As the world faces a pandemic, eating well at home takes on a high priority. Many home pantries showcase canned goods including a lineup of canned beans, the cornerstones of spur-of-the-moment meals that are high in protein and fiber. The whush-whirl sound of lid parting can announces that dinner is just minutes away. It’s a welcome tune to a frazzled cook’s ears.

Purists might argue that cooked-from-scratch beans are better, insisting that canned beans are saltier and more expensive. True, but dried can take an hour or two to cook, eliminating them as a candidate for quick-to-prepare meals. Folks with concerns about salt can plop the beans from the can into a colander. Once rinsed with cold water, they shimmer like tiny pebbles in a shallow stream. As a general rule, don’t add much salt to the dish until it is completed; add salt to taste to the finished dish.

To substitute canned beans in a recipe that calls for from-scratch cooking, remember that in the cooking process, dried beans expand to almost three times their size; 1/2 cup of dried beans becomes about 1 1/3 cups of cooked beans. A 15-ounce can contains about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of beans, but measurements can vary from one producer to the next. Fortunately, recipes that call for beans generally don’t require exact measurements.

For an easy bean soup, cook 1 small onion (chopped) and 2 peeled carrots (diced) in 2 tablespoons olive oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Open two 15-ounce cans of navy beans, great northern white beans or cannellini beans (rinse in colander if concerned about salt); add to onion mixture. Add 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, vegetable broth or water. (If desired, add a 1/2 cup diced ham.) Bring to boil on high heat; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove about 1 1/2 cups of soup and puree (in blender or food processor — or if you have an immersion blender, place wand in soup and whirl long enough to puree about 1/3 of the mixture). Return pureed mixture to soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, or some seasoned salt such as Spike or Lawry’s. I usually add a little hot sauce to jazz it up; Frank’s RedHot is a favorite because it adds both “heat” and a welcome acidity.

Crispy-Crunchy Roasted Cannellini Beans

Roasted cannelllini beans make for an addictive snack. (Photo by Cathy Thomas)

If you have a can of cannellini beans, start your canned bean culinary adventure with these Crispy-Crunchy Roasted Cannellini Beans. They make a delightfully noisy out-of-hand snack, as well as a scrumptious topper for salads or roasted vegetables. A word of caution: They are addictive. Enjoy within 2 to 3 hours for the best crunch.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

One (15-ounce can) cannellini beans

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 large garlic cloves, smashed, peeled

Optional: small pinch dried red pepper flakes

Coarse salt

Optional: freshly ground black pepper

PROCEDURE

1. Place beans in colander and rinse with cold running water. Shake colander a couple of times to remove excess water and turn out onto a clean dish towel. Bring up corners of towel and gently pat beans dry. Allow to rest and further dry out while oven heats up. Adjust oven rack to middle of oven and turn to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, toss beans with oil, rosemary, garlic, and (if using) dried red pepper flakes (I use a silicone spatula for tossing because it is gentler on the beans). Turn out onto a rimmed baking sheet (don’t worry if some of the beans are cracked). With spatula, spread beans out into single layer so that they aren’t crowded together. Season with coarse salt and if desired, black pepper. Roast 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Beans should be crunchy and golden brown.

Source: Anna Stockwell, Epicurious.com

Black Bean Salsa

A topping of tangy black bean salsa perks up grilled fish fillets, sautéed tofu, chicken breasts or ground turkey burgers. It can be used as a simple blueprint that can be augmented with ingredients that you have on hand, such as 1/2 avocado (chopped), 1 medium mango (chopped), 1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned or thawed frozen) or 1/2 red (or green or yellow) bell pepper (diced).

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup cooked black beans (drained, and if canned, rinsed in colander)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 large ripe tomato (seeded and chopped)

1/2 pickled or fresh jalapeño (finely chopped), or to suit your taste, see cook’s notes

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice.

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook’s notes: Use caution when working with chilies; upon completion, wash hands and work surface and do NOT touch your eyes or face.

