Key Points:

• Beans, peas and lentils are the richest source of vegetable protein and are a good source of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber.
• When legumes are eaten with grains, nuts or seeds, a complete protein can be formed which can suitably replace meat, fish, poultry, eggs or dairy.
• Legumes aren’t just used for soups. There are many different ways of using beans, including grinding bean flour for baking (more to come!)
• Generally, legumes will keep indefinitely when stored in a cool, dry place.
• Determine the quantities of each food item you will need to store. For more information, see BabyStep 4.

     

Helpful Hints:

Since the bulk of the recommended legume storage is beans, here is a basic summary of Do’s and Don’ts.

BEAN DO’S:

• Store dry beans in a cool, dry place.
• Lightly rinse packaged dry beans; sort through them and remove any pebbles, seed pods, leaves or twigs.
• Soak your beans! It reduces cooking time by about one half, and saves vitamins, minerals and proteins which can be lost during prolonged heating — exceptions are lentils, split peas and black-eyed peas which may be cooked from their dry state.
• Soak beans in plenty of water. Use a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of water to beans (see chart for soaking times).
• Place presoaked beans in a pot and cover with fresh, cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer them for the indicated length of time until they are soft and tender.

BEAN DON’TS:

• Store dry beans in the refrigerator.
• Add baking soda to hasten soaking or cooking time as it will decrease the nutritional content of the beans.
• Add salt or any product high in calcium, magnesium or acid to the soaking or cooking water or beans will not soften (products with these elements should be added to cooking water or any recipe calling for partially cooked beans only after beans have reached desired tenderness).
• Use microwave to cook dry beans - microwaving is fine for reheating beans that are already cooked, but dry beans need to be simmered slowly in lots of water to soften, tenderize and rehydrate properly.

Dry Soup Mix:

• Soup mixes are used to make soups.
• There are many types such as chicken base, beef base, ham base, onion soup mix, cream based.
• If you want to create your own mixes visit allrecipes.com.

Lentils:

• Lentils have a high nutritional value, second only to soy beans in protein content.
• The lentil is a cousin of the bean and is used as an additive in soups and chili.
• There is no need to soak lentils.

Dry Soy Beans:

• Dry soy beans provide an excellent source of protein.
• They are light tan or yellow in color.
• Standard soaking methods apply.

Dry Split Peas:

• Types include yellow and green. Yellow split peas have a milder flavor and are good to use in dishes where you want to hide the richer, green pea flavor.
• Dry split peas are most commonly used in thick soups and stews.
• There is no need to soak split peas.

Dry Beans:

• There are a large variety of dry beans, some include black, red, pinto, kidney, garbanzo
• Dry beans are very versatile, we will be posting lots of recipes which you can use them in. Store the varieties that your family normally eats.
• In general the larger the bean the longer they need to soak; and the longer you soak beans, the faster they cook.

Dry Lima Beans:

• The lima bean, also known as the chad bean or butter bean, is a large disk-shaped bean. Lima beans originated in Peru and have been grown there since 6000 B.C. The name comes from the capital city of Peru, Lima.
• Lima beans make a great side dish flavored with butter and salt.
• Standard soaking methods apply.

For more information on alternative cooking methods such as crock pots and pressure cookers, time saving tips, quick soaking, cooking beans in hard water, and the ever so popular gaseous emissions problems beans can cause visit http://www.recipenet.org/health/articles/beans.htm for an incredible article.

Our Approaches:

Legumes are a bit of a challenge for me to use on a regular basis. I have quite a few soup and chili recipes that call for dried beans but my family gets tired of eating those types of foods too often (and I ALWAYS forget to plan ahead enough to soak the beans). I’m still working on it and will keep you posted if I find any magic tricks to make legumes more appealing

I have a confession to make. I kind of hate this step! I don’t like using my own dry beans. I like canned beans. I have made a few soups that were ok and I could LIVE off of, but I haven’t figured out how to make beans a part of my regular diet. I am going to work on finding other sources of protein, or keep searching for ways to use legumes a little more.

Resources:

Recipenet.org - Comprehensive article about dried beans
My Food Storage Deals - Dried beans vs. canned beans