4 Easy & Delicious Ways To Cook New Life Into Leftover Beans

If by the time your beans are tender, their skins have burst and they've turned to mush, blend them—leaving behind some of their cooking liquid—with a clove of pounded garlic and a long drizzle of olive oil. Now you have bean purée, which can top little crisp crostini or be spread on crackers or eaten like mashed potatoes with a hearty chop. A little pour of cream or a spoonful of ghee are good additions. Or, turn overcooked beans into soup by puréeing them with their liquid, adding a bit of stock or water if needed and a few drops of red wine vinegar. Or turn them into a version of hummus by blending them with a clove of pounded garlic, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a spoonful of tahini paste.

Ingredients:

1–2 cups cooked beans, 2–3 cups well-seasoned bean or farro cooking liquid, 1 Parmesan rind, 1 sprig rosemary, salt, 1 lb short pasta (ditalini, orecchiette, lumache), 3–4 tbsp. best-possible olive oil plus more to taste, freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, lemon juice (optional)

Method:

Ingredients:

¼–½ cup cooked beans, 1–2 cups leftover cooked greens (kale or collards or chard), 1–2 eggs, salt, olive oil, pickled chiles or a beloved chili oil (optional)

Method:

Ingredients:

Optional cilantro-garlic paste (½ bunch cilantro, including stems, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp. olive oil, salt), ½ cup cooked beans, hard-crusted bread, 1 clove garlic, halved, 1–2 eggs, butter (or ghee or olive oil), Sichuan chili crisp or other beloved chili oil

Method:

If your beans are canned, make the cilantro-garlic paste: Chop the cilantro and garlic, then pound to a paste with salt. Heat a small pot, add the oil, and cook the cilantro-garlic mixture over medium heat until it just begins to soften, about 2 min. In a small pot (the one with the cilantro-garlic paste if using), sprinkle the beans with a little water and warm them through. Toast the bread and rub with the cut side of the clove of garlic. In a small pan, fry the egg(s) in butter. When the beans are warm and the eggs cooked, spoon the beans over the toast, top with the egg, and dollop with chili crisp.

This is also good with sliced scallions on top. It is perhaps worth adding that beans are good in, on, or under any breadlike substance. Follow the procedure above, but spoon the beans over a tortilla, or in injera, or chapati or a dosa or a pita, and so on.