Such a deep dive into Kidney beans. Incredible work, Lisa! I only really had Kidney beans in Beef chilli and refried beans. I honestly didn’t know if their health benefits. Thank you for sharing, Lisa-
Well hold your horses Aki, do we have some inspiration coming for you. There are a few cultures that really honour this bean, that’s where we are heading.
Love reading about (and eating!) beans of all kinds. I think when cooked right and eaten regularly, they don’t cause as much flatulence as rumored, but I may be wrong about that. I make turkey chili quite often with kidney beans.
Ruth I totally agree about our bodies adapting and responding to eating beans. The impact on our microbiome of eating beans, improves our ability to digest them well. I’m having a chilli bean dish for dinner this evening too, I’m playing around with a new recipe. If it’s really good, I’ll share it. Thanks for reading Ruth, have a lovely weekend.
Thanks, Lisa. The additional info on the microbiome confirms my hunch about beans. I look forward to hearing more about your new recipe if it works out. Wishing you a great weekend too!🤗
What an incredible post. I do love this science series Lisa. The health benefits of the humble bean makes one realize they are not so humble! So well communicated - Excellent job.
Good exhaustive report. My compliments 💐. Red beans is no doubt a powerhouse. I note from the table that three macro nutrients - protein, starch ( carbs) and fat - make up for only about 66%. The micronutrients about 2%. I expect bound moisture/water in dry beans could 1-2%. What is the rest, about 30%. Worth knowing.
Except Rajma, which is tasty with rice if well cooked, well made and correctly spiced, I cannot think any other major red beans based dish in Indian cuisine that is popular or common. Rajma’s unique taste is probably enhanced by the tomato gravy on which it is based. My wife makes cutlets, mixing it 1:1 with cooked potatoes and spiced for Indian pallet, good, but that is not as fulfilling as a 100% potato cutlet. In versatility about making some very exquisite dishes, another power house, Chick peas, is way ahead. For example, the middle eastern falafel. Falafel type dishes are made with many of our common dry lentils and beans, but not from red beans. Or the the South Indian light item - Sundal - a very old dish. For which, a variety of lentils and beans, including chick peas, its brown cousin, even raw peanuts, admirably lend themselves to. The reason could be the nature of protein and starches and how they give you a cooked mouth feel. Red beans is quite different in that property, compared to many others. You would have experienced that cooking red beans to a soft buttery feel is quite tricky compared to chick peas or many common lentils, which people can quickly master.,
This said and done, red beans have their place in any pantry and in the pantheon of common lentils and beans. I would look for your recipes and comments for popular red bean dishes from other cuisines, particularly Mexican or Latin American for some regular use.
Though you are showing only the large clean red coloured beans in pictures, we get here striped ones, lighter colour, both large and small sized. There is one Jammu rajma, which possibly could be the smaller striped one. I have heard that it makes very tasty gravied rajma dish, but I haven’t tasted one. You may be able to find out because you are doing some extensive search on this bean.
Very nice deep dive into kidney beans. It will be interesting to see the Indian/Sri Lankan recipes of which I know nothing. When I went to Cuba in the 80s I used to live on rice ‘n’ beans! And their lovely salads and fruit dishes! The cakes weren’t bad either, now I come to recall. I think we nutritionists ought to be a bit more positive about the windy nature of beans. A) Breaking wind is normal -20/30 times a day. B) If you’ve overdone fast food for years your gut bacteria will be in a mess. The cure isn’t avoiding healthy food like beans, it’s avoiding UPFs!
I’ve never been to Cuba Wendy, but I’d love to. Don’t you love those early memories of beans and rice, which I can hardly say without thinking of Neil from the young ones.
As for the often windy aftermath of beans, I’m a nurse first then a nutritionist/naturopath. So I’m really cool with flatulence.
I just saw a clip on IG of a horse with colic who responded very well, in fact with impressive strength to a small manipulation. It was so impressive, it required a rewatch. 🤣
Beans might be humble but they are mighty. They sustained us during the war. There's nothing you cannot do with them. We once had an all-bean New Year's Eve feast, which I wrote about in one of my posts.
As for flatulance, you probably know that Mexicans add epazote to help with digestion.
Wonderful post, as usual, Lisa. I don’t know why, but I prefer cannellini and borlotti over red beans. I don’t think they count as kidney beans, do they? Or are they white kidney beans? Not sure, but they are all fagioli and all very good in their own way.
Fascinating. So much going on in a little bean. I remember working in a kitchen many years ago and the head chef would panic about poisoning someone with them. “Another ten minutes, keep going.”
Such a deep dive into Kidney beans. Incredible work, Lisa! I only really had Kidney beans in Beef chilli and refried beans. I honestly didn’t know if their health benefits. Thank you for sharing, Lisa-
Well hold your horses Aki, do we have some inspiration coming for you. There are a few cultures that really honour this bean, that’s where we are heading.
