Why Beans No Longer Just Meanz Heinz …

Traditionally if we say beans the majority of us will think Heinz and the well-known famous tag line – Beans Meanz Heinz .. a close second will be the super comforting food that is beans on toast!

Heinz beans came about from American entrepreneur Henry J. Heinz, who in the early twentieth century, introduced Heinz Baked Beans in the UK.

Of course, there are many other brands such as Branston and all the supermarkets have their version of the tasty comfort food too.

However, there is more to beans than just the canned variety of haricots in a tomato sauce. Instead think of black, borlotti, cannellini, chickpeas, edamame, kidney, mung, pinto, soy beans – in fact there are allegedly over four hundred types of beans in the world!

Beans in their widest sense have been cultivated, prepared and eaten across continents for thousands of years. However, they are not generally seen as a food type to get overly excited about. And of course, beans are the butt (excuse the pun) of many jokes – they commonly contain oligosaccharides, a slowly digesting carbohydrate that can cause us to bloat and make us gassy. However, by adding beans to your diet gradually you should be able to increase their digestibility – and it’s worth it.

Why? Because firstly, they are extremely nutritious. They are a great source of plant based protein and fibre and in addition, they offer folate and antioxidants and are low in saturated fat. All of which promotes a heathy gut, good weight maintenance and it’s even thought to help with a healthy heart and reducing the risk of certain cancers. Moreover, they are cheap – costing mere pennies per portion. And they are versatile – beans on toast, beans on a jacket pot, a bean stew or soup, beans cooked and mushed to make delicious dips and sumptuous sandwich fillers and the list goes on...

And – and this is the punch line folks – there has been efforts to change our relationship with beans of late and they certainly seem to be growing in popularity – beans can be cool - so are you on the Bean Band Wagon?!?!

Let’s throw out the outdated view that beans are bland, fiddly to cook, or even poverty food that make us gassy and let’s instead recognise that beans can be delicious.

We have established these little legumes are cost effective and packed with goodness helping to fill our bodies with nutrition, but are they tasty? There are some new players on the block working towards upgrading the street cred of the humble bean - one to shout about is Bold Bean Co – and if you are not currently a bean fan then funnily enough neither was, Amelia Christie-Miller, founder of Bold Bean Co! She says she started her life hating beans! She thought they were dull and tasteless!

But she has changed that view as at Bold Bean Co they are all about making ‘truly delicious, melt-in-the-mouth beans’. So you can cook some delicious nutritious meals with the humble yet beautiful bean and there are lots of great recipe ideas out there. Check out the Bold Bean Co website & Recipe Book, dedicated to tasty nutritious delightful dishes all containing beans.

Another company that’s excited about all things legumes is Hodmedod's. A small, independent business sourcing and supplying beans and other products from British farms. All Hodmedod's pulses and grains are British-grown which is a big plus as we’re all for supporting our British farmers, lowering the carbon footprint and being as sustainable as we can be.

In our farming systems, beans play a key role in regenerative crop rotations: breaking pest and weed cycles, fixing nitrogen in the soil and creating fertile ground for the crops that follow them. So they are good for people, pocket and planet!

Hodmedod’s have a great selection of  dried beans – great for cooking as well as ready-to-use canned beans for speed and convenience. There is also roast beans and peas to create a tasty snack – perfect for the upcoming festivities. Maybe try roasted and salted Fava Beans – instead of the ‘go to’ peanut … British-grown fava beans are roasted in rapeseed oil and seasoned with a little sea salt to create a yummy tasty healthy snack.

So, as we hunker down for winter this may just be the perfect time of year to go all in on the bean – think a cosy comforting bowl of Bean Stew with a chunk of wholemeal bread in front of the fire and snacking on dried tasty beans with your G&T this Christmas. And looking further ahead to the New Year, for those perhaps trying Meat Free Monday in January or even going all in for Veganuary, use beans to make great meals high in plant based protein.

As always at The Tale of A Teaspoon, we love your thoughts – so let us know how often you eat beans, if you’re going to up your intake and particularly if you have any great recipes – then please share @thetaleofateaspoon.