Budget Friendly Beans
Beans are yet another example of an equally healthful and inexpensive food. While they are best known for their exceptionally high fiber content, beans also provide a good source of vegetable protein, along with folate and iron. One 16 ounce bag of dried beans typically costs a dollar or two, which translates into about 20 cents per serving. However, dry beans call for significant planning, as they require soaking overnight before cooking.
While soaking beans does help to minimize the gas problems associated with eating beans by removing the indigestible complex sugars (oligosaccharides) from the outer coating of the beans, it's certainly not the primary reason to soak.
The most important reason for soaking your beans is that it allows shorter cooking times, and that in turn, will preserve the most nutrients in your beans. This way you get the benefits of all the proteins, vitamins and minerals in the beans and you'll maximize their food value. According to the California Dry Bean Advisory Board, there's no need to worry that soaking is going to remove the proteins, enzymes or other nutrients that are stored within the beans.
A more convenient and almost as inexpensive solution is canned, pre-cooked beans. A 15 ounce can of beans typically costs about 95 cents, or about 27 cents per serving. Be sure to rinse canned beans well before using to eliminate as much sodium as possible.
It is not necessary to recook canned beans, just heat them if a recipe calls for it. Canned beans, like dry beans, absorb flavors from other ingredients in a dish because their skins are completely permeable.
Beans are quite versatile in the kitchen: add them to salads, roll them into burritos, or stir them into soups. Both unopened cans and bags of dried beans last up to two years.
Counting Beans
- One 15-ounce can of beans = one and one-half cups cooked beans, drained
- One pound dry beans = six cups cooked beans, drained.
- One pound dry beans = two cups dry beans.
- One cup dry beans = three cups cooked beans, drained.
See also:
Using the Ol' Bean
Nutritional and Health Benefits of Beans
Bean Burgers Recipe
Speedy Baked Beans High Fiber Recipe
Root Beer Baked Beans Vegetarian Recipe
Italian White Bean Soup
