How to Cook Perfect Beans.
Serves 4–6 · Prep: 5 min · Soak: 8–12 hours · Cook: 45 min–2 hours
Make It
From dry
Rinse 1 cup dry beans and remove any debris.
Place in a large bowl and cover with plenty of water. Soak at room temperature 8–12 hours, then drain and rinse.
Transfer to a pot, cover with 3 cups fresh water, and add a strip of kombu if using.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender: 45–60 minutes for black beans, 1–1½ hours for pinto, kidney, cannellini, navy and Great Northern, up to 2 hours for chickpeas.
Drain, season with sea salt, and remove the kombu.
From a can
Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water.
Use as is, or warm gently on the stovetop with olive oil and sea salt.
Notes
Salt at the end, never the start. Salt added early stops the beans softening and lengthens the cooking time.
Always discard the soaking water. The sugars that cause bloating leach into it, which is the real reason soaking helps digestion.
A strip of kombu softens the skins and makes beans easier to digest.
Older beans take longer and cook unevenly, so buy from somewhere with turnover.
Canned is a good option. Eden Organic cooks theirs with kombu in BPA-free cans. Choose beans with simple ingredients and no added sugars or sauces.
Warm them gently with a splash of tamari or coconut aminos, onion powder, sea salt and black pepper. Simple seasoning is what makes beans feel like a meal rather than a side.
Use them in a No B.S. Salad or Protein Bowl.
Counts as Complex Carbs at ½–1 cup cooked.
