Beans and Grain Recipes

Traditional Cajun red beans and rice with salt pork, dried red kidney beans, and Italian seasoning. Boil the pork to remove salt, simmer beans with peppers and garlic for 3 hours until creamy. Serve over white rice.

Tropical fruit and black bean salsa with diced mango, pineapple, papaya, red onion, and jalapeño. A fresh, no-cook salsa that's sweet, spicy, and colorful.

From-scratch tuna mushroom casserole with Swiss cheese, green beans, dill, and buttered bread crumb topping. No canned soup needed. Homemade comfort food that beats the shortcut version every time.

A spicy and delicious chili made with potatoes, red kidney beans and macaroni.

A hearty one-skillet dinner with turkey, kidney beans, and rice simmered in crushed tomatoes and chili powder, topped with melted Monterey Jack. Everything cooks together in one pan for an easy 45-minute weeknight meal.

Vegetarian two-bean tofu chili with black beans, kidney beans, and tofu marinated in soy sauce, red wine, and Dijon mustard. A hearty, meaty-tasting plant-based chili that feeds a crowd.

Valencian red beans and rice with bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, pimento-stuffed olives, allspice, and cilantro. A one-pot Caribbean-meets-Spanish vegetarian dish.

A homemade vanilla pecan liqueur: brandy slowly infused with pecans, vanilla beans, and cinnamon, then sweetened with sugar syrup. A smooth, nutty after-dinner sipper worth the weeks-long wait.

This would probably be really good with cauliflower or zucchini instead of eggplant.

A thick, rustic Italian-style soup loaded with penne, cannellini beans, fennel, zucchini, and summer squash simmered in vegetable broth spiked with dry vermouth. Low-fat, naturally vegetarian, and feeds 8 from one big pot in about an hour.

Quick microwave vegetable chili with kidney beans, zucchini, jalapeños, and bell peppers in a cumin-oregano tomato base. Ready in 45 minutes, topped with melty cheese.

Chunky minestrone loaded with red potatoes, white beans, barley, corn, and peas in a crushed tomato broth with leeks and basil. Makes a full gallon for big batch meal prep.

Vegetable pilau with turmeric brown rice layered over spiced green beans, peas, and carrots, baked and topped with toasted almonds. A fragrant vegan Indian rice dish.

Garden-fresh vegetable soup with Roma tomatoes, new potatoes, corn cut from the cob, and a bouquet garni of oregano, parsley, and lemon zest. Ready in 30 minutes.

Vegetable tamale pie with pinto beans, peppers, tomatoes, and melted cheddar under a yogurt-cornmeal biscuit topping. A vegetarian Tex-Mex casserole that swaps cornbread for a lighter tamale crown.

A from-scratch vegetable bean soup simmered for hours with dried kidney beans, chunky potatoes, carrots, zucchini, leeks, savoy cabbage, and brown rice. Old-fashioned, freezer-friendly, and endlessly customizable. One big pot feeds 8.