Budget Wise Recipes ~ Beans

Those of us raised in Clarksville, or almost anywhere in Tennessee, know how delicious and filling beans and cornbread are!  You probably know all about cooking beans but did you know that beans are an excellent source of protein, fiber, calcium, potassium and iron?  They’re inexpensive and can be made into so many delicious recipes. Here are some ideas for using beans in your weekly menus.

Here’s a couple of tips for using beans.

You can find my instructions for cooking dried beans Here.

Cook a pot of beans using 1 or 2 pounds of dried beans …

• When the beans are cooked, separate them into three bowls full of beans.
• The first bowl will be frozen for future use, YES! You can freeze beans!
• The second one will be used for tonight’s dinner.
• The third one will be used for re-fried beans and rice for later in the week. Cooked beans will keep about 3-5 days in the frig.

Beans and cornbread are a delicious, complete and nutritious meal. I add a salad to it and we have it about once a week.

Any left over beans from tonight’s meal can be frozen or put with the beans destined to become re-fried beans.

Re-fried Beans

Heat the beans in a medium saucepan. Mash them with a potato masher or hand blender, season to taste with tomato paste, salt, pepper, cumin, and cheese if desired. Cook your rice, then top with the hot beans and serve!

Bean Soup

1. cooked beans and bean liquid
2. extra water if needed to make it soupy
3. bay leaf
4. chopped onion
5. chopped carrot
6. few peppercorns or black pepper to taste
7. salt to taste

If you like your bean soup spicier or more savory tasting, you can add thyme and oregano and a can of tomatoes. To make it a complete meal, just add some rice or pasta and cook til its done.

Beans and Rice Dish

1. Cook 1 cup of rice (try using brown rice)
2. Add a little oil to a skillet and fry up together: 1 med onion, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, fresh basil, 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar) and 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, salt & pepper
3. Add your cooked rice and 2 cups of cooked beans.
4. Add some hot sauce if you like or some lime juice & lemon juice for a little kick.

This is great served with baked fish!

Garbanzo Bean (Chick Pea) and Tomato Soup

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 4-6 cups tomato juice
• 1 vegetable broth cube or beef broth cube
• 1/2 cup rice
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Add the rice to the tomato juice and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer til rice is done. Add chickpeas and all seasonings except lemon juice.
Simmer on very low heat for 10-25 minutes, reduce heat and add lemon juice. Serve hot!

Here are some recipes from my friend Shari …

Many Bean Soup

• 1 big ‘ole ham bone*
• 1 bag of 15 bean soup (leave out the seasoning packet, if it comes with)
• 1 bay large leaf
• olive oil – 1/4 C
• 1 large onion – chopped
• 5 cloves garlic – pressed
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 can green beans – drained
• 1/2 C barley
• 1/2 C millet (opt.)
• basil – 2 tsp to 1 tbsp
• cumin – about 1 tsp
• cayenne pepper – several dashes
• 1 -2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• salt  & pepper to taste

Soak your beans using your preferred method. Rinse and cover with plenty of water (2-4?). Add ham bone, olive oil, & bay leaf. You may add your spices now if you’d like. Cook on low temp. until nearly done or about 1 hour before you want it to be done, then adjust water as needed and add everything else except vinegar, salt  & pepper; which you’ll add before you serve.

*if you don’t have a ham bone, use beef or chicken or ham stock you have on hand or equivalent amount of bouillon. Can also use the seasoning packet found in the HamBeens 15 Bean Soup.

Navy Bean Soup

For some unknown to me reason, Navy Bean Soup for Friday’s lunch is an Air Force tradition. I believe one of the houses of Congress also shares this tradition or is possibly the originator of this classic Friday lunch. It may very well be one of the reasons that Americans like to close up shop early on Friday afternoons!

• 1 lb great northern, white, or navy beans
• smoked ham hock or neck bones
• 1/2 of a large onion – chopped
• a stalk or two of celery (including the leafy part)
• bacon fat – a spoonful
• beef stock or beef bouillon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 T basil
• quick dash of cloves
• salt & pepper to taste
• side of squash pickles
• bread

Soak your beans using your preferred method. (I prefer the quick soak).

Begin cooking the beans covering with an inch of your beef broth or water & bouillon. If using bouillon; add a whopping 1 Tablespoon. A whopping tablespoon is more than a heaping tablespoon. Place the hock or bones in your kettle of beans & cover. Go ahead and crank up the heat, but remember to turn it down to simmer once it gets hot because the high heat (boiling) will burst your beans. And we all know how embarrassing that can be!

Saute your onions & celery in the bacon fat and add to beans. Of course you may skip the sauteeing and add your onions & celery directly to your beans, but I rarely miss the opportunity to add bacon fat to my cooking.

Add bay leaves, basil, and cloves. It is very important that your cloves be only a ‘quick dash’ and not a regular dash, as they will quickly overpower your navy bean soup. You can always add more later.

Cook until done; adding more liquid and adjusting your spices as needed. Remove the bay leaves and the hock or neck bones. Pick some of the meat off the bones and throw it back into the kettle.

When time to serve, have a slice of bread in the bottom of your bowl, cover it with a ladle full of beans & plenty of juice. Top with a teaspoon of squash pickles. MmmmMmmmMmmm.

Minestrone

This recipe only calls for 1/2 C of garbanzo beans, but I always add red beans or white beans.

• 3 large carrots
• 5-6 stalks of celery
• 1 large onion
• garlic to taste (2-3 cloves chopped fine)
• 3 T butter
• 1 can tomato juice, 12 oz can
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 can tomato puree + equal amt of water
• 1 C orzo pasta, cooked
• 1/2 C garbanzo beans
• 1 1/2 T basil
• 1 T oregano
• 1 T thyme
• salt & pepper

Directions

Chop your veggies and saute in the butter until onions are translucent, then add garlic and saute another minute or two. Add the tomato soup, juice, and puree plus 1 can of water and your herbs. Let soup slow boil until carrots are tender. Add salt, pepper, and garbanzo beans. Add cooked orzo, adjust amount of liquid with water, tomato juice or any broth on hand if needed and let soup stand 15-20 minutes before serving.

*If you don’t want to cook your orzo separately, add it when you add the tomato juice.
*I usually add red beans or lentils as well.
*Works equally well if you throw it all in a pot and let it slow cook for a couple hours.

Do you have any tried and true bean recipes of your own to share? Post post them as a comment on this article!