When something has very little value, people will say that it’s “not worth a hill of beans.” One could take from this that beans themselves aren’t worth much. Now, I don’t think whoever came up with this colloquialism was thinking of all that beans have to offer– fiber, protein, iron, calcium, and antioxidants. Instead, they were referring to how well you’d do in a trade if beans were your currency.
“Excuse me, miss. I’m interested in purchasing that Vitamix blender.”
“How much can you offer?”
“This hill of beans.” (sound of crickets chirping)
Even old Jack from Beanstalk fame was considered a fool by his mother for trading a cow for beans. In this case, I’ve got to side with Jack’s mom. I’ve met some really awesome cows. What was he thinking?
Still, Jack could have worked his bean-bounty to his benefit, even if there hadn’t been a goose at the top of the beanstalk whose golden eggs he could steal… (Wow, that fairytale is incredibly not vegan. I hadn’t noticed that before…) But I’m getting distracted. My point is that beans don’t cost much. And when we’re looking to save cash while buying some nutritional powerhouses, beans in the bulk bin are a great way to go.
Admittedly, canned beans aren’t that expensive, but dried beans are where it’s at fiscally-speaking. Let’s look at the numbers. While I could buy a can of organic beans for over two bucks, I could buy a whole pound of organic dried beans for $1.99. There’s about a cup and a half of beans in a can. A pound of dried beans yields six cups of cooked beans. So with the same two dollars I can get four times as many beans if I make them myself. Man, I’m making myself tired. I was told there wouldn’t be any math. Let me just cut to the chase. It’s cheaper to buy beans in bulk.
What’s more, canned beans often have a lot of sodium, and with beans you make yourself, there are no concerns over BPA. (Although, Eden Foods is currently making their can lining without BPA. Whenever I do buy canned beans, I always buy Eden Foods, even if that means paying a little more.) There are so many different beans to try, a person could eat her way across the bulk bins. But you should probably soak and rinse them first.
If you’ve never made beans from scratch, don’t be intimidated. It’s a pretty easy process and one worth mastering. Here’s my preferred method:
Buying fiber-packed beans here gives new meaning to the term "bulk bin."
1. A bath before bed! Buy a few cups of beans. Rinse them thoroughly, removing any debris. Then before going to bed, get your biggest bowl and soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. Remember, the beans will expand, and so it’s important to give them lots of water and room to grow.
2. Rinse and repeat… Dump out the beans’ soaking liquid and give them another rinse. The oligosaccharides from the beans have gone into the soaking liquid, and neither you nor your housemates want you to use that liquid for cooking the beans. Someone tried it once, and schoolchildren have been singing about it ever since… Put the beans into a big soup pot. The rule is that for every cup of dried beans you should add three cups of water. I have to be honest, though. I don’t measure. I put the beans into my biggest pot, cover them in water, and then add a couple more inches of water after that. So far it’s worked out fine for me.
3. Add some pizzazz! I like to add various seasonings to the pot – a big spoonful of cumin, paprika, and a vegan vegetable bouillon cube are my general go-to spices, but you can play with it depending on how you plan to use the beans. You can even add a dash of salt, if you like. That old theory about salt making beans tough is just a myth. If you have difficulty digesting beans, this is a good time to throw a piece of kombu, a type of seaweed, into the pot. About an inch will do. As a bonus, it will also add some trace minerals to the beans. (Once the beans are done you can throw away the kombu. Think of it as an Asian bay leaf.)
4. It’s time to cook! Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, lower to a simmer and cover. Different beans have different cooking times, but I usually check on them at one hour. Check a bean or two for doneness and texture. Nine times out of ten my beans are done at that point. Of course, leave them on and keep checking on them if they need more time. Some varieties of beans can take as long as two hours to cook.
5. Divide and conquer. Once the beans are done, I divide them up into Pyrex containers for storage. For storage, you can’t beat inexpensive Pyrex containers. They’re made of glass and therefore there’s no concern of chemicals leeching into the beans. Pyrex can go in the freezer. It can go in the oven and the microwave. It can be used to carry lunch to work. Plus, they’re made in the United States.
