Five Ways to Eat: Black Beans

Black beans are one of the staples of our pantry. At a loss for dinner? Crack open a can of black beans, combine with a few veggies, and presto! Healthy vegetarian dinner. Here's a look at a few more ways we love to eat black beans.

Bean burritos - quick, easy, vegan dinner.

We like eating black beans in a lot of the same ways we've mentioned in previous Five Ways To Eat posts: soups, salads, just plain. We also just showed you another two fabulous recipes for them: Kemp's black beans and Cuban black bean soup. What's your favorite way to eat yummy black beans?

From dried beans - Black beans don't have to come from a can. Companies like Rancho Gordo are bringing back tasty heirloom beans, which have a world of flavor compared to canned beans. You can't beat canned beans for convenience, but you can also cook up a pot of beans and eat off it all week.

Canned, with lime juice, tomatoes, and chili - This is all you need for a quick weeknight supper: mix canned black beans and drained, chopped tomatoes. Toss with chili flakes and a lot of lime juice and salt and pepper. Delicious!

In burritos! - Beans aren't just a supporting player; they can be the centerpiece of your burrito night. Make it a vegan meal (or vegetarian, if you've gotta have cheese) and load up burritos with hot black beans, veggies, rice and other goodies. Easy and nutritious. Also try these yam and black bean burritos and these quick burritos too.

In soup - We adore black bean soup. Add a little spicy sausage, simmer it for a long time, so wonderful. Try this quick and easy black bean soup as well as this Cuban black bean soup.

In salad - Drain and rinse a can of black beans and throw them into a big mixed dinner salad (maybe with How to Cook Beans
• Make Weekend Pot Beans for Quick Weeknight Meals
• The Musical Fruit: Why Beans Make Us Gassy
• Recipe: Chipotle Chicken Fajitas (Grilled Indoors!) with Creamy Black Bean Spread
• Good Question: What Goes with Black Bean Soup?

More 5 Ways to Eat Posts:
These posts are all ingredients paired with Social Workout's daily exercise over at their Fall Challenge.

Raisins • Kale • Dark Chocolate • Green Tea • Edamame
• Quinoa • Broccoli • Oats • Beets

(Images: Emma Christensen; Faith Durand)

Comments (8)

I LOVE Black beans. I keep some in the fridge to just throw into quesadillas or scrambled eggs. Here are a couple of other recipes too.

http://whitneyinchicago.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/blackbeans/

http://whitneyinchicago.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/burritos/

WhitinChi beat me to it. I love black bean omelettes. Black beans, some chopped tomatoes, maybe a wee bit of green pepper, and some good cheddar or monterey jack or queso fresco. YUM.

I'm eating black beans in chili con carne right now. I took a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, a pound of ground beef (or turkey) and some onion, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Supereasy and superdelicious.

black beans are a staple in my house too. I cook up a big batch and then keep them in the freezer.

My favorite is Andrea Meyers' Black Bean Soup with 5 Peppers and Ham, all day in the crockpot, just had it for dinner last night. Keeps great in the freezer. Can be made vegan too.
http://www.andreasrecipes.com/2008/05/11/slow-cooker-black-bean-soup-with-five-peppers-and-ham/

my college staple:
1 can black beans, 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, 1 can of corn. mixed together and nuked, i put it on eggs, rice, pasta, chicken, chips, burritos... anything really.
recently i've been adding avocados or mango- super fancy! :D

A can of black beans, undrained (yes, really!), added to sauteed garlic and onions and carrots and left to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Try it with, say, some cumin or smoked paprika.

I always have at least one can of black beans. I do them as a side dish by just cooking with some chili and cumin and sprinkled with a little shredded cheese.