PHASEOLUS VULGARISThe category of dried beans covers a lot of ground. Phaseolus vulgaris, or the common field bean, includes cannellini, kidney beans, French beans, navy beans, black beans, pinto beans, and more. And each of these categories carries many different cultivated varieties. For instance, some of the more popular varieties of kidney beans include Black Turtle, Swedish Brown, Hutterite Soup, Anasazi, Jacob’s Cattle, Soldier, Yellow Eye, Red Mexican, Great Northern, White Kidney, and White Marrow, among many dozens of others.
But besides Phaseolus vulgaris, there exist three other common species that include the tepary bean, runner bean, and lima (or butter) bean. Another whole group of beans falls into the separate genus of Vigna, with seven common species, including azuki bean, fava bean, moth bean, mung bean, rice bean, black-eyed peas, and yard-long beans. Finally, there are 10 other genera that include jack beans, broad beans, chick peas, soybeans, lentils, velvet beans, and winged beans, among others.
Which of the different varieties within each species is best? Take your pick. I once attended a tasting of many different kidney beans and I liked Jacob’s Cattle, but others in the group liked Swedish Brown, or Soldier—the differences were subtle and I doubt if blindfolded we could tell which was which. This would be especially true if the beans were given a flavorful sauce, as most are.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
A field or patch of beans not only provides food for humans (or any critters such as rabbits who get into the field), but also improves the soil in which they’re grown. That’s because, as legumes, bean roots are colonized by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. After the beans are harvested, organic farmers turn the bean plants into the soil, where they add organic matter along with the nitrogen and other nutrients in their tissues. Bean plants are also choice additions to any compost pile and stimulate the thermophilic bacteria that turn plant detritus into valuable fertilizer. Beans are subject to a wide variety of pests and diseases, but organic farmers have nontoxic solutions for them.
NUTRITION
The protein of beans is considerable. Soybeans are the champion, containing about 35 percent protein by weight, then French green lentils with 24 percent, but most other dried beans contain nearly that much. Black-eyed peas, for instance, are 23 percent protein and have five times more folate—so important for pregnant women because it insures proper fetal growth—than any other bean. Unlike meat, however, legumes do not contain all the necessary proteins and must be supplemented with foods containing the other proteins, notably cereals, to make them complete and fully nourishing to humans. Mexicans mix corn and beans in their cooking, and many tribes of the pre-Columbian Native Americans had their Three Sisters—corn, beans, and squash—as their staple food. Many dishes combine beans and rice, such as New Orleans’ red beans and rice. Dried beans also have good stores of soluble fiber, potassium, and calcium.
Be aware that it’s not safe to eat raw or uncooked kidney and soybeans, even in their dried state. Hemagglutinin is a substance in raw beans that causes red blood cells to clump together and prevents the transport of oxygen to the body’s tissues. As few as four raw beans have caused serious hemagglutinin poisoning. Hemagglutinin is completely destroyed by high heat cooking—hence the 10 minutes of rapid boiling required before simmering. Slow cookers do not reach high enough temperatures, so kidney and soybeans should be boiled for 10 minutes before being added to these appliances. Kidney beans must never be sprouted. Azuki, chickpeas, whole lentils, marrowfat peas, and mung beans are all safe to sprout, and sprouting increases their nutritive value.
STORAGE AND PREPARATION
Dried beans are the dried seeds that grow within the bean pods. ....read more
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