Bean Recipes

In our previous article last month, we discussed how we might want to make Ranch-Style Beans at home and introduced some interesting ideas related to these beans. This time we give you the recipes.

Apr 29, 2003 - Richard Mann

Have you ever had those wonderful canned Ranch-Style Beans? You can make something fairly similar (and perhaps even something better) at home. In this article, we explain the history of these beans and discuss how we might make them at home. (There's also a low-sodium angle to all this....)

Mar 31, 2003 - Richard Mann

I've gotta be kidding, right? Not really. You can make a surprisingly good pie with pinto beans. It tastes like pecan pie (especially if you add pecans) and is often called simply "Mock Pecan Pie." Come take a look at these simple and extremely interesting recipes for bean pie.

Feb 28, 2003 - Richard Mann

Here's a reasonably easy-to-prepare dish that uses bow-tie pasta, broccoli (that's the trees), kidney beans, and spaghetti sauce to create a hearty side dish or meatless main-dish casserole.

Dec 29, 2002 - Richard Mann

Here's a fun recipe with a Southern flavor: greens with beans. With garlic, tomatoes, a little red pepper, and your favorite greens, you can make a delicious pot of greens that includes terrific canned cannellini or white kidney beans. Check it out.

Oct 30, 2002 - Richard Mann

Bean Lovers has been here since November, 1999, and has brought you exactly 51 articles and recipes (counting this one). Which ones are the best? Which ones have generated the most interest and been read by the most people since the beginning? Which ones are the editor's favorites? And, by extension, which ones are YOU likely to find most interesting? Come check out the answers to these semi-burning questions....

Sep 24, 2002 - Richard Mann

Here's a great bean soup made from dry great northern beans, a few vegetables, and an interesting sprinkle-on topping of crumbled bacon, parsley, brown sugar, and lemon rind. Give it a try next time you're in the mood for a warm, delicious soup.

Aug 24, 2002 - Richard Mann

Hold on there! Sweet potato burritos? Who are you kidding? And what do they have to do with beans? Well, let me tell you... These interesting burritos have both mashed sweet potatos and lots of kidney beans. Add some unexpected other ingredients and you've got something you've got to try to believe.

Jul 23, 2002 - Richard Mann

Out of Louisiana comes this tasty mixture of red beans, ham, two kinds of sausage, and, of course, spices. Served with rice, this authentic Creole dish will brighten the day of just about anyone who enjoys spicy foods.

Jun 24, 2002 - Richard Mann

Want a cookbook that focuses on beans? We can help. Listed here, with brief comments, are the top five best-selling bean books on Amazon.com (the only place I could figure out how to get a list of best-selling bean books). Come take a look.

May 10, 2002 - Richard Mann

One of the most popular bean cookbooks in recent years, Easy Beans has simple yet elegant recipes that will appeal to any bean lover. Check out this review, which includes the recipe for Southwestern Potato Salad.

Apr 30, 2002 - Richard Mann

This delicious meatball minestroni is fast and easy to make, but tastes as if you'd spent all day slowly simmering these fabulous flavors together into this masterpiece of soups.

Feb 28, 2002 - Richard Mann

Here's an unusual white chili, made with ground turkey made into meatballs. I'll bet you haven't eaten anything like this! It also uses zucchini, making it even more unusual. It's healthy, tasty, and fun to make.

Dec 26, 2001 - Richard Mann

Got leftover turkey and a can of baked beans? With a few additional ingredients, you can convert that into a savory baked bean stew. Here are two recipes, similar yet very different, to help you make a low-fat bean stew you'll love.

Dec 19, 2001 - Richard Mann

One of the best kinds of Mexican food goes by a variety of names, including Chili Verde and Chalupas. It involves pinto beans, delicious bite-sized bits of savory pork roast, and a green chili-based sauce. Here are two recipes--one quick and one not-so-quick--to convert that pork roast into a wonderful, tasty Mexican dish.

Dec 12, 2001 - Richard Mann

From a new local church group's cookbook come three recipes for Taco Soup, each different and distinctive, each sounding like a Mexican food lover's dream, and each, of course, featuring beans.

