It's not raining beans!

In the 80’s I had an old fashioned pressure cooker! The old style cookers are a lot different than they are today. The old ones had this little thing called a cock that bounced around on the vent to release steam.

Well I decided to make a pot of beans in my pressure cooker and a bean got caught in the vent. The whole pot BLEW UP!!!!

I heard the explosion and ran into my kitchen to find beans raining down on my horrified husband! My ceiling was literally saturated with beans and juice!

The pressure cooker was removed as evidence of my alleged attempted murder, never to be used again.

Fast forward to a new century and almost everyone has an Instant Pot. If you don’t have one, you should get one! It would come in really handy right now when people are at home having to rely more on staples!

On my site you will find a variety of recipes using beans. Certainly you can used canned beans, but dried beans have a completely different texture and flavor than canned beans. While grocery stores may carry 5 or 6 kinds of beans, you can find many more dried varieties of beans, peas and lentils!

Go to an Indian grocery store and you will find whole aisles of nothing but beans, peas, lentils and rice!

Here are some tips for using your beans.

All beans need to be cleaned. The best way to do this is to empty them on your counter and fish out rocks, discolored beans, bean halves and beans missing the outer covering. Then wash them in water, rubbing them with your hands to remove any dirt. Rinse and you are ready for the next step.
It is recommended to soak beans in water over night. At the minimum, one hour. Soaking will cut your cook time by 50%, but it is not essential to do if you start the beans slowly.
Soaking supposedly eliminates the “musical” side effects of beans and makes them easier to digest. Frankly I find no difference. Add a 4″ X 4″ square of kombu to your bean water and it will mute your bean side effects!
All beans have a different cooking time. Most will cook in 20 minutes in your Instant pot. If not, finish on the stop top with your added seasonings or run it again.
Make sure your beans are covered with water plus at least 3″ as the beans will swell in the cooking process. With the Instant pot, start with one pound of beans and cover the beans with enough water to go to the half way mark in your pot. You won’t be able to see if the water level is too low and you can always drain excess water. After you make these, you may find you can do 2 pounds of beans at once.
Small beans and peas like lentils and split peas don’t really require the soaking time and can cook in less than an hour outside the Instant pot!

Gotta tell a story on my husband here. The first time he ever made beans, he put 4 pounds in a 6 qt stock pot and covered the beans with water. The next day we walked into a kitchen full of beans that swelled up and spilled out of the pot.

Ok, I have beans! What do I do with them????

There are unlimited recipes, but I want to illustrate the versatility here.

Whir some beans in a blender, herbs and spices to make a dip. Think Hummus!
Mash beans to make a base for a sandwich spread, taco or chalupa.
Pickle or marinate some with vinegar and spices and use them in a salad.
Add a spoonful in a blender with your salad dressing recipe to make a creamier salad dressing.
Adding a few spoons of beans to a blended soup will make your soup creamier and provide some added protein.
Use beans instead of cashews to make nut based “cheeses” or sauces.
Blend 2 cups of cooked beans with 1 cup flour, a tbsp of baking powder and seasonings. Spread on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat and spread as thin as possible. Bake and make some delicious crackers!
Use the cracker mixer as a binder for bean based patties. Shape and chill the patties then air bake them or pan sauté them.
Freeze cooked beans so you can have them on hand at any time. It is a lot cheaper than buying canned beans!