Dear Friends,

I’ve been a bean counter since way back…actually, make that a bean COOKER. I love beans! And so does FlyLady so let’s pull out those bags of dried beans and get cooking! Are you up for a challenge? Do you want to save money, boost your nutritional profile and get more fiber than you shake a lentil at? LOL, then we’ve got a great challenge for you…it’s called DRIED BEANS.

What’s this I hear? You what? You don’t know how to cook dried beans? No one ever taught you? Don’t let that stop you! Your favorite Dinner Diva is here to save your beans!

The secret to making good beans is to soak your beans before you cook them–even if you’re going to do them in the crockpot (although I have had people say they turn out fine without a soak in the crockpot). Still, it’s a good idea. I also get emails from people complaining about their beans because they turn out too hard. They’ve soaked, they’ve cooked and they’re still hard. What gives?

Well it could be because your beans are old. When you go grocery shopping, make sure the package is in good condition to begin with. That’s often an indicator as to how long they’ve been sitting on the shelf. Secondly, pull from the back. Most good markets rotate their stock and the freshest ones will be in the back.

Another reason beans become hard is because of salt. Never use salt when cooking your beans until they’ve reached the softened stage. Salt halts the softening process and will do a good bean in. Another culprit in the hard bean caper is hard water. Hard water has a lot of sodium and other minerals and that won’t help your bean softening cause whatsoever.

Here are two methods for making terrific beans:

Short Soak:

Clean and sort beans (there could be a rock or an icky bean in the package. That’s why you sort) You wash them because it’s like raw produce and there could be dirt in the package-it’s happened to me.

Next, boil beans in water for 3 minutes (the water should cover the beans). Then cover the beans and set them aside for 2 to 4 hours. Drain and discard the water, rinse the beans and now they are recipe ready (but not fully cooked).

Long Soak:

Clean and sort beans as directed above. Then soak the beans overnight or for 8 hours. Drain and discard the water, rinse the beans and now you’re ready to use your beans in a recipe.

At this point, you can freeze them—that’s awesome. Then they’re always ready to make a meal. Here’s a tip—when you get your dried beans home from the grocery store, immediately clean, sort and let them soak overnight. Then throw them in appropriate freezer bags, label them (Sharpies are the best for this job; they don’t run!) then when you need them, they’re easy to cook up and serve in a relatively short period of time. Or heck, why not just take it the next step further and throw them in the crockpot, cook them then freeze? How many quick, easy meals can you make out of already cooked beans? Dried beans are about 3 times cheaper than canned!

Are you ready for the Dried Bean Challenge? Seriously. In the name of all things frugal, healthy and smart, you gotta make friends with dried beans!

Love,

Leanne, your beanie Dinner Diva, contemplating lentils in her soup tomorrow

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