America’s missing ingredient: Are beans “the new chicken”?

The accolades and honors are many: High marks from the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. Major billing in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. A United Nations “World Pulses Day.” A key to longevity in the “Blue Zones” project promoting healthier lives. On paper, beans (and peas and lentils, their leguminous kin) are nutritional heroes. They’re affordable and environmentally sustainable. But in the American kitchen, they remain unsung. Simply put, we don’t eat enough.

A 2021 paper looked at how much we spent on average on legumes from 2017 to 2019: Less than five dollars per year. In a similar timeframe only 20% of more than 4,700 people in the National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) survey reported eating legumes within a 24-hour period. The government’s dietary guidelines recommend just 1½ cups of legumes a week. This is not a high bar. But if you never learned to cook beans, this amount must feel like a mountain.

Like so many other Americans, I grew up eating meat every day, an experience that I have shared previously in this space (“How Meatless Monday Became an Everyday Idea”). That translated into zero beans in my early years. I remember the rare appearance of a can of chickpeas that my parents would scatter on top of an antipasto platter loaded with rolled-up salami and provolone. Otherwise, our house was a no-legumes zone.

In my late 20s, I was living in a basement apartment and working three part-time jobs. My weeknight dinner routine went something like this: Crank open two cans of black beans and scrape the sludgy contents into a pot. Add a few shakes of cumin and chili powder and stir it all together. Heat until bubbling and spoon over white rice. Add a few glugs of hot sauce for the finish and tuck in.

Beans and rice were cheap and filling, and that’s all that mattered.

I had never considered cooking a bag of dried beans because I didn’t know how. Even with culinary training a few years later, I remained a legumes philistine. That first pot of Hoppin’ John (black-eyed peas) to ring in 1997 was so unevenly cooked I was convinced my chances of New Year’s luck were doomed.

I gave beans another chance when I learned about Meatless Monday as a reporter. In Seattle, where we lived for 11 years, I learned to cook dried beans in earnest. When I discovered that area growers brought several varieties of beans to weekly farmers markets I had no more excuses. To have that kind of access felt like a gift.

Over a period of eight years, I wrote three vegetarian cookbooks, developing more than 300 recipes. Beans figure into each book. But as I look back, I can now see a progression—or maybe an evolution—of my knowledge, passion and appreciation.

I still like to whip up a pot of black bean-sweet potato chili, an old favorite from those early days of recipe development (see below). But now, my legumes life is expansive and varied, figuring into salads, cookie batter, a bean-y take on mac and cheese, even a lentil pate that tastes like the delicatessen original. I’ve freed myself up from the confines of one recipe and do more batch cooking of “naked” beans, which I divvy up for different dishes or culinary directions. Seeing beans waiting for me in the fridge has made me an even more inventive cook. I now think of legumes as the “chicken” of my cooking life; there are infinite ways to prepare them.

For years, I made sure to soak beans a few hours in advance for stovetop preparation. But more recently, I’ve become enamored with my multicooker, a development I didn’t see coming. As the recipe editor for the forthcoming cookbook from Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook of Zahav restaurant in Philadelphia, I tested a few of their recipes in an Instant Pot.

Admittedly, I was skeptical at first. No soaking, really? No soaking, really! You program the cook time and let the machine do the work. Although I still enjoy the sensory experience of tending a pot of beans on the stove, the pressure cooker method is so efficient I don’t think twice about cooking beans more than once a week. If I don’t use those naked beans in a few days, I transfer them to the freezer for later.

I put off legumes for a long time. It’s a relationship I didn’t know I wanted or needed. Now I can’t see it any other way.

Of course legumes are good for you—really, really good. But even more compelling, says this ride-or-die fan, they’re one of the friendliest foods you’ll ever come to know. A reason to celebrate.

Kim O’Donnel is a chef, journalist, and cooking teacher. Find her online at kimodonnel.com.

Black Bean-Sweet Potato Chili

©Kim O’Donnel

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes (2 to 2.5 cups)
3 tablespoons neutral oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cayenne
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 to 2.5 cups tomato puree
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
4 to 6 cups cooked black beans (from 1 pound dried)

Possible finishing touches/toppers
Chopped fresh cilantro, chopped scallions, sliced radishes, sliced avocado, grated Monterey Jack or crumbled cotija cheese, sour cream

Have a bowl of ice water at the ready.

Place the sweet potato in a medium saucepan and add about 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and par-cook for 2 minutes. With a skimmer or a spider sieve, remove the sweet potato and transfer to ice water to cool. Drain and set aside.

Set your favorite soup pot over medium heat and add the oil. Tilt the pan until the surface is coated. Add the onion, cooking until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic, spices and salt. The mixture will be pasty. Add the tomato paste, stirring until evenly coated. Add the sweet potato, continuing to stir until coated with your flavor base.

Add 2 cups of the tomato puree and increase the heat to medium, bringing the mixture to a lively simmer. Stir in the chipotle chiles and cook until the sweet potato is fork tender, about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed, stirring regularly to keep from sticking.

Add the beans, at first reserving the cooking liquid. If the mixture seems too thick, feel free to ladle in the remaining tomato puree and/or some bean cooking liquid. You’re looking for the liquid to be at about the same level as the beans. Cook over medium-low until warmed through and seasoned how you like it, about 20 minutes. But there’s nothing wrong with letting the beans continue to simmer over low heat.

Serve with any of the optional toppings, with rice, tortillas or corn bread.

How to cook a pot of naked beans

Stovetop Method

Soak 1 pound beans for at least two hours and up to 6. Cold water should cover beans by a few inches. When ready to cook, drain water and place beans in a large pot (enameled cast-iron works great, or a stockpot). Add 8 fresh cups of water and a peeled onion wedge (about one-fourth of a medium onion). Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Cook at a hard boil for 10 minutes. Cover and reduce the heat to low, cooking for 25 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, cover, and continue cooking for another 25 minutes. Taste beans for doneness; if they aren’t tender to the bite, check again at 10-minute intervals.

Instant Pot

Place the beans in a 6-qt or 8-qt multicooker such as an Instant Pot. Add 8 cups cold water, 1 teaspoon salt and a peeled onion wedge (as with Stovetop method). Cook for 55 minutes on the Pressure Cook setting; make sure the pressure is set to “high.” Depending on the model of your Instant Pot, estimate 15 to 20 minutes for the pressure valve to seal and naturally release before and after cooking.

One timing exception: Chickpeas require more time in the IP. Set the timer for 1 hour, 10 minutes.

P.S. Cook times can vary, depending on your stove top, age of beans and pressure cooker. The times here are based on my years of testing in my home kitchen.