Kidney Bean

For those who like hot stuff, the hot chilies add a fiery kick to this soup. If you’d like a toned-down version, use mild chilies. This makes a big pot of soup, perfect for feeding a crowd. This is delicious served with a big salad and nachos or quesadillas made with Vegan Gourmet nacho-style nondairy cheese.

Growing up in the South, we were surrounded by three-bean salads, which are something of an aquired taste. We ate up Mama’s beans and ham hocks, but give us kids a cold bean salad and we’d be out the backdoor. Well, now we’ve seen the error of our ways—plus canned beans seem to be better these days, less mushy and more flavorful. Here we toss them with spicy cheese and leftover ham for a main-course salad that’s delicious served with cornbread.

Serve this hearty chili over rice for a simple meal, or do it up Deen style over a bowl of Fritos corn chips with cheese, fresh onions, and sour cream. It sure tastes good with Moist-and-Easy Corn Bread (page 45).

Canned beans can’t compete with dried ones on flavor, versatility, or price. Cooking times for dried beans vary greatly depending on the variety and on how long they have been stored: the fresher they are, the faster they cook. This recipe can be used with any white-ish or cranberry-type bean, and the general method can be used for any dried beans with variations on the seasonings: pair pink varieties like pintos or kidneys with smoked bacon, oregano, and beer; season pale green flageolets with stewed leeks and fennel. Heirloom Beans, by Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo, is a good resource for bean cookery.

Few true barbecue recipes provide instant gratification, because time is the key element in producing magnificent results when cooking a whole beef brisket or pork shoulder. Baked bean recipes are similar in this regard. It takes time for all of the flavors to meld together to produce the perfect batch of beans. While these peppers cook on the grill, the brown sugar and maple syrup caramelize to form a crust on top of the beans. The pepper makes a perfect cooking dish and serving bowl, while adding flavor to the slow-cooked beans.

This nutty bean purée is inspired by lobio, a marinated bean salad from the Georgian Republic.

In the Caribbean, red beans and rice are cooked together, but at Moosewood we like to ladle saucy red beans over a bed of fragrant coconut rice and garnish with a little greenery.

There must be as many recipes for chili as there are cooks. This one has the surprising addition of lentils and the smoky spiciness of chipotles.

Italian stews are called spezzatini because the meat is cut into pieces; spezzare means “to cut up” or “break up.” This is the prototypical one-pot meal: Throw all the ingredients into a pot, and you have a great dinner.

Like chocolate, the chile peppers that give chili its name and flavor come from Mexico. By assembling the many ingredients below and allowing them to cook together over low heat, you can easily imagine earlier versions of this Mexican stew (despite a few modern concessions). The cocoa powder adds depth and earthiness to the spicy indigenous flavors. This is a big batch and serves 15 people. You can also freeze it.

If you like gumbo, you will like this one-dish beef meal. This recipe lends itself well to experimentation, so try different vegetables and beans for variety. To stretch the number of servings, ladle the mixture over steamed brown rice.

You may want to prepare a double batch of these burgers so you’ll have enough to serve without the pita bread at another meal. Try them with roasted sweet potato wedges and fresh fruit.

Asian adzuki beans and fresh mushrooms contrast nicely with aromatic vegetables, thyme, and cumin in this updated version of a classic dish.

This eclectic pilaf is a real time-saver. You need to spend only about five minutes to get it going, then you can leave it alone to cook while you do other things—and you’ll have just one pan to wash.

Gina: Every once in a while, my girls and I get on a little veggie kick, and they convince me to take a break from meat (amazing what a cheerleader uniform—theirs, not mine, hon—can do to you). This hearty, spicy chili is so satisfying that even Pat—my steak-and-potatoes man—loves it. The secret ingredient, bulgur (also called cracked wheat), thickens the stew when cooked and helps create a “meaty” texture. The addition of canned fire-roasted tomatoes and an unusual mix of spices gives this chili an exotic aroma and plenty of depth. More often than not, this chili is a family affair—Spenser and Shelbi help me cut up all the colorful vegetables and tell me about their respective days, while Pat makes the cornbread that goes so well with the stew, sets the table, and privately mourns the meat that he will not be having for dinner!

Pat: Texas style chili is all about beef, but since Memphis is all about the pigs, we give our pot a little love by adding ground pork as well. The combination of the two meats is, well, paradise for a guy like me, and it gives this chili a robust flavor and satisfying depth. Plenty of garlic, pure ground chile powder, and a bottle of beer make this one kicking combination. We call for kidney beans, but you can use black beans instead. A dollop of sour cream helps cool the fire.

This is one of the most popular sauces in Iran and a favorite of mine. Dried limes and the herb fenugreek give it a unique and delicious bitter-sour taste. Flat-leaf parsley, chives, and in some versions dill and cilantro complete the symphony of flavors. Fresh fenugreek can be found in Iranian and Oriental stores in the summer, and packets of dried fenugreek leaves are available the year round. Only a little is used, because it is very powerful. The dried limes can be found in Oriental and Indian stores in various forms, whole, broken into pieces, and powdered. To make them yourself, see page 44. If you can’t find the powdered one, add an extra whole one. Serve with plain rice steamed in the Persian manner (page 338) or the quick and easy boiled and steamed rice (page 339).