By Maggie Conklin
Beans, Beans ♪
When you think of beans, you likely think of the common commercially-raised dried ones like black beans, pintos, great northern, navy and kidney beans.
You might also think of fresh ones such as green string beans and yellow wax beans. And what about legumes like peas, lentils, chickpeas and soybeans?
How many different kinds of beans do you think there are? Two dozen? Three dozen?
There are now more than 400 different types of beans grown in the world. One source states there might have been about 30,000 different types over the centuries, but many have disappeared.
Beans are high in fiber (thus the “musical” aspect of the “fruit”), vitamins, minerals and even protein.
They are also high in the Lysine amino acid, which is antiviral and clinically proven to specifically work to prevent the herpes virus from re-emerging; this is the virus responsible for cold sores, canker sores and shingles. Eating beans regularly prevents these things!
They are inexpensive and can be safely stored in their dried form for many years. Some anthropologists have found viable beans dating back thousands of years.
Yes, certain people can be sensitive to proteins in beans and legumes, but this is rare. It is genetic, and you’d probably already know if you’re one of them.
There is a new resurgence for heirloom beans. I haven’t seen them recently in our local farmers markets, but I’ll ask for them next spring.
These beans include interesting names like Mayocoba, Royal Corona, Moro and Marcella. Heirloom beans often cook in a shorter amount of time than common ones, and are known to have wonderfully complex flavors and textures.
We don’t have to worry about losing more varieties of beans in the future, because those delightfully forward-thinking Norwegians have built a secret underground Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It holds duplicates of all the seeds, including beans, currently available.
Brilliant!