Dec 5, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's another unique kind of baked beans, this time using bratwurst, bacon, and ground beef along with three kinds of canned beans. It has an unusual taste, but is still an excellent version of baked beans.

Nov 25, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's an interesting concoction that will combine an unlikely set of ingredients to make a slightly unusual dish. It cooks all day in the crock pot and smells heavenly all day long.

Nov 18, 2001 - Richard Mann

In Antioquia, Colombia, traditional cooks prepare a savory pot of beans in the old-fashioned way. Here's their recipe.

Nov 11, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's something a little different from anything we've discussed so far: a recipe for soup made from cranberry beans and squid. Lest you worry needlessly, cranberry beans are only called that because of the way they look--there are no cranberries in this soup. (You knew that!)

Nov 4, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's another easy-to-make main dish, featuring angel-hair pasta and sausage, along with the beans and other stuff. If you're wondering why it's a "cassoulet," read the article, where I explain that interesting term. (Hint: This isn't really a cassoulet.) Whatever it really is, it's good.

Oct 28, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a rough-and-tumble, he-man sort of baked beans from a writer of stories of the Old West. These beans feature the regular baked bean ingredients, but add doses of strong black coffee and bourbon, among other unusual things. If you're up for baked beans that'll put hair on your chest (so to speak), give these a try.

Oct 21, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a unique baked bean recipe you simply must check out. Lots of baked beans include maple syrup, and some have rum, but how many have whole cored apples sitting on top of the beans, swimming in a sweet, delicious syrupy topping?

Oct 14, 2001 - Richard Mann

Cincinnati Five-Way Chili is a traditional dish from that particular part of Ohio (and thus, this counts as one of our 50 States of Beans entries). The "five ways" in the name mean that it has pasta, chili, cheese, onions, and beans. Come read about this interesting Ohio chili.

Oct 7, 2001 - Richard Mann

Frijoles negros con huevos translates to black beans with eggs. This wonderful breakfast dish bakes an egg nested in a black bean mixture to give a taste of heaven in the morning.

Sep 26, 2001 - Richard Mann

This ham and bean soup recipe involves a little work to gather up all the spices and prepare everything in sequence, but the payoff is worth the effort. It uses canned beans to speed up the process. And is it ever good!

Sep 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

Beans are good for things other than just soup, baked beans, and main dishes. Bean salads are great, too. Here's a recipe for a wonderfully tasty room-temperature bean salad that uses exciting fresh veggies, fruits, and spices.

Sep 8, 2001 - Richard Mann

Talk about quick and easy! If you've got a half cup of smoked ham, all you need is two cans of beans and a few other items that everybody always has on hand. Whip them together in the microwave, and in no time, it's soup!

Sep 1, 2001 - Richard Mann

Beans and cowboys just seem to go together, don't they? This pot of beans uses normal baked bean ingredients, except for the surprising addition of French dressing. It allows for lots of individualizing and thus makes a great starting point for any pot of crock pot beans.

Aug 25, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a new idea for baked beans: shiitake and baby Portobello mushrooms. This recipe uses three varieties of beans, which can be canned or cooked from dry, as you wish. It does not include most of the traditional baked bean ingredients, so it's bound be a new taste sensation.

Aug 18, 2001 - Richard Mann

In Maine, long-standing tradition (going back to the Penobscot Indians) calls for baking your beans in an ember-lined hole in the ground. Here's both the story of that tradition and the recipe for beans made that way. It's a fascinating account with links to lots more details about the famous Maine Bean-Hole Beans.

Aug 11, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a calm, quiet, but tasty white bean soup from Italy, bursting with vegetable goodness and the flavor or bacon or pancetta ham.

Aug 4, 2001 - Richard Mann

In collecting baked bean recipes, we've run across quite a few with this name, "Old Settler Beans." I haven't yet found out who the old settler is, but the beans certainly come out successful. This baked bean recipe features hamburger and bacon, three kinds of beans, and a little BBQ sauce and chili powder. Gotta be good!

Jul 28, 2001 - Richard Mann

In our quest for the perfect baked bean recipe, we're finding some really unusual and interesting dishes. Here's on that includes traditional baked bean items and a few odd things, as well.

Jul 21, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's an unusual soup featuring five types of canned beans (including adzuki beans, if you can find them), potatoes, and spaghetti sauce. If you're careful with the choice of spaghetti sauce, it's a vegetarian soup.

Jul 14, 2001 - Richard Mann

While seeking delicacies for the refined palate, our diligent researcher into old local cookbooks, found this little quickie recipe for a fancier, tastier version of the old beanie-weenies. Try it out on your kids.

Jul 7, 2001 - Richard Mann

OK, let's use some of those fun heirloom beans--the lesser-known beans with weird, wonderful names and different tastes and textures--for a hearty but mild Western-flavored pot of beans.

Jun 30, 2001 - Richard Mann

Again mining a collection of old locally-produced neighborhood cookbooks, Rich has found us a recipe for a wonderful chili meat pie with a Bisquick crust.

Jun 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a recipe for a great middle-of-the-road chili with beans that just about anyone will like. Years ago, Consumer Reports tested chili recipes and selected this one as the most likely to please the most people.

May 31, 2001 - Richard Mann

The first in a series of reviews of bean cookbooks, starting with a little gem from a fellow bean lover, TV's Bean Gourmet, Tom Chasuk. The review includes the recipe for Black Bean Cuban Bake, a spicy meatless casserole.

May 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a quick-to-prepare ground beef and bean dish with a hearty Western flavor.

Apr 30, 2001 - Richard Mann

We all know about the indelicate social consequences that sometimes arise from eating beans. Here's the result of extensive research on the subject: everything you ever wanted to know--and more!

Apr 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

This simple, quick soup is much more delicious than it sounds, and it's quite unlike anything you've tried before. Give it a try; you'll love it.

Mar 31, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a recipe for a wonderful black bean and chicken chili-like stew. Give it a try; you'll really love its unique taste.

Mar 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

Here's a recipe for a hearty bean and sausage soup with tomatoes and potatoes and all things good.

Feb 28, 2001 - Richard Mann

Recipe for a different sort of bean and ground beef baked dish, with tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and canned beans. It's unique.

Feb 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

Two great chicken and bean recipes: Red Beans and Chicken Chunks and Chili Beans and Chicken with Rice

Jan 31, 2001 - Richard Mann

While we await the results of Great Boston Baked Bean Recipe Search, here's an interesting and authentic-sounding recipe with intriguing directions.

Jan 15, 2001 - Richard Mann

At the risk of angering our Boston Baked Bean purists, here's another version of baked beans that uses unusual ingredients to create a unique and wonderful baked bean dish.

Jan 1, 2001 - Richard Mann

A disgruntled visitor lets off steam complaining about a lack of recipes for the Real, True, One-and-Only Boston Baked Beans. Here's what we're going to do about it.

Oct 30, 2000 - Richard Mann

Recent research has found that beans also contain antioxidants, making them nature's most nearly perfect food.

Oct 15, 2000 - Richard Mann

Try these two wonderful Mexican chef salads, which use ground beef, kidney beans (of course!), and interesting salad dressings along with other traditional Mexican ingredients to create a memorable meal.

Aug 24, 2000 - Richard Mann

Here's a recipe for a quick, fresh, interesting kind of baked beans: Dr Pepper Baked Beans. Now, don't dismiss these beans just because they're made with something weird. They're really quite good!

Mar 15, 2000 - Richard Mann

Rich learns about bean pots and decides he must have one. Here's how he went about stalking and bagging the elusive bean pot.

Feb 12, 2000 - Richard Mann

Rich lets us in on the famous family baked bean recipe, known around the world. (It came to him all the way from Afghanistan.) Don't miss it.

Nov 23, 1999 - Richard Mann

A light-hearted introduction to beans, those delicious, life-sustaining little packages of near-perfect nutrition. How we love our beans!

Nov 15, 1999 - Richard Mann