I like to divide the beans into different sizes of containers, giving me the freedom to easily use them in varying amounts later. When I only need a cup of beans, it’s so much nicer to grab a small Pyrex than to have to divide one that holds six cups.
After I’ve put beans into each container, I fill it the rest of the way with the cooking liquid, leaving room for the liquid to expand for those going into the freezer. I like storing the beans in their cooking liquid because there’s a lot of flavor in it and it helps keep the beans’ consistency and texture. I put one container into the refrigerator to use that week and the rest into the freezer for later use.
6. Allow me to break the ice… Once you’re ready to use the beans, you can move them to the refrigerator or counter to thaw. However, most of the time I just put the container into a colander and run water over it. Once the container loosens from the beans, I run water over the beans until the liquid is gone and they have thawed. It only takes five minutes or so. Now my beans-of-choice are ready to use in hummus, roasted chickpeas, chili, soup, falafel, bean salad, refried beans, tacos, burritos… And of course, red beans and rice don’t miss me!
* One final word to those worried about possible “side effects” of beans… And I’m not talking about its cholesterol-lowering benefits. As we eat more beans, we become better able to digest them. This is because we develop an enzyme in our stomachs that can break down the sugars in beans. So as counterintuitive as it may sound, if gassiness is an issue, eat more beans. If that sounds too risky for you, one thing canned beans have going for them is that thoroughly rinsed canned beans are more digestible. If all else fails, there’s Bean-zyme, a vegetarian version of Beano.
The Bean has become a staple of my diet. Love all of them. Thanks for the mention of beanzyme. I had been using beano..never thought it not being vegan. My transition to vegan has been simple. There have been a couple of slip ups. It was my fault, wasn’t reading labels enough or not paying attention to foods at parties etc.
I definitely agree on the bean-love. There are so many different varieties of beans and endless ways to use them. Beans also give satiety to a meal. I’m so glad to hear that you’re having an easy transition!
I wish I could get a vitamix for a hill of beans! haha
I really like that first picture! Very cool.
http://www.haymarket8.blogspot.com
No kidding! That would be a great deal.
This has always been a thing that has intimidated me. You make it sound so easy. … Ok. I’m trying this… wish me luck!
PS: how much do they expand from soaking? twice as big?
Good luck! As long as your beans aren’t old, making them from scratch is pretty much foolproof. (If they’re old, it can take a ridiculously long time for them to soften.) The beans expand to 2 to 2 1/2 times their dried size.
It worked! Hurray!
This is a perfectly timed post, because one of my goals for the New Year is to make my own prepared beans, either with the pressure cooker or the slow cooker. Thanks for all the great pointers! Beans are so underrated. I got all excited this week when my husband brought home a bag of fresh, dry (and gorgeous) Adzuki beans he’d been given. (I’ve never cooked with those before, and am thinking soup, but am open to suggestions!)
I am totally envious of that photo of all those bulk beans and other staples. I have to drive 2 hours to find a natural food store with half that number of bulk bins! I lose all self control whenever I get to visit a Whole Foods sorta place (nearest Whole Foods – nearly 7 hours’ drive away).
And you’re right, Jack and the Beanstalk? So not vegan. I still have my Brothers Grimm and Anderson fairytale books from childhood, and re-reading many of the stories from a vegan perspective can be quite horrifying (reading them from a general non-violence perspective can be too!) Maybe we vegans need to collaborate and re-write the classic fairytales in vegan style.
Once you get in the habit of making beans from scratch and keeping them prepared in the freezer, it’s hard to go back to canned beans. In terms of taste and price, it’s hard to beat beans made from scratch. That’s so sweet that your husband brought home a bag of beans for you! Talk about knowing your audience.
I’ve had good intentions of using Adzuki beans, but I never have. I’ll be excited to see what you make with them!
That’s really interesting about reading fairy tales from a non-violent and vegan perspective. It’s so fascinating how perceptions change over something that once seemed innocuous. I have to say I love your idea about collaborating and re-writing fairy tales from a vegan perspective! That’s a GREAT idea!
