This very new food slogan reflects the changing attitude to beans. Long regarded as cheap and rather boring ingredients for vegetarians, they are now at the forefront of the current drive to add more fibre to our diets.
For many baked beans on toast is as far as they have got with their bean cuisine. However, I have been using beans in my recipes books for many years. So to inspire you on, here on some very recent ideas along with others from the past
Beans in Tomato Coriander Sauce
This delicious combination came about with the need to use up a carton of cherry tomatos which were on their last legs!
I cut them in half and baked them in a hot oven with a little olive oil drizzled over the top. On cooling, I popped them in the blender with a handful of fresh coriander, salt and pepper. I then used this mix to dress a drained can of white beans, but you could use any kind of beans or even chick peas. Serve as a side dish in place of rice or potatoes or use as the base for another dish such as One Pot Chicken Verdura. Store any excess in the freezer.
One Pot Chicken Verdura
The inspiration for this warming one pot casserole came from a visit to Puglia where vegetables are often the star of the show. I have added chicken thighs to add more protein and Instead of the usual Mediterranean vegetables I have used winter vegetables which are coming on stream further north.
Ingredients:
6 tablespoon Beans in Coriander Sauce
Prepare and chop a selection of four or five winter vegetables such as celery, carrots, leeks, butternut squash and celeriac.
Mix vegetable stock with a little corn or potato flour to make a thin paste. Take are not to use too much or the sauce Will be too thick.
Flavour with 1 heaped teaspoon oregano, Rosemary of tarragon to taste
Salt and pepper
4 boned and skinned chicken thighs
Method:
Place the beans in the base of an ovenproof casserole dish and top with the chopped vegetables
Stir in the herbs and seasoning.
Arrange the chicken thighs on the top.
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C and cover with foil after 30 minutes. Continue baking for another 15 minutes until the thighs are cooked through.
Mexican Refried Beans
This recipe offers another way to cook beans to use in a variety of diffent ways. It comes from a The Little Bean Book, one of a series of little books on specific ingredients that I wrote for Piatkus Books in the early eighties. Traditionally served with Chilli con Carne in taco shells I also use it instead of hash browns in a breakfast fry up or in place of toast for poached or fried eggs
Ingredients
100g streaky bacon, diced
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed, optional
450g canned beans,
1 fresh chilli, seeded and chopped
½ teasp ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
Method
Fry the bacon until crisp and remove and keep to one side.
Add the onion and garlic to the pan, frying until lightly browned
Add the beans, stirring and crushing about half of them.
Finally stir in the chilli, cinnamon and seasoning to taste.
Use as required of store in the freezer
Lentil and Carrot Soup with Watercress Salsa
The Bean slogan also takes in lentils, chickpeas and peanuts as these, like beans, are pulses. I have taken this récipe from The Olive Oil Diet, a book I co-wrote with Dr Simon Pool, a medical practioner, nutritionist and expert on the Mediterranean Diet. The inspiration 
came from the chef at Chateau Estoublon, a great olive oil estate in the Vallee des Baux, who used the wonderful Puy lentils from the Auvergne.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 150g carrots, peeled and chopped
- 50g red or green split lentils
- 700ml water
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Watercress Salsa
1 bunch watercress, approx. 75g
4 large sprigs parsley
100ml extra virgin olive oil
Method
Start by making the soup. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until they just begin to turn gold. Add the carrots, lentils, water, herbs and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the sprig of thyme and the bay leaf. Process in a blender or rub through a sieve.
Meanwhile, make the salsa by blending the watercress, parsley and oil in a blender or food processor. Take care not to over process or the herbs will be too find and tasty gritty.
To finish the dish spoon the soup into four bowls and serve with the salsa on the side.
Remove the potato cakes to a wire rack and serve at once with the soup.
Lentil Salad base
Served cold this mixture makes a really versatile salad base. Simply mix in freshly chopped herbs of your choice and dot with sliced radishes, cucumbers, spring onion flowers, sprigs of watercress or any combination of these.
Pulses are the only vegetables to offer an appreciable level of protein but to maximise this they are best eaten with cereals, seeds or nuts, but remember that peanuts are pulses not really nuts!