Looking forward!
Me too! I’ve started eating them more regularly here in California where refried beans and chilli are very popular.
Love reading about (and eating!) beans of all kinds. I think when cooked right and eaten regularly, they don’t cause as much flatulence as rumored, but I may be wrong about that. I make turkey chili quite often with kidney beans.
Ruth I totally agree about our bodies adapting and responding to eating beans. The impact on our microbiome of eating beans, improves our ability to digest them well. I’m having a chilli bean dish for dinner this evening too, I’m playing around with a new recipe. If it’s really good, I’ll share it. Thanks for reading Ruth, have a lovely weekend.
Thanks, Lisa. The additional info on the microbiome confirms my hunch about beans. I look forward to hearing more about your new recipe if it works out. Wishing you a great weekend too!🤗
What an incredible post. I do love this science series Lisa. The health benefits of the humble bean makes one realize they are not so humble! So well communicated - Excellent job.
Thank you Sheryl, I figure if people know more about why beans are good, they will eat more of them.
Good exhaustive report. My compliments 💐. Red beans is no doubt a powerhouse. I note from the table that three macro nutrients - protein, starch ( carbs) and fat - make up for only about 66%. The micronutrients about 2%. I expect bound moisture/water in dry beans could 1-2%. What is the rest, about 30%. Worth knowing.
Except Rajma, which is tasty with rice if well cooked, well made and correctly spiced, I cannot think any other major red beans based dish in Indian cuisine that is popular or common. Rajma’s unique taste is probably enhanced by the tomato gravy on which it is based. My wife makes cutlets, mixing it 1:1 with cooked potatoes and spiced for Indian pallet, good, but that is not as fulfilling as a 100% potato cutlet. In versatility about making some very exquisite dishes, another power house, Chick peas, is way ahead. For example, the middle eastern falafel. Falafel type dishes are made with many of our common dry lentils and beans, but not from red beans. Or the the South Indian light item - Sundal - a very old dish. For which, a variety of lentils and beans, including chick peas, its brown cousin, even raw peanuts, admirably lend themselves to. The reason could be the nature of protein and starches and how they give you a cooked mouth feel. Red beans is quite different in that property, compared to many others. You would have experienced that cooking red beans to a soft buttery feel is quite tricky compared to chick peas or many common lentils, which people can quickly master.,
This said and done, red beans have their place in any pantry and in the pantheon of common lentils and beans. I would look for your recipes and comments for popular red bean dishes from other cuisines, particularly Mexican or Latin American for some regular use.
Though you are showing only the large clean red coloured beans in pictures, we get here striped ones, lighter colour, both large and small sized. There is one Jammu rajma, which possibly could be the smaller striped one. I have heard that it makes very tasty gravied rajma dish, but I haven’t tasted one. You may be able to find out because you are doing some extensive search on this bean.
Thank you Moro for your deep dine into Rajma here. I think you will enjoy the post I have coming up about Rajma masala. Keep a watch for it.
Very nice deep dive into kidney beans. It will be interesting to see the Indian/Sri Lankan recipes of which I know nothing. When I went to Cuba in the 80s I used to live on rice ‘n’ beans! And their lovely salads and fruit dishes! The cakes weren’t bad either, now I come to recall. I think we nutritionists ought to be a bit more positive about the windy nature of beans. A) Breaking wind is normal -20/30 times a day. B) If you’ve overdone fast food for years your gut bacteria will be in a mess. The cure isn’t avoiding healthy food like beans, it’s avoiding UPFs!
I’ve never been to Cuba Wendy, but I’d love to. Don’t you love those early memories of beans and rice, which I can hardly say without thinking of Neil from the young ones.
As for the often windy aftermath of beans, I’m a nurse first then a nutritionist/naturopath. So I’m really cool with flatulence.
I just saw a clip on IG of a horse with colic who responded very well, in fact with impressive strength to a small manipulation. It was so impressive, it required a rewatch. 🤣
Nurses get used to bodily functions! Some people seem to have a bit of OCD around farting! You’ve inspired me to get writing on this issue.
Beans might be humble but they are mighty. They sustained us during the war. There's nothing you cannot do with them. We once had an all-bean New Year's Eve feast, which I wrote about in one of my posts.
As for flatulance, you probably know that Mexicans add epazote to help with digestion.
Amazing work, as always.
I’m a fan of all things that end in -nin :)
Beans in the winter is how I’m planning to approach Wisconsin when I return!
Wonderful post, as usual, Lisa. I don’t know why, but I prefer cannellini and borlotti over red beans. I don’t think they count as kidney beans, do they? Or are they white kidney beans? Not sure, but they are all fagioli and all very good in their own way.
Fascinating. So much going on in a little bean. I remember working in a kitchen many years ago and the head chef would panic about poisoning someone with them. “Another ten minutes, keep going.”