Ideas of 'bean' kind of meals please!!

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

We need more pulses and my mind is blank!

Bean or lentil soup?
For pulses, I prefer lentils to beans.
I make a nice and quick red lentil soup with carrot, celery, onion and a dash of tomato passata and pimentón. A little bit of parsnip too.
Or a lentil stew with continental lentils with potato (in small squares), a handful or rice (the rissoto type) and carrots.
Sorry, these are not very summery.
You can also do vegetarian fajitas, with red kidney bean instead of meat and the usual peppers, mushrooms etc.

Chilli bean fajitas are delicious and a nice sociable meal, as everyone gets covered in stuff trying to wrap up their food

Black eye beans make a nice bake: fry some onions and garlic till soft, add a can of rinsed beans and some chopped tomatoes plus a few spoons of red pesto, cook for a bit. Then bung in an oven dish and top with thinly sliced potatoes, then a layer of grated cheese. Bake till the potatoes are soft in the middle and crunchy on top.

It is tasty but again, very wintery! I'll try and think of some more summery stuff. There's always home made hummus...great with dipped veg or pitta bread.

Chickpea and spinach curry
Dahl
Falafel

There's a really warming bean stew/soup in Nigel Slater's Real Food. It's got pancetta, cabbage, tomatoes etc. It's rather more wintery stuff than summer though.

If you like the idea, I'll copy out post the recipe.

chorizo and bean stew

chickpea and pepper curry

lentil chilli/bolognese

If you fancy any of these I will post the recipes.

Sausage and bean stew is yummy - we call it hangover stew as we always used to make when hungover.

Sorry - posted before finishing. Happy to post recipe if you fancy.

Bean salad?? Mix together whatever beans you have - I use tinned and usually have chickpeas, flagelot or cannellini, sweetcorn, red onion, tomatoes, chorizo sausage, olives, green beans (tinned or fresh). Anything you have to hand really. Serve with a spicy dressing - I use soy, worcs sauce, tabasco, garlic, mustard, oil & vinegar. Serve with crusty bread & butter if required.

Yum.

Thank you for your speedy replies and yes please Chica if it isn't too much trouble - that does sounds delish!!

These do sound wintery BUT they are definitely sounding like my kind of thing - all ideas both summer and winter will be gratefully received!!

Also lamb & chickpea stew with redwine is a standby in this house...

A Spanish chickpea and spinach soup? That woman who won Masterchef (Thomasina?) did a version of it on her TV programme a couple of months ago.

Basically, if you use dried chickpeas, soak them, then boil them up with a bay leaf or two for however long it takes.

When they're done (or with the contents of a can), get fresh water or stock, and boil up a potato or two (small pieces), a carrot or two (ditto), maybe some celery if you like it. When the veg are tender, add a load of spinach and let it wilt down.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, soften a chopped onion, and when it's done, take it off the heat and stir in a tablespoon of paprika. Then add this to the soup.

yum

I've got a fantastic Madhur Jaffrey recipe for spicy chickpeas, if you like curry

I've made this recipe from the Guardian before, it's really delicious and filling. If you don't eat meat, just omit the pancetta and chuck in some paprika instead.

Chunky chickpea soup

This version of a minestrone is really a meal in its own right. It's packed with lovely winter vegetables and is a 'one-pot wonder' that will improve with age. I consider pancetta, the cured Italian bacon, to be an essential ingredient that should be on hand in every kitchen.

Serves 4

2 tbs olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb, cut into small cubes
100g pancetta, cut into small cubes
1 carrot, grated
1 potato, cut into small cubes
1.5l chicken stock
400g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
80g fresh spinach, chopped
50g parmesan cheese, finely grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the leek, fennel and pancetta and cook for 5 minutes over high heat, until the leek softens and the pancetta really flavours the oil. Add the carrot, potato, stock and chickpeas and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper then add the spinach. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, until the spinach has wilted throughout the soup.

Serve with parmesan sprinkled on top.

