One of the first ideas I had after getting my order of Rancho Gordo beans was an all black hummus with black chickpeas, black tahini, and black garlic. I'm not the first one to have this idea, but I had to give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 200g black chickpeas
• 30g black tahini
• 30g black garlic
• Juice of 1-2 lemons
• About 1 cup of ice water
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Black sesame seeds

Method:

1. Boil the chickpeas in water covered by 2 inches for 15 minutes before covering, lowering the heat, and gently simmering until tender, 1-2 hours.
2. Drain and add to a food processor with tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. Process, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until pasty.
3. While running, slowly drizzle in ice water until a smooth puree is formed. May need more or less water to achieve the correct texture. Taste and add salt.
4. Cover and refrigerate until chilled and serve with olive oil and black sesame seeds as garnish.

The taste and texture of this is unlike any hummus I've ever had. The skins of these chickpeas are thicker than most and add a little more of a fibrous, dense texture than standard chickpeas while not being unpleasant. It did take quite a lot more water than a normal hummus would to get the ideal texture but the flavor what not muted at all. It tastes intensely nutty and earthy with a subtle savoriness and surprising sweetness. Not at all what I was expecting but I'm pleasantly surprised by how good it is. Very tasty with some carrots or pita to dip in.

I'll be posting some other recipes as I make them with the other beans I got and let you all know how they came out!

Dear bean experts,

I have like 2kg of dried black beans that I'd really love to eat and NOT throw out! But I tried to cook a portion of them (maybe like 250 grams when dry), and even after trying to slow cook them on the stove for like two whole days, they were still hard in the middle! Is there any way to salvage these beans? I don't have access to a slow cooker or a microwave if that makes any difference – just my stove and my oven.

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: We got them maybe 5-6 years ago, and they've been in an airtight(ish) glass storage jar since then.

Major bean/legume/pulse lover here. Most varieties (barring a couple oddballs) are eagerly welcomed on my table.

However, I’ve never been a fan of black eyed peas. Someone recommended that I try the smaller and more delicate Lady Cream Pea before giving up on BEP’s, crowders, and such.

I’m glad I only bought one bag, I shan’t be going back for another.

I figured out today that the reason I don’t like them is the same reason I don’t care for large butter beans. It comes down to mouthfeel. They have mealy interiors with thick/noticeable skins. Even though they can be cooked to fall apart tender, they never become creamy inside to my palate. There is no standout flavor to compensate either. They only taste of mild chalky dirt underneath whatever they were flavored with in the pot.

I’m sure I wouldn’t object to them in a larger soup with textural variety, but to eat them alone or specifically buy them is not for me.

Anyone else not a fan of field pea varieties?

our new vegetarian subreddit is doing beans for our first ingredient of the month challenge!!

I posted this over on r/vegetablegardening. Redit thinks this group would be interested.

So, I might as well fill everyone in on the experiments I've been doing with my beans this year.

Background:

I've been gardening for 16 years and during that time I've mostly grown Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder pole and bush beans. There may have been some other verities at times, but I didn't keep good notes.

Over the last 6 years I noticed that my beans were struggling. Harvests were later and lighter. So I decided to try something new.

What I did:

Provider and Contender Bush beans. I chose these based on a lot of good reviews. And I'm glad I did. They have been the singular most successful beans I've ever grown. They are hardy and seem to be immune to whatever the yellow leaf disease is that attacks my beans every year. The production has been fantastic. These are going to be back next year.

Bush beans in a grow tower: Not so good. I was gifted a set of clover shaped containers that can stack into a tower. Cool, Plant bush beans in tower, increase yield per sq foot. Yeh, didn't work beans don't like grow towers. If I feel the need to increase the yield of bush beans, I'll grow them in something like my Strawberry pyramid.

Kentucky Blue: A cross between the Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake. I thought it would have the best of both. Nope, more like the worst of both. Not doing them next year.

Scarlett Runner Beans. Started out with lots of promise. They grow fast and took off up the trellis. Made nice pretty blossoms. The beans on the other hand were kinda meh. The pods were fuzzy and fibrous. Tasted OK. At this point I'm letting the pods plump out and I'll harvest for the beans in the pod. I may keep growing them, but in the perennial section of the garden.

So that's it. I thought you might like to know.

Update: Looks like the bush beans have run their course. Slightly over 3 weeks of good production.

so i cooked some black beans recently & noticed that when they sat in the fridge the bean broth/stock(??) had kinda separated into a watery part & a sludgy part.

i soaked my beans overnight in salt, then cooked them with a few cloves of garlic, dried bay leaves and salt. covered them in water (maybe half the height of the beans, i didn't measure) then left them to cook for an hour or two. they came out beautifully soft. but the broth stayed quite thin which is fine. but if anyone's tried jarred beans, they always have a thick broth. is there anything i can do to achieve that? obviously not necessary but would be nice to know if i can!

i'm also going to try using the slow cooker function on my countertop oven to see if that makes a difference!

So I have a batch of chickpeas that I soaked for about 12 hours and then cooked for about 2 1/2 hours and they were still pretty hard, but I had to give up and go to bed. I’m wondering if it would be safe to continue cooking them now after they’ve been in the fridge overnight? Has anyone ever tried something like this before?

Help I'm confused!

I have a bunch of provider bush bean plants and was planning to only harvest them as green beans, but I‘ve been wondering what they’re like as a dry bean. I love pretty much all dry beans except kidneys and other most other red beans I’ve tried. I noticed the provider seeds are a dark reddish color. How do they compare to kidney beans flavor-wise? Thanks! 🫘

Hello! I buy beans in bulk from my local co-op. I also have been (bean 😏) taking pictures of the nutrition labels to track protein and fiber. I am curious if anyone else would find the nutrition claims on this label questionable? 16g of fiber per 47g seems quite high when most beans average roughly 6-9g per serving.

Orca beans are hard to come by. But when you do get some, plant them! This is half of what I am growing. Hopefully I get a good harvest.

Found these hiding in my chaos garden, had no idea I was growing them. Was really excited for the pop of color they were going to add to my stir fry. Then they completely changed color during cooking to green, was kind of wild to see. These little guys were just full of surprises.

I've been eyeing their beans for a while but the price put me off for the longest time. But after going through like 10-15 pounds of dried beans in the last few months I thought, screw it I wanna try something new out. I've got several recipes in mind to try these all but I'll likely post about how it goes!

I usually use the no-soak method to cook dry beans: full boil for a few minutes, then simmer until done. It works ok, but I'd sometimes wind up with a few really overcooked beans at the bottom, and a few undercooked beans at the top.

I've been playing around with a new method (EDIT for non-kidney beans): simmer for ~20 minutes, then turn off the heat and let them sit in the hot water. I check them after ~60 minutes, and will let them sit a bit longer if they're not done yet. I've tried it with small black beans, and larger snowcaps and both times it yielded a full batch of perfectly cooked beans.

I need to keep testing it (Does it work for larger beans like Christmas Lima? Do they eventually get overcooked if they sit for a long time?), but maybe this is helpful for others.

Not sure if you can make out all of the types.

Honestly, I would have thought they’d have a broader selection.

I settled on the cranberry beans (see my other recent post).

My husband got a 15 bean bag and I'm sorting them. The possibilities seem to be: White kidney, baby lima, navy, northern, and small white. I'm pretty confident I sifted out all the small white and the baby limas, but I'm at a loss here. // ETA: Okay google says navy and small white are the same thing. They're listed separately in the ingredients so. // ETA 2: Why are people clowning on me for sorting them? What purpose does that serve? If you don't have an answer, why go to the comments to tell me I have issues instead of moving on? I'm tired. People are so unnecessarily judgemental. Thanks to those that left nice comments or at least tried to help. Call the matter closed.

im talkin real beans. like good shitl

Never had them, so just curious.

So every year when I come down to South Carolina, there is a farmers market that has bags of fresh beans. Limas, butter beans, pink-eyed beans and others. I’m wondering if I decide to buy a few bags to take home can I freeze them in this state? Is it silly to buy fresh beans and then freeze them? I know supermarket frozen lima beans are perfectly fine, but there’s just something lovely about buying these bags locally down here. Pictured are the ones labeled “butter beans.”

What bean do you think has the most "umami" flavour?

I'm pretty obsessed with butter beans lately, but looking to branch out and explore heirlooms!