PROCEDURE

1. Combine all ingredients in nonreactive bowl. Toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, adding more salt, pepper or lime juice to suit your taste.

Lucy’s Beans

Lucy’s Beans are based on the dish served by Lucy Luhan at her bed and breakfast from Villa Lucia outside Florence, Italy. (Photo by Nick Koon)

Tuscans, known by their countrymen as mangiafagioli (bean eaters), are famous for their bean dishes. When spending a week with Lucy Luhan at her bed and breakfast outside Florence, our group tasted her incredible butter beans on more than one occasion. I experimented with regular store-bought canned butter beans, leeks and an off-the-shelf, high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. The dish isn’t exactly the same, but it is very, very good.

Yield: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

3 large leeks, trimmed, white and light green portion (2 cups when sliced)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 (14-ounces each) butter beans (fagioli bianchi di Spagna) with liquid

Pinch dried red pepper flakes

Salt to taste, if needed

PROCEDURE

1. Cut leeks (white and light green portion) in half horizontally. Place under cold running water and pull layers apart to wash away any dirt. Place cut side down on cutting board and cut into thin slices.

2. Heat olive oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes or until leeks start to soften. Reduce heat to low and cook gently 3 minutes (do NOT brown). Add beans, liquid and pepper flakes.

3.Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently 10 to 15 minutes. Canned beans have varying amounts of liquid with them. If pan becomes too dry, add a little water or chicken broth. If there is too much liquid after simmering, continue to simmer until desired consistency is reached. Taste and add salt and/or more chili flakes as needed.

Source: Lucy Luhan, Villa Lucia, Tuscany, Italy

White-Bean Bruschetta with Sugar Snap Peas

Cannellini beans, those large white kidney beans that are so

White-bean bruschetta with sugar snap peas is a delicious spread made with large white kidney beans. (Photo by Angie Cao)

popular in Italian cuisine, make creamy spreads to use as appetizers. Here the earthy mash is augmented with a little extra-virgin olive oil along with vinegar, parsley, basil, red onion and tomato. The mixture can be prepared several hours in advance and stored airtight in the refrigerator. The optional sugar snap peas can also be prepared in advance. Once blanched, refresh with cold water and remove the strings; wrap peas in a clean kitchen towel, place the towel in a partially closed plastic bag and refrigerate.

Yield: 8 servings, about 2 per person

INGREDIENTS

4 (1/2-inch wide) slices rustic whole wheat bread, such as sourdough wheat

1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon, divided use, see cook’s notes

1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

Optional garnish: 16 sugar snap peas

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 Roma tomato, cored, seeded, finely diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional: 2 ounces thinly slice prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips

Cook’s notes: If you prefer to eliminate the oil, toast the bread without brushing with olive oil. Canned beans can be salty, so use caution when adding salt in step 3 to taste; none may be needed.

PROCEDURE

1. Adjust oven rack to a position about 8- to 10-inches below broiler element. Preheat broiler. Place bread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Brush both sides of bread lightly with oil, using 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Broil until bread is brown on the outside edges but slightly soft in the center. Turn, sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt and repeat broiling method. When cool enough to handle, cut each slice in half crosswise; cut each half in half again to make 16 crisp pieces of bread.

2. If using sugar snap peas: Add about 4 cups of water to a large saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat. Add sugar snap peas and blanch until tender-crisp, 30 to 60 seconds. Drain and refresh with cold water. If present, remove strings when cool enough to handle.

3. Place cannellini beans in medium bowl; mash to a coarse consistency with fork. Add 1 tablespoon oil, vinegar, parsley, basil, red onion, tomato, salt and pepper; stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

4. If using, top each toasted bread with 1 or 2 prosciutto strips. Top each with a spoonful of bean mixture. If desired garnish each with a sugar snap pea. Serve. Meatless option: omit prosciutto.

Source: “50 Best Plants on the Planet” by Cathy Thomas