Beans are a great base for weeknight meals, but while they're incredibly simple to make, there's one key ingredient we just don't have every night: time. That's why we like to make a pot over the weekend and use it for quick meals throughout the week.
Dried beans, whether you soak them or not, will still take a couple of hours to cook. Fresh beans are great when you can get them, but there's a lot of shucking involved. Neither of those options appeal to us after a long day of work.
But on a leisurely Saturday or Sunday at home, we're happy to spend the time, especially because it means several no-fuss dinners and leftover lunches throughout the week. If we've had an especially rough day, a simple bowl of beans is so comforting. But there are also plenty of ways to dress them up.
Here are a few recipes and ideas from the archives:
Bean Burritos
Florida Butter Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon
Italian Marrow Beans with Tuna
Basil Parmesan Pot Beans
Borlotti Beans in Tomato Sauce with Creamy Polenta
Giant Chipotle White Beans
Fondue With Puréed Beans Instead of Cheese
Ricotta Pasta with Fava Beans and Bacon
Fava Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic and Yogurt
How to Cook Beans in the Slow Cooker
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I not only cook beans on the weekend, but brown rice as well. Both the beans and the rice freeze well if you don’t want to eat them all in the next few days.
what are those beautiful beans pictured?
cranberry beans --- but they lose the striations when they are cooked
This is a must do on the weekends, usually black beans.
Here is my go to recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Kemps-Black-Beans-238086
We eat a good deal of legumes in our household. Thanks for posting a bunch of recipes to check out.
kmarie - I am also a huge fan of Kemp's Black Beans. Love the flavor from the sherry balsamic soy sauce.
Make that sherry, balsamic and soy sauce.
thanks! do they turn pinkish upon cooking?
we keep black beans around the house all week. put a large batch in the slow cooker with a twig of epazote on saturday morning. puree half for "refried" with cumin, garlic, chipotle and what-not (yummy in tacos, tortas, veggie sandwiches, dip, or nachos) and leave the rest whole (rice and beans, in chili, taco salads). we always run out before mid-week. :)
This weekend I made a giant pot of great northern beans. Last night, we ate beans with rosemary and sage over polenta, and I'm making a white bean puree to slather on bread and serve with a salad later in the week. And I still had to freeze a few cups for another use (or two).
I made a batch of black beans this week and have been making black bean wraps the last couple days. It was so nice to get home from work and have a quick, easy, nutritious, and tasty meal ready in just a few minutes.
I'm going to make beans and rice tomorrow... maybe throw some corn in there... and whatever else suits my fancy. That's the nice thing about having a huge batch of beans made, you can season as you like when you do eat them.
Of course, it's just me living here so I'll probably have to put half the beans in the freezer soon. I'm going out of town. At least I'll have food ready to go when I get back!
They turn sort of light pinkish....I used some to make succotash last night....a green pod bean would have given the dish a better color, but the simple combination of corn kernels, beans, butter and a few seasonings...yum.
PS -- They took about 20-25mins from fresh to cook.
i like to cook a big pot of giant white beans and serve them with fresh chopped garlic and a good quality olive or nut oil or, for even less work, sprinkle with smoked paprika and good oil. we end up eating vast quantities just like this.
for a little more balanced meal, i sauté kale or chard in olive oil with tonnes of garlic, and then serve this with the beans and feta cheese.