I like pretty much every kind of bean, but if pressed I’d probably say that red kidney beans are my very favorite. I love the texture and how substantial they are. They do take a bit of extra soak time, but it’s worth it.
I picked up some black-eyed peas a couple weeks ago; I’ve never had what I’d call an exceptional bowl of them, but I figured I’d give it a try since (not to brag) I can make really good beans and I’d never tried cooking them before. I made the best bowl of them I’d ever had— collard greens, boudin, lots of aromatics, herbs, and spices. After all that effort though, I still felt like they’d have been better with pinto beans instead. C’est la vie.
So what kind of bean do you prefer, and which ones leave you cold? Also, any advice on black-eyed peas would be nice; I’m still not ready to give up on them.
Navy beans are my least favorite. Too small to offer much substance from texture. I really only keep them around to blend them to thicken a soup.
Kidney are the best for flavor, color and texture. But as a kid who grew up in formerly Mexican territory I will always love the versatility of pintos. Solid or mushed. Just great all around.
I haven’t done the experiments I want with cranberry beans to see if they are interchangeable with pintos for some applications.
That’s interesting, I smash about a cup of the beans in red beans and rice to thicken it up, but I’ve never tried using them specifically as a thickening agent; I’ll have to give that a try with some navy beans.
Pintos are so good, too. Top 3 bean for sure.
If you aren’t smashing some beans for your red beans and rice then something has gone wrong.