Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and beans

Yet another "should I eat this?": black beans

k. — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:33:13 -0800

Should I Eat This? Filter: cooked black beans left in a pot overnight. Yesterday I was waiting for the pot to cool before putting it in the fridge, then forgot about it, leaving it there (with the cover on) until this morning when I put it in the fridge. There are no meat ingredients.

lazy cook and lazy math

Jason and Laszlo — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:49:16 -0800

dried beans --> canned beans conversion my recipe calls for 1/2 lb of dried white beans. I will be using canned beans. How many cans/ounces of canned beans do i need? thanks!

Let's talk about moong daal, baby.

Muffpub — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:40:02 -0800

What do I do with two pounds of moong daal that's been sitting in my refrigerator for three months? I'm a hopeless cooking noob on a budget, and I can't really grasp what this stuff even is. A lot of you are probably rolling your eyes at this parade of stupid questions, but my cooking expertise consists of chopping up hot dogs and putting them in rudimentary stews. Google has failed me on *all* of these questions, which makes this new scary ingredient even scarier.

1. What exactly is this stuff? These small yellow beans(?) look a lot more like these yellow split peas than like these green mung beans and this recipe was one of the first things that came up when I googled "moong daal". The second result is the wikipedia for mung beans. Huh?

2. After three months (at least) in the fridge, is this stuff even still good? There's no information on the packaging at all except "moong daal" and "keep refrigerated", and they were gifted to me by a friend when she moved. I guess a more pertinent question would be, once they're open, do I have to use them up quickly?

3. OK, so what do I do with it? I guess the mung bean vs. split pea question will clear this up and allow me to follow recipes on the internet, but feel free to offer any cheap, simple, easy fun recipes you might have. I have garlic, cumin and tumeric on hand but I can't afford tons of fresh ingredients. I mean, a tomato and a ginger root, sure, but nothing beyond my elementary budget and skill level please. What recipes do you like? (Bonus points for flexible recipes that would allow me to throw in ingredients I know, like spinach or celery, but I know this may be asking too much...)

Thanks everyone!

Why should I throw out the floating beans?

evhan — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:54:44 -0800

Quite a few times in recipes I've seen directions to put beans in water and discard any that float after a period of soaking (I've even heard this from you, AskMeFi). Now, I like beans. My question is: why can't I eat those?

Salty beans?

frwagon — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:20:11 -0800

Savory, salty black beans in take out Chinese food... how do they do it? Just had some chinese food the other night (black bean chicken), and the black beans in the recipe had a salty, smoky taste.. very very good. I've never had black beans that have that taste to them before. How would I reproduce that at home?

Looking for cold recipes with legumes.

HotPatatta — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:36:21 -0800

Please share your cold recipes for salads, succotashes, and soups featuring lentils, split peas, and other legumes. Especially appreciated are recipes relatively low in calories, carbs, and fat.

Help me to not overthink a plate of beans (and rice)

availablelight — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:44:11 -0800

Rice and beans for the inexperienced and time-pressed cook? I have a 5 pound bag of (non-instant) rice. I have an assortment of bags of dried beans (a pound of kidney beans, a pound of black beans, a pound of navy beans, etc.). Am I imagining this, or is there a way to prepare a one-shot, one-pot/dish batch of rice and beans in the oven? (I do know that the beans will have to be pre-soaked, but that's about all I know-- my experience with dried beans is limited to including them in a long-simmering soup or stew--I've had bad experiences with bags o'beans in other situations)

I have other potential add-ins like spices, tomato sauce, veggies, etc.

How do I cook fresh black beans?

Airhen — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:10:07 -0800

What should I do with these fresh (not dried, not canned) black beans? I have 1 pound and can't find even basic cooking instructions. In "How to Cook Everything," Mark Bittman doesn't even acknowledge that you can buy them fresh. I'd like mostly vegetarian suggestions, but I'll take omnivore advice, too.

Let's Eat Some Beans!

Medieval Maven — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:09:29 -0800

Tis the season for cold bean salads. Sock it to me. Specifically, if you've got a recipe that calls for Cranberry Beans, I'd love to have it. I have a mess of fresh ones!

What happened to my beans?

Loto — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:39:07 -0800

What is going on with my beans?! So, I'm cooking up some Micasa red beans. I soaked them for a few hours, drained them, and stuck them in the fridge till this evening. Now, I'm simmering them as directed and they are losing what little color they had, very unappetizing looking!

Is there something wrong with my beans? I'm new to cooking dried beans, so I'm not sure if this is okay. Will this affect the taste at all?

"...with fava beans and a nice chianti..."

dersins — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:29:47 -0800

What else can I do with fava beans? I've recently developed a major food crush on fresh fava beans (thanks, farmers' market!), and I'd love some suggestions for other ways to enjoy them.

Things I've tried:
Fava bean & sweet corn succotash
Pasta with fava beans & pancetta
Fava beans in sweet pea & mint pesto
Crostini with mashed fava beans, lemon, garlic and mint

Any other recipes / suggestions would be very, very helpful in my attempt to get the most out of this lovely legume.

and before you make a "Silence of the Lambs" joke, you should look at the title of this question....

Guatemalan black beans

bluejayk — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:54:23 -0800

How do I make Guatemalan style black beans? Just plain old black beans. I don't know how different Guatemalan style beans are than say, Cuban, or Mexican, but I want to make black beans in the style that I had while I was at a homestay in Guatemala. I've got the dried beans, but when searching on the internet, all I can find are fancy recipes for various chilis, beans soups, salads, or whatever.

So here's what I want to make: Black beans, that you eat as a side dish, kinda soupy. Simple stuff, I may try fancy variations later.

yvan eht nioj

lpctstr; — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 14:20:44 -0800

How do you cook navy beans so the "outer shell" doens't come off? I soak them overnight in cold water, then salt and simmer them for about 30 minutes before I want to eat them. But the thin outer shells come off which makes them look gross. I've seen restaurants where they cook navy beans without this problem. Any tips?

Is a rice cooker rice-only?

namespan — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 09:27:14 -0800

Should I try cooking pintos or lentils in my rice cooker? Are there hazards or pitfalls associated with doing so?