I really like a black bean 'salad', also sometimes called 'cowboy caviar'

Here's one recipe: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/cowboy-caviar/

But like a lot of salads, you can kinda do whatever. Definitely recommend a fresh lime dressing of some kind though.

Also, hummus is always good, and I like a similar thing made with white beans and harissa as the base instead of chickpeas and tahini.

They don't play well with the traditional western meat, carbohydrate, veggies plate but whenver you make anything that ends up in one pot anyways (barring thin soups)? Just chuck some beans into there. They pair with pretty much everything, provide some nutritional, low cost-filler and some depth.

To reduce farts, soak the beans overnight in twice their volume of water plus 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda. If you have the opportunity to replace the water halfway through the soaking process, even better.

Discard that water and give them a rinse before cooking.

I am stoked to be trying Anasazi beans for the first time this evening, will report back

Black bean recipe I got in Cuba:

• 2.5 cups dried black beans
• 9 cups water -1.5 cups onion diced -1.5 cups green bell pepper diced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp salt (DO NOT ADD UNTIL THE END)
• 4 tbl spoons olive oil
• 3 tbl spoons white wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Let beans soak overnight and discard the water.

Take beans and bring to a boil in 9 cups of water with the lid off.

Reduce to a simmer and add 2 tblespoons of olive oil to prevent foaming.

Simmer for ~1.5-2 hours or until tender.

Mince or mash your garlic using a mortar and pestle.

Sautee your onions and bell pepper in remaining olive oil until translucent over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large pan, add garlic, cumin, and oregano and cook for a minute.

Mash 1-2 cups of your cooked beans (I use an immersion blender).

Add beans and water to your onions/bell peppers/garlic. Add vinegar, wine, sugar, and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Discard bay leaf and add salt to taste.

Garnish with raw onion and/or cilantro and serve over rice.

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I like boiling shelled soy beans and then sauteeing with sesame oil, seeds and salt, maybe soy sauce if I'm feeling fancy.

Can of black beans pan fried with oil, salt and pepper, garlic, and chili powder. Fry until crispy, then eat it in a wrap with your pick of veggies and sauces

If you are lazy you can put split red lentils and rice into a rice cooker at the same time and they will cook together.

Use vege stock instead of water and basically add the recommended amount as if it were all rice. You can add or subtract if you want it drier or gloopier.

It's the cheapest, simplest and least complicated meal I could imagine.

Add some hit sauce or whatever else you want for flavour

i generally only like black beans. i eat them all the time.

the basics of black beans is black beans & cumin

from there you can branch out.

mexican would be adding stuff like chili powder, onion, rice, cayenne or tapatio, corn, avocado, cilantro, salsa, lime, tomatoes,

more italian could be olive oil, garlic, onion, oregano, mozzarella, parm, cherry tomatoes, basil

i've been doing buddha bowls since covid. i basically will take a shit lot of mixed salad (bulk bought in those giant bags or plastic boxes), throw into a popcorn bowl, add salad dressing, then add random shit like black beans, garbanzo beans, literally any type of vegetable, tofu, protein, rice or noodles, anything for a crunch: tortilla chips, crunchy onion, etc. you basically just add a ton of shit into a giant popcorn-sized bowl and put low cal dressing on it.

for lunch today i had salad mix, black beans, cabbage, carrots, red onion, crunched tortilla chips, brown rice, lime, and a yogurt based cilantro dressing

Foul Mudammas (incredible as part of a spread with flatbread). Hands down the best bean dish.

Also good:

Rice and Peas

Pasta e removedioli (best with Borlotti imo)

Cold Butterbean salad: Butterbean, thinly sliced shallots, thyme, salt, olive oil, a bit of fresh lemon juice.

Edit: and a little finely chopped parsley is real nice in there too, you can also add spinach

here's my generic semi-spicy/smoking bean recipe that's good just in soft tortilla shells or eaten on rice.

• use any bean maybe except kidneys. i like black beans best for this.
• can of chipolte peppers in adobo sauce, either chopped kind or whole.
• half can of any kind of cheap jar salsa. the imported mexican rojo stuff is really nice
• fresh or dried onions
• little brown sugar or raw sugar
• salt in any form, about 1 tsp
• 1 cup of water

do whatever you do to prep (i do the dry beans, boil, let cool and sit for a few hrs. then drain and start the cooking) literally throw everything together in one pot bring to boil, simmer for quite awhile. also would work in a crock pot.
i prefer to cook it down and add more water a few times. i like it to be kind of thick and sticky so it 's good on tortillas. but either way just cook until beans are soft.

i feel like all the best bean recipes are stewpot ones, just chucking a whole bunch of ingredients in a pot and letting them simmer for a while until everything is soaked with flavour. theres endless possibilities for these sorts of things, but heres a couple i make all the time that i can vouch for:

mushroom and kidney bean coconut curry

one and two good chili recipes (ignore the vegetarian label, its just the optional sour cream and you can get vegan sour cream at the supermarket anyway)

Cannelini beans, kale, onions, garlic, white wine, and some chicken-less broth. Mash the mix a bit before serving, then top with homemade croutons and a drizzle of olive oil.