I do what I call soupy Mexican beans, like not quite a soup, but pinto beans in broth with Mexican spices and fresh herbs over rice. I just made it up.
I soak them overnight, then in the morning I drain, mix with some bouillon and water, and cook in a pressure cooker for 20 min. Then I add those beans to my daily meals in various ways.
My standard/favorite is that I airfry a lot of veggies (mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, onion...), and I add these cooked beans to the basket with a few minutes left. I marinate the veggies in oil and spices and before they go in, and the beans are good at soaking up the leftovers stuck to the marination bowl while the veggies cook. Then I put the beans and veggies in pasta with cheese (pasta fagioli mac and cheese!), on toast with tomato and cheese (like a pizza!), baked into a casserole of some sort (often with pierogies!), with shredded potato in a frying pan (latkes!), or with rice in a tortilla (burrito!). Varying the bean type and accompanying veggies prevents stagnation.
Sometimes I end up with extra bean broth from the pressure cooker, and I turn that into a gravy to go on french fries with some cheese and the beans and veggies to make poutine. Takes extra time (two uses of the airfrier), but super delicious. I'll probably list that as my favorite.
on tacos, followed by over cornbread, next most favorite as a dip, then over rice, then in stews (including chili), and then in soups. After that, maybe ground up into patties and fried?
One of my favorite Chinese restaurants makes this (fermented I think?) bean sauce specific to a single red snapper dish on their menu, and I wish they'd sell it by the gallon cuz that stuff is fucking incredible.
Couple different kinds of bean bao that hit pretty hard, too.
Doesn't look like the picture - it's smooth/pasty, dark red/brown. Mostly umani, little salty. Not sweet, no spicy. I don't think there's any chili oil - doesn't seem to separate like oil sauces do... then again, it might not stay on the plate long enough to separate even if it was going to!
Zoutvlees (salted beef) with black eyed beans, dried shrimp (or salted cod), Madame Jeanette peppers, cooked in rice and coconut milk. It's what's on the menu tonight.
I made vegan white beans as a Thanksgiving side. Normally I'd add bacon fat or sausage, but to keep them vegan I used coconut oil. Lots of it. Plus lots of seasoning and a bunch of nutritional yeast. They were on low heat for like 3 or 4 hours
Got more compliments on those beans than I did any of my other sides.
I can only eat green beans (my body doesn't handle well other types). My favourite way to eat them is stir-fried, served with pork ramen; it's a bit laborious but it tastes amazing.
I also like to chop them into small bits and add to arroz de forno (dunno the English name - it's leftover rice mixed with other ingredients, then baked with a cheese and breadcrumbs crust).
One that I really like is navy beans cooked in chicken broth and rosemary, served pretty loose and creamy but not too soupy. We eat it with a side of lemony broiled broccoli, a poached egg, and topped with aioli.
Seven vegetable soup with a half a cup of black beans added, some grated parmesan and whatever hot sauce I am feeling at the moment. It never gets old.
Refried pinto, black, & red beans, tomatillo & chipotle smoked salsa, Brown rice, Cholula, extra sharp white cheddar, seasoned chopped white chicken & pulled pork (cumin, chile, paprika, garlic, black pepper & onion powder) and all whipped us for a dip with Chile & Lime Plantain chips.
Literally just finished a nuked bowl of that that I made yesterday.
Hear me out - butter beans with butter (or butter flavoured substitute) and teriyaki, maybe a splash of soy sauce or other umami. Heat till the butter melts, mix and cover the beans well, add to rice or have as its own thing. Sweat and savoury with an added richness, all in about 2 minutes. Nom.
Actually tinned beans (and other pulses!) + melty buttery-ness + flavouring is generally an easy to make winner. Black pepper and or garlic powder for something simple, add to those coriander paprika turmeric chilli for something a bit more interesting. Plop on a jacket potato or mix with rice and mince/strips/whatever meaty substitute for a full meal.
Tonight I'm having some in a curry (red kidney beans along with tinned corn, peas, and pineapple, with madras paste from a jar mixed with coconut milk, on rice with some chicken alternative).
I actually haven't had chilli for a long time, but now I know what ingredients to order for my next grocery delivery lol