Tiny House Creature #11

By any beans necessary.

This past week, I was sick with a bad cold, and all I wanted was a big pot of beans.

Because I’m vegetarian, I don’t crave chicken soup when I’m sick, and I don’t slow-cook big roasts on Sunday nights. Instead, I’ve got beans, and I love them dearly. A pot of beans simmering on the stove is so comforting.

Today’s issue of Tiny House Creature is an Ode to Beans. Bean recipes, resources, merch, tips, and more! Are you a bean freak? This is for you. (But if you’re not a bean freak yet, you will be by the end of this issue.)

1. Buy ‘em

Dried beans are very shelf-stable, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get old. The older your dried beans, the more likely they are to take forever to cook, cook unevenly, or burst. If your grocery store has a popular bulk bin section, like most co-ops, that is a great place to stock up. We buy our most frequently used beans at Costco in 25-pound bags: chickpeas, mayocoba, and black beans.

Specialty bean sellers, like Rancho Gordo, are great because they don’t sell old beans. And now I out myself as a mega bean freak: I was on the waitlist for 2.5 years before I got into the Rancho Gordo Bean Club. Now I get 6lbs of heirloom beans every quarter, and it was worth the wait! My favorite Rancho Gordo Beans are: Royal Coronas, Christmas Limas, and Domingo Rojos. Primary Beans is another popular heirloom bean seller, but I haven’t tried their beans yet!

2. Cook ‘em

Maybe this is already obvious, but we mainly use dried beans in our house. I’ll bust out a can in a pinch, but once you get in a rhythm of cooking them yourself, you probably won’t want to grab your can opener as often.

Everyone has an opinion about how to cook beans (believe me, I’m in the Rancho Gordo Bean Club Facebook group, and I read the comments…) My opinion is: try a few techniques, see what you like, and don’t listen to the haters.

My first “big pot o’ beans” recipe was this one from Bon Appetit. It is fantastic and delicious, and I still send it to people when they ask me how to cook dried beans for the first time. This recipe requires you to do a few things that some bean snobs (sorry-not-sorry) don’t approve of, like salting the water at the start and adding lemon peel. Serious Eats, Epicurious, and Iowa State University all have myth-busting bean-cooking articles you can check out if you’re curious.

Rancho Gordo has a great page on their website dedicated to cooking beans in all kinds of ways, including in the pressure cooker, oven, and crock pot.

Lastly, Love & Lemons has a good step-by-step bean cooking recipe if you’re feeling like you want a little more guidance.

3. Rep ‘em and Support ‘em!

• January 6th is National Bean Day! Get ready!

• Beans is How is a nonprofit that believes beans are the future. They’ve partnered with celebrity chefs like Andrew Zimmern and Chantelle Nicholson to share the magic of beans with the world.

• The Bean Institute has a bean personality quiz! (I’m a pinto bean.)

• My favorite local gift shop has a “BEANS” trucker hat that is pretty irresistible. (Bonus: they also have a tote that says, “Get in losers, we’re makin’ soup!” It is truly perfect.)

• Some bean lovers swear by their bean spoons. They typically look like shallow wooden ladles. Rancho Gordo sells them, but you can also find them elsewhere online.

• Bean books: I have Cool Beans by Joe Yonan, it’s a great intro to the bean world. I’ve also heard good things about The Mighty Bean and recently added Beans: A History to my TBR list.

• Last month, the Gastropod Podcast did a whole bean-themed episode full of bean history and trivia.

• How could you say no to this bean candle from Primary Beans?

A very bean-ie video:

Carla is definitely a bean queen. Check out how she makes her Brothy Basil Beans:

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