I’ve heard that from other people: that once you start making your own home cooked beans, there’s no going back to canned. I’m eager to test this radical hypothesis.
My husband is phenomenally sweet and does know his audience well!
But alas, I got you excited about what I may make with Adzuki beans for nothing, because I suffered a brain fart (guess I need Brain-zyme, lol) and misspoke. It was ANASAZI beans he brought home. I can tell the beans apart, it’s the names that I always get tangled up! Anyway, I hope you’ll still be excited to see what I make with them, because I found this recipe for Anasazi Bean Soup I thought looked good. Nothing flamboyant, but it sounds tasty and healthy, and hey – it’s got two large cloves of garlic in it! A major selling point. 
Anyway, I haven’t made it yet, so I remain open to any other suggestions for ANASAZI bean uses!
“It’s so fascinating how perceptions change over something that once seemed innocuous.”
Well said! I’ve found that to be true of so many things. The process of becoming re-sensitized is really quite something. I had to call the phone company on Friday, and the customer service rep, in talking about changing our phone plan said, “It will kill two birds with one stone.” I physically cringe at that phrase and told him how I hate it, and that the far more appropriate and preferable wording is, “It will feed two birds with one scone.” He acted a bit nonplussed, had me repeat it, and then said, “Cool, I can get behind that!” LOL
Anyway, I’m glad you love my idea about collaborating on a major vegan rewrite of fairytales! While we’re at it, let’s rewrite all the fables, parables, aphorisms and bon mots too, shall we?
The Lone Dissenter. The Chief Nay-Sayer. Sorry, but I made black beans from scratch about a year ago after getting all hyped up after listening to a vegan podcast about beans, and I vowed never to do that again! It was so much work! And does anybody ever calculate the cost of the water and the gas to cook the beans for? Maybe those are pretty cheap, but I couldn’t help but wonder about such things.
Now I enjoy and appreciate canned beans even more than I used to. Bring on the beans! That somebody else prepared.
As a working mother of one (cat), I appreciate the help.
I wonder if you tried making beans again if it would be easier the second time around. Now that you know what to expect, maybe it wouldn’t seem like such a hassle.
Regarding the costs of water and gas, I did some poking around to see what I could find. I didn’t find anything that specifically figured out the cost of boiling beans on the stovetop for an hour, but this page from the California Energy Commission lists cooking with a gas oven or an electric frying pan for an hour (7 cents) to cooking with an electric oven for an hour (16 cents). It seems like cooking on the stovetop for the same amount of time should fall into that area. http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/ranges.html
The American Waterworks Association lists the cost of a gallon of water from the tap at less than a penny. http://www.drinktap.org/kidsdnn/Portals/5/story_of_water/html/costs.htm
Even adding in the dime it costs for water and energy, making beans comes out ahead in terms of cost. Still, if buying beans from a can gives you more time for doting on your cat, I support you.
So I successfully made garbanzo beans from scratch! Hurray! I am so happy! Last week, I had chana masala, hummus and I am making Cadry’s chickpea tacos tonight! YUM.
As for a cost breakdown… I bought a 4 pound bag of dry beans for $5 at Whole Foods which contains 13 cups of dry beans (I’m sure you can get that way cheaper at Smart & Final or…anywhere.) I took 3 cups of dry beans which yielded about five 15 oz. servings of cooked beans (more like 16 oz.). 15 oz. is usually the amount in a can of beans. According to my boyfriend and my calculations (yes, it was a group effort…), that works out to be about $0.23/can of beans vs. buying a can of beans in the store at $1.25. That’s a pretty outstanding cost savings. And I’m sure it’s even less when you consider that I was measuring the beans without any liquid in a pyrex measuring cup vs. a can of beans that contains water and is measured by weight.
So if we add the cost of two hours of cooking time on a gas stove (14 cents) and the amount of water I used (let’s say 2 gallons… 2 cents) that’s 3.2 cents more per can of beans = 26.2 cents per can of beans when you make them from scratch! Awesome.
(At least that’s the total that we came up with. Anyone else figure out the cost?)