Next time: Add 100 g small pasta (try the little rice-shaped pastas such as risoni or orzo) instead of chickpeas and simmer until the pasta is cooked through before adding the final few ingredients. This will give you a very thick soup that you may even need a fork to eat!

Tomato, bacon and bean stew (NIgel Slater). Serves 4

250g cannellini, flageolet or haricot beans
bay leaves
olive oil (the good sort)
2 medium red onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
a couple of handfuls of diced smoked bacon such as pancetta
2 sticks celery, chopped
2x medium tins (400g)tomatoes
4 handfuls spring greens or cabbage, shredded
parley leaves, handful
extra virgin olive oil
grated parmesan cheese

Soak beans overnight. Next day, put them on to boil with plenty of water, bayleaves and a glug of olive oil. Simmer until they are really tender (about 50 mins). After a few minutes, skim off the white froth that rises to the surface. When they are ready, turn the heat off but don't throw away the water.

Warm a little olive oil in a large, deep pan. Enough to cover the bottom of the pan comfortably. Add the onions and the garlic and cook over a slow heat until they have softened but not browned. Throw in the bacon and the celery, and cook until the fat turns golden brown.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, the beans and enough of their cooking liquid to cover everything. You will probably need all of it and even a drop of water too. you can stick the bay leaves in too. Simmer for about hald an hour and then add the spring greens or cabbage and parsley leaves. Continue cooking for about 20 mins.

Add some salt (be generous), and black pepper. Take the pan to the table and ladle into bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and a scattering of paremesan on each. delicious with crusty bread. Tastes even better the next day.

Thank you loads for typing out those recipes - they look gorgeous!!

Spicy chickpeas sounds very yummy to and yes yes yes to the recipe!!

A really quick and easy one is a Pasta and Butter Bean dish we have.

Put some pasta on to boil.
In a seperate pan heat up a tub of Creme Fraiche, tin of butter beans, few spoons of pesto. Add black pepper and a dollop of Boursin (optional)

When cooked combine the two.

Serve with grated parmesan and toasted pine nuts sprinkled on top.

I make a chorizo and chickpea stew. Fry garlis in pan, add tinned toms, S&P and lemon zest and juice. Add chickpeas. Mash with masher or whizz with hand-held blender, but not for long. Key is to make sure some chickpeas are still whole while others have made stew chunky. Cut chorizo into pieces and grill until sizzling. Serve stew in bowls, sprinke chorizo on top and sprinkle on fresh coriander.

I also make a couple of butter bean salads (you could use Cannelini as well).

One you simmer butter beans to soften a little. In bowl add halved cherry toms, sliced red onion, chopped parsley, capers, and crumbled feta cheese. In the pan that the beans are in I add a load of spinach and when it's wilted I drain and add to salad. Season and serve.

Other one is simmer beans as per above. In bowl add cherry toms, red onion, parsley. Sizzle some chorizo under grill and add. Make a dressing with olive oil, sherry vinegar and add this (I sometimes add some heat to this too with a bit of paprika, chilli or mustard).

Madhur Jaffrey's spicy chickpeas

You will need:

2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs ground coriander seeds
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 cans chickpeas
2 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1 tbsp ground amchoor (I've never used this as never have it in the house, so you can do without if need be)
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1/2-1 tsp salt
1 tbsp or more lemon juice
1 fresh hot green chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

Fry the chopped onions and garlic in some veg oil over a medium heat till they're soft and cooked. Add the first lot of spices (coriander, cumin, chilli powder, turmeric) and stir for a few seconds. Now add the tomatoes, stir and fry till everything's amalgamated into a lovely fragrant red-brown mess. Add the rinsed drained chickpeas and 8floz water. Stir. Add the second lot of spices (roasted cumin, amchoor, paprika, garam masala), salt and lemon juice. Stir again. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green chilli and ginger, stir, and cook uncovered for a few minutes longer.

This is cheap as chips and so tasty, plus it's even better made the day before - the flavours really develop overnight

Brilliant thank you - again I really appreciate you typing these in

No problem, I love a good recipe share