and cook on high for 4 hours. Perfect every time.
I found they are too delicate for the Instant Pot.
I love them under an over easy egg for breakfast with some tomatoes and greens on the side
Perfect timing! I joined the Rancho Gordo Bean Club this year,...and confess that I’m sitting on three shipment’s worth of beans--about 15 bags! My bean enthusiasm is often greater than the time I have, so I will definitely be trying lots of your ideas! Thank you! :)
I make lots of Indian bean curries in my Instant Pot. When I cook beans for other dishes, I cook a pound of them in the IP, then drain them, then place 1.5 cup portions (approximately the amount of beans in a regular can) in ziplock freezer bags. Recipes usually call for canned beans, and I use these instead. I use Rancho Gordo’s rip zape beans in your Green Chili Braised Chicken with Pinto Beans recipe. It’s heavenly.
This feels like a RG bean club support group. I too have a bean problem. I have a bean cart. It is FULL. ( My loved ones regularly haze me over said cart). Thank you for this newsletter- just the pep talk I needed to clear out some beans!
So lovely to be in the company of other legume fans. :) I am so impressed with the creativity/variety of ideas here (no surprise!), and I have a few more to shout out. Julia, your refried beans and baked beans are both so easy and so outstanding. I've also started doing marinated beans after reading about them in the past year or so - very simple and versatile.
My absolute favorite bean recipe is white bean and bacon soup. Two cans of beans (or a bag, cooked!) plus half a pound of bacon (or ham, pancetta, etc) 32 oz of chicken broth, some garlic, some thyme, a little salt and pepper… Cook everything but the bacon together, crisp up the bacon, sprinkle it on top with some of your favorite cheese. Then curl up with it on the couch and enjoy!
I get my husband to eat beans and greens by adding a little sausage - brown the sausage, add a can of white beans to warm through with a dash or three of crushed red pepper flakes, add greens to wilt, top with a squeeze of lemon juice and a shower of parmesan. Cozy, delicious and a little nutritious!
Love this post so much. For Rancho Gordo's Marcella beans, my favorite, I always drop them in the slow cooker with 6 c water, onion, bay, garlic, salt (yes even in the beginning), and cook on high for 4 hours. Perfect every time.
I found they are too delicate for the Instant Pot.
I love them under an over easy egg for breakfast with some tomatoes and greens on the side
Perfect timing! I joined the Rancho Gordo Bean Club this year,...and confess that I’m sitting on three shipment’s worth of beans--about 15 bags! My bean enthusiasm is often greater than the time I have, so I will definitely be trying lots of your ideas! Thank you! :)
Love that you mentioned Molly. That blog made me the cook I am today!
I love to add beans to a big braised piece of meat along with some greens to make a one pot meal.
I make lots of Indian bean curries in my Instant Pot. When I cook beans for other dishes, I cook a pound of them in the IP, then drain them, then place 1.5 cup portions (approximately the amount of beans in a regular can) in ziplock freezer bags. Recipes usually call for canned beans, and I use these instead. I use Rancho Gordo’s rip zape beans in your Green Chili Braised Chicken with Pinto Beans recipe. It’s heavenly.
This feels like a RG bean club support group. I too have a bean problem. I have a bean cart. It is FULL. ( My loved ones regularly haze me over said cart). Thank you for this newsletter- just the pep talk I needed to clear out some beans!
So lovely to be in the company of other legume fans. :) I am so impressed with the creativity/variety of ideas here (no surprise!), and I have a few more to shout out. Julia, your refried beans and baked beans are both so easy and so outstanding. I've also started doing marinated beans after reading about them in the past year or so - very simple and versatile.
My absolute favorite bean recipe is white bean and bacon soup. Two cans of beans (or a bag, cooked!) plus half a pound of bacon (or ham, pancetta, etc) 32 oz of chicken broth, some garlic, some thyme, a little salt and pepper… Cook everything but the bacon together, crisp up the bacon, sprinkle it on top with some of your favorite cheese. Then curl up with it on the couch and enjoy!
I get my husband to eat beans and greens by adding a little sausage - brown the sausage, add a can of white beans to warm through with a dash or three of crushed red pepper flakes, add greens to wilt, top with a squeeze of lemon juice and a shower of parmesan. Cozy, delicious and a little nutritious!