Posted March 27, 2012
Q: My doctor wants me to try a vegan diet. What are good ways to flavor beans?
A: Vegan or not, beans are a great thing to add to your diet. They’re high in protein and they’re usually cheap, especially if you get in the habit of cooking dried beans. Even canned beans are affordable if you buy them on sale (rinse them to lower the sodium, though).
The great thing about beans, though, is how versatile they are. Depending on the herb or flavoring, you can take beans in almost any direction. For kidney, pinto or black beans, add cumin and chili powder. For a Greek or Italian style with cannellini or other white beans, try oregano, basil or thyme.
Crescent Dragonwagon, well known for her vegetarian cookbooks, has a new bean book, “Bean By Bean,” (Workman, $15.95). All the recipes aren’t vegetarian, but many are. For advice on moving toward a vegan diet, try Mark Bittman’s “The Food Matters Cookbook” (Simon & Schuster, 2010), about his own journey away from meat.
(Kathleen Purvis answers questions at www.charlotteobserver.com/food.)