Bean Economics

"Beans beans the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot
The more you toot , the better you feel
So eat your beans with every meal !"


My eldest son, now 25 used to love singing this little ditty , he thought it was hilarious as a five year old, having picked it up from some kid's cartoon show. Of course it was always accompanied by lots of loud farty noises for special effects and much giggling. Still it got him eating beans so it wasn't all bad.


I like to cook a lot with different kinds of beans and grains, they are really nutritious, especially if you sprout them, they are very versatile too, and good value for money to boot. I usually buy dried beans in bulk, and cook them myself, but it is handy to have an odd tin of ready cooked pulses or beans in store for when you are short of time.
Some of the beans,pulses,grains I cook with are; yellow split peas, dried peas, different varieties of lentils,aduki beans, black eyed beans, haricot beans, canellini beans,chick peas,kidney beans, mung beans,barley, dried soup mixes, borlotti beans,soy beans, butter beans,quinoa, bulgar, and most any others that take my fancy.Soaking and cooking a big batch of beans for the freezer doesn't take much time and allows you to have a big bag ready to dip into and add into recipes, to whizz up a batch of hummus or a bean pate,replace meat in a meal,use to make burgers, or throw in a soup or curry,even use them cold in salads, there are so many ways to use them.
Sprouting beans and grains is also a good way of adding extra nutrition and getting some greens when there is less fresh stuff available from your garden, you can sprout all year round for micro greens to add to salads, sandwiches or sprinkle on top of soups and it is really easy to do.
Beans and pulses are very economical and a good source of protein to boot so we should make more use of them, especially in winter when they are so handy for adding to hearty winter soups and casseroles.


Bean Economics

A 410g tin of ready cooked chick peas will provide you with a drained weight of 240g of peas.

 At the current price of 79p using Sainsburys as an example,this is equivalent to approximately 32p per 100g of chick peas.


 A 500g pack of dried chick peas costing 79p ,again at Sainsburys, once soaked and cooked, will provide you with a drained weight of 1 kg of peas equivalent to 7p per 100g of chickpeas.It also does not contain any of the salt. sugar or sulphites often found in the tinned chick peas

Much better value for money, even taking into consideration cooking times, and obviously the bigger the batch you cook at once the cheaper the cooking costs become.Once you have soaked and cooked your beans they can be frozen until needed or used straight away.I'll be using my chickpeas later today to make batches of houmous, plain, sun dried tomato flavoured and some with lemon and corriander, some for the fridge and some to freeze in small batches.I just use a basic houmous recipe and add whatever flavourings we like.


Basic Houmous Recipe

• 250g cooked chick peas
• juice ½ lemon
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tahini paste 

Whizz everything up in the food processor until well blended. For larger batches just upscale the recipe.

If you are adding herbs or flavourings like the sun dried tomatoes, add these after making the houmous and just pulse the food processor so that your herbs etc don't puree up entirely.

Will keep up to five days in the fridge.

Easy Peasy Bean Pate/Dip Recipe 

• 1- 2 cloves of garlic
• 500g cooked white beans (any)
• 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Preparation:

In a food processor puree the garlic, beans,lemon juice and oil until smooth. Add basil, thyme, salt and pepper; pulse until incorporated and the herbs are coarsely chopped. Serve chilled as a dip for veggies/tortilla chips or use as a pate with crackers or crusty bread etc.

Will store well in the fridge for five days , and also can be frozen, mix well when defrosted.For a firmer pate add an extra handful of beans.

Enjoy your beans!