30 Days of Beans = A whole lot of beans

My food blogger friend over at Kitchen Hospitality and I have each decided to blog a series of 30 posts on only one theme.  She has chosen slow cooker meals, and I’m looking forward to some of her recipes.  For my theme, I chose beans.  I have to admit that when I announced that I was going to blog about 30 days of beans, she looked at me as if she though I was crazy.  Her comment “That’s a lot of beans” confirmed for me that she thinks that I’m crazy.

Why Beans?

I have a several good reasons for choosing to do a series of recipes using beans.

Beans are:

• A great pantry staple
• Inexpensive
• Highly versatile
• Full of fiber
• Loaded with nutrients
• A good source of protein
• Available in a variety of different forms–dried, canned, frozen
• Easy to find in most stores

It’s no secret that I like beans, peas, and lentils.

Previous posts about beans, peas, and lentils include:

Degassing Beans

Beans and Greens

Navy Bean Soup

Red Beans and Rice

Rice with Lentils

Tomato Soup with Lentils

There are also multiple recipes which include beans but are not specifically a “bean recipe.”

Mom’s Albondigas Soup

Hoppin’ John Soup

Taco Bake

Several  of my salad in a jar recipes also contain beans.

Taco Salad in a Jar

Trip to a Pizza Parlor’s Salad Bar in a Jar

Another Taco Salad in a Jar

It’s clear that we regularly eat a fair amount of beans, so 30 days of beans really won’t be much of a hardship for us.

I’m allowing myself to use both dried and canned beans, and the recipes can feature beans as the star of the dish, like in my navy bean soup recipe, or in a supporting role, like the garbanzo beans in the albondigas soup.   The real challenge will be in finding some new and unusual ways to make use of this very versatile pantry staple.

Check back daily.  We will be posting a new bean recipe every day this month.

Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.