Spill the beans
People stocked up on dried beans during the pandemic. Now it’s time to use them. Food & Dining,
Dried beans seemed like the prudent thing to stockpile last year when people were gearing up for the unknown. Bought with the best of intentions, however, these cans or bags of beans may still be sitting in your pantry, untouched. • To the inexperienced, dried beans can be a mystery. Yet the benefits of beans are considerable. They’re healthful, adaptable, delicious, cheap, comforting and, yes, still good a year after you’ve bought them. • “Beans deserve some time in the spotlight. They are versatile in their use, can be kept on hand in dry storage for years and are nutrient dense,” said Emilie Williamson, registered dietitian nutritionist and media representative for the Wisconsin Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. • So how do home cooks convert dried beans into solid, satisfying . . . even spectacular meals? How do home cooks transform themselves from bean hoarders into big-time bean buffs? • Here’s how and why it’s time to get cooking with dried beans, as this immunity-boosting superfood could soon become a favorite in your recipe rotation.
Dried beans, sometimes called dry or shell beans, are simply beans that have been left unpicked in their pods until they dry and harden. They can be harvested like snap beans while young and tender, but some varieties are grown to be picked once the pods dry and turn brown, ideally during a rainless spell or they will molder. Growing them is a customary way of preserving food for winter.
If you’ve ever planted, weeded, picked, shelled, boiled and prepared dried beans from your own backyard, the under-$2 can of beans at the grocery store may seem truly amazing and not to be taken for granted. The seconds it takes to crank open the can, rinse and drain those precooked beans are quite the contrast to the time and effort of growing your own.
Cans are ideal for dried bean newbies and those pressed for time. Still, the boost in taste and texture when buying dried beans in bulk and cooking them at home is next-level major. For example, when home cooks try Michelle Cannon’s dried beans from the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, they’re soon ready for a repeat.
“Almost inevitably, customers will come back for more, saying the beans were really good,” said Cannon, owner and farmer at LarryVille Gardens in the Town of Spring Prairie, near Burlington. “The customers buy the most beautiful beans first . . . the spotted and unique! Food, we definitely eat with our eyes first.”
In addition to selling at the Milwaukee market in winter, LarryVille Gardens maintains a farm stand at its 11-acre certified naturally grown farm, W1349 Highway 11. This time of year, Cannon will usually sell winter carrots, spinach, garlic and herbs along with her dried beans until they are sold out.
Cannon said she anticipates being sold out of her Eclipse black beans at $8 a pound soon. Other dried bean varieties grown at LarryVille Gardens have included cannellini, marrowfat, borlotti (also known as cranberry), calypso and Jacob’s cattle.
“I have always tried to grow heirloom,” she said. “Italian seeds and vegetable varieties have become a niche my farm seeks to fill.”
A farmer who practices regenerative agriculture, Cannon has been restoring the soil after years of conventional farming before 2008.
“I think that cooking of the beans can impact our enjoyment of them as much as the growing practices,” she said. Planting beans, and other legumes, benefits soil fertility as they naturally add nitrogen.
Such a deal
At the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, Meuer Farm seasonally sells beans including Vermont, cranberry, black turtle, Maine sunset and Jacob’s cattle for $6 a pound. Recently, however, they have sold out because of unprecedented demand.
“The demand for dry beans, just like everything else we grow, raise and sell here has just been phenomenal,” said owner Dave Meuer.
Meuer Farm, near Chilton, also sells dry beans at the Tosa Farmers Market; check there in early September. Meuer said he plans to increase production this year to help meet demand.
At the supermarket, most 15-ounce cans of cooked dried beans, even organic options, are typically under $2. They will regularly go on sale for less. A 15-ounce can will provide about 13⁄4 cups of beans or three to four servings at just over a dollar a cup.
Uncooked bagged beans are an even better deal. A 1-pound bag of dry beans in grocery stores generally will cost just over a buck and yield about 6 cups. That’s less than 20 cents a cup, the equivalent of two servings.
Stores will carry typical varieties such as black, pinto, red kidney, cannellini, navy, great Northern, garbanzo and butter beans in name brand, store brand, organic, low-sodium and generic options. Some grocery and co-op bulk areas will offer dry beans, as well, often for a lower cost per pound than comparable prepackaged beans.
Good Harvest Market in Waukesha offers nearly a dozen varieties in its bulk department including black turtle, cannellini, fava, mung, navy and great Northern.
It’s cooking time
Of course, dry beans must be cooked before being eaten. Bean cooking methods fall into two camps: soak or no-soak; it depends on the schedule and style of the home cook.
Williamson recommends soaking. She typically soaks first thing in the morning to cook the beans that night. “Soaking beans prior to cooking is recommended more for quality than for nutrition. Allowing the beans to slowly take on water over a period of time reduces cooking time,” she explained.
Some recipes, such as soup, may call for simmering unsoaked beans with other ingredients as the beans will create their own savory broth as they cook.
To cook dry beans, place them in a large pot and cover with water. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender. They will have to