Three Ways to Use Your Canned or Dry Beans

We have been under stay-at-home orders for about four weeks now. Did you stock up on canned items or dried beans?  I ended up getting the last 2 pound bag of navy beans on the shelf when I was shopping a couple weeks ago.  I have since batch-cooked them all, giving me a large quantity of white beans to incorporate into snacks and meals. I froze a few bags, used some in this SOUP and came up with the following three ways to use your canned or dry beans. For a primer on cooking dry beans go HERE.For each of these recipes you can use canned beans or some you’ve cooked yourself. Any white bean will do.

The first recipe is for a snack dip or lunch spread and one of the favorites in my house, Roasted Carrot Hummus, where we load it on flatbread crackers or pita bread and pile on chopped veggies or raw kraut or kimchi.

This next recipe is a hearty salad with White Beans, Oranges and Arugula. I love fresh greens with beans. Another combination to consider is: roasted chickpeas with garlic and back pepper, or plain tossed with shredded kale, bell peppers and tomatoes with a balsamic dressing

The third bean-based recipe is a Mediterranean Skillet Meal. It’s easy to make with staples on hand. Again canned beans work just as nicely as your own cooked beans. I had artichokes and canned tomatoes in the pantry, so this came together quickly. If you make this during the summer when the tomatoes are at their peek, slow roasted tomatoes substituted for the canned tomatoes are lovely!

Try one of these recipes or all of them and make beans a common ingredient in your meals. Not only do beans taste good and have a nice supply of vitamins, minerals and fiber, they actually improve the gut microbiome, which is an important part of the immune system. At this time, during this pandemic, the immune system is vitally important. (Actually it is all the time.)