Quinoa and black beans are pillars of our pantry. In summer we toss them into a satisfying, protein-packed salad with ripe tomatoes. In winter, however, we replace the tomatoes with something just as refreshing yet more seasonally appropriate: vibrant, juicy oranges. More

Q: I hate all beans except green beans and edamame. My problem is the texture: the skin and chalky interior. I can do pureed beans in hummus, white bean dip, and black bean soup. But I would love to try all the wonderful bean dishes I see on Kitchn. I'd like the Kitchn readers to help me learn to love beans! More

When you're not ready for it, the robust garlic-spiked flavor of a dish with black bean garlic sauce can feel like a punch to the mouth. The first time I cooked with it, a dish of stir-fried eggplant, I kept sneaking spoonfuls from the pan and feeling my eyes pop with every umami-packed bite. If you need something that will wake up your tastebuds in these dog days of winter, just find yourself a jar of this sauce and let it work its magic. More

Eating less meat, eating more greens, spending less money, cooking more dinners at home ... whatever your New Year's resolution is, chances are it can be helped along with a pot of beans. Soak, cook, and freeze a big batch of beans on the weekend and you'll be ready for simple, nourishing, and budget-friendly meals throughout the week. We love all types of beans, but these days we're especially partial to creamy white varieties, which star in these five delicious vegetarian suppers. More

Parties to attend, gifts to wrap, flights to catch ... with all the busyness of the holidays, finding the time and energy to cook a proper, nourishing meal can be a challenge. But unless you intend to eat cookies for dinner (it's okay, we won't tell!), it can make all the difference to plan for a few simple and healthy dishes. Here's one of our go-tos: savory stuffed sweet potatoes with beans and greens. It can be a complete meal by itself, and is adaptable to what you have on hand. More

My kitchen has been churning out brownies, baked goods, and layer cakes in mass quantity over the past two weeks, and boy have I been hankering for a savory reprieve. (You know it's bad when one more finger-lick of chocolate, even in the name of hot fudge sauce perfection, just might end in a sugar-induced coma.) Thank goodness white chicken chili seems to be the perfect baking overdose cure. More

This year my husband and I are spending time with both our families over the holidays, which means traveling from Los Angeles to Seattle to Boston and back again. Needless to say, we'll be spending a lot of time on airplanes, and not one of the flights includes a meal. Instead of relying on sad bags of mini pretzels or soggy airport sandwiches, I'll be packing a few of these whole wheat pockets. Stuffed with spiced lentils, kale and mashed roasted sweet potato, these sturdy vegan pastries freeze well and taste great hot or at room temperature, so whether you're sitting in your cubicle or cruising at 30,000 feet, you can have a wholesome meal ready whenever you are. More

This is the time of year when Dutch ovens come into their own. Even if you use your big, heavy Dutch oven year-round, as I do, it still seems to come down off its shelf a little more often in the fall. Today I want to show you my favorite Dutch oven — and a soup to cook in it. This soup is one of those magical recipes with just a few ingredients, and all the usual suspects — carrot, onion, beans, chicken broth — that nevertheless turns out to have such a deep, wonderful flavor you don't mind that it makes enough to feed you for a week. And a Dutch oven is really the best vessel for it, because this soup is cooked just a little differently. More

When I was a kid, we lived in Miami, and we had a Cuban neighbor whom I now only remember as "Mrs. Garcia." She had arrived in Miami via boat from Cuba, and I don't know where she is now, but she gave my mother her recipe for black bean soup, which I still use to this day. So wherever you are, Mrs. Garcia, thank you for this recipe. It has ruined me for all other black bean soups; nothing I've had in Cuban restaurants matches up to this. More