Quick Tips: Make Your Beans Less Musical

By , SparkPeople Blogger
"Beans, beans, the musical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot."

We've all heard that tune, and most of us have unfortunately experienced the reality of it.
Beans are an excellent source of fiber, and they are a great source of protein, especially for vegetarians. So many people are scared to eat them because of the digestive ditties that their bodies play later.

Fear no bean.

TreeHugger recently shared some tips on how to make your beans less musical.
I make a big pot of dried beans once a week and rarely have much "trouble" eating them.

Now that you know how to quiet your beans, how do you cook them?


Here's how I cook dried beans:

Rinse 4 cups of beans in a colander.

Place in pot (or usually in my rice cooker) and cover with two inches of water. Add a strip of kombu (It's a seaweed that helps reduce the gassy effects. It costs less than $5, and it lasts a long time.) or a pinch of baking soda (which has the same effect).

Bring to a boil, cover and cook about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and rinse beans several times.

Rinse pot, then return beans to pot, covering with water to about an inch above the beans. I add another strip of kombu (about an inch wide), plus seasonings. I add a onion, two bay leaves, two cloves of garlic, a hefty tablespoon of cumin and a couple of teaspoons of ground coriander seed. Boil until tender, another 30-45 minutes. Add more water if beans dry out or if you like yours soupy.

When the beans are as tender as you'd like them to be, remove from heat and take out the bay leaves. They're ready to eat. I usually make 4 cups of dry beans and 2 cups of dry rice (made separately then mixed) a week, and that's about a dozen one-cup servings (about 205 calories and less than one gram of fat).

For canned beans, just give them a rinse. That will help remove some of the sugar that causes the uncomfortable and embarrassing gas that accