I had a variety of dried beans soaking (gigantes, blackeyed peas, white peas) in pursuit of virtuous (and delicious) future eating.
Made my mom proud and put them into separators and pressure cooked them all at once.
Now to decide what to do with them…
What are your favorite applications for dried (or canned) beans/legumes? Do you center meals around them? Favorite recipes (yours or borrowed)?
Current thinking:
Gigantes/butter/dried limas: Something spanish-y I think - tomato paste, onions, and smoked paprika and maybe some flaked (good) tuna on top. Or this Ottolenghi one sounds good, using the gigantes instead of chickpeas.
Blackeyed peas: Hoppin’ John maybe, but I may swap in some barley or quinoa. I’m very boring with blackeyed peas, even though I love them… might look up something new here.
White peas: Ragda - Indian street food favorite. Might make some sweet potato patties to go along, or not.
Open to ideas…
I think you could swap in the black eyed peas about anywhere that calls for black beans. I see black eyed peas in a lot of veggie burger patty recipes, and i know i made this recipe at some point… but I’m not especially enthusiastic about collards so i swapped in chard
I love the spanish dish alubias con espinaca, which sounds similar to what you’re thinking for the gigantes. From the Ottolenghi link are you looking at the last recipe with spinach? It sounds insane to cook fresh spinach for 25min…! Although I certainly trust him, but also it sounds like a lot of olive oil (about a 1/2 cup??)
I eat a lot of beans, more often at lunch since they work so well in salad preps and are tasty cold or room temp. Smashed chickpea salad with sunflower seeds is a longtime favorite, great as a sandwich filling or just scooped up with raw veggies. Lots of versions out there, i kinda follow this one (some add crumbled seaweed snacks instead of dill for a faux tuna vibe) but i omit the sweetner. Keeps well a few days in the fridge too
Lots more beany favorites I’m just not thinking of at the moment too
Soups, stews, cold salads, dips, side fish with butter. I really enjoy a plain creamy bean with good butter, s&p.
Well, now that you’ve cooked them I can’t help. My dried beans recipe is Puerto Rican Beans: Soak a pound of beans overnight, put in fresh water (at least 8 cups) in a large pot along with a diced onion, a small diced green pepper, three minced cloves of garlic. Boil for an hour, adding water if needed. Add a small can of tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1t salt; boil another hour, adding water if needed. If you want to add meat, you can; pork is probably traditional. I add a 1/2 cup of textured vegetable protein along with the tomato sauce et al. I’ve seen people add diced potatoes, olives, and other flavorings.
Uses at least 8 cups of water. More water results in more "caldito de habichuelas". My father always wanted more liquid with his beans!
Pintos-
2lb beans
2 ham hocks
2 whole dried red peppers
Add onions, garlic, and carrots to your liking
(optional) a can of tomatoes or better a can of RoTel spicy tomatoes 
My dad’s Texas family recipe.
I tend not to add a bunch of spices that make it more like chili.
You can spice it up by the bowl 
I just finished the last of my limas that were braised with tomato sauce, garlic and onion powders, bay leaves, homemade chicken broth, and olive oil. They were great every which way, but I especially enjoyed them over buttered wheat toast topped with whole milk yogurt, guacamole, and lots of hot sauce.
Canned for convenience for adding to soups, stews ie: chicken soup, stewed meatballs and might be red, pink or white beans, even lima beans into my vegetable soup.
Dry for a pot of white, red or black beans.
Black beans, simply soaked, boiled, several cloves of garlic, black pepper, and salt at the end. For garnish, grated sharp cheder cheese and some chopped yellow onion.
I also enjoy wildly riffing on the idea of beans on toast. One of my faves is a slice of crusty bread sort of griddled with olive oil in a frying pan, topped with warm gigante beans in tomato sauce. Often I’ll add a few cherry tomatoes to the beans while heating. (TJ’s used to sell jarred gigantes prepared this way, and now I think they’ve gone to canned.)
This goes on the plate beside arugula or baby greens dressed with more oil and balsamic vinegar. The beans get a finishing squeeze of lemon if I have fresh lemon around.
I don’t have white peas here. Do they pretty much taste the same as normal peas?
Moroccan cuisine uses legumes and pulses a lot. Don’t know any recipe but I especially enjoy chickpeas cooked in tomato sauce. Have to look it up one of these days.
We have marrowfat peas here, very expensive fresh. Cost 2-3 times as much as green peas. Production is small scaled and season is short hence the high cost. Potted and dried versions are available year round.
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Made a stew with dried marrowfat.
No, they don’t taste like green peas - substitute is often chickpeas, but the white peas are lighter to digest. They’re sturdier than cannellini etc. Here are some pics courtesy the internet.
Funny, I saw marrow beans at a store yesterday and was just wondering how they are used!
Actual spinach (not baby) can take a while to cook down and tenderize - outside the US. Everything. Here seems to cook a lot faster… maybe it’s been hybridized over time, I have no idea!
The recipe I meant was Rose harissa chickpeas with flaked cod, using the gigantes instead of chickpeas.
So far, I’ve had Ragda Pattice/Pattice - potatoes patties served with the stewed white peas, various chutneys, onion, and sev on top for crunch.
Another way i use beans is anytime I’m making a pureed soup i will add a can of white beans, which i picked up as a trick to make blended soups thicker and more creamy without dairy but also serves to make them a bit more hearty since when i have soup it’s usually as the main dish.
Nice! I would be very into that!
Great idea! I’ve read it before but never remember to do it… I’ve used cashews sometimes, or coconut milk. Have to try beans.
I add canned pumpkin to my black bean soup, which thickens it as well as adding additional nutrition and a touch of sweetness.
Let me count the ways…the possibilities are endless. …enjoy them in homemade soups and stews. As well, I add them to main dish salads. Garbanzos or white beans & feta over mixed greens, black beans or pintos added to taco salads. I always rinse and drain unless I’m using S&W chili beans which are flavored. Like it that they have health benefits too - fiber, and proteins come to mind.
I have also used instant mashed potatoes to thicken soups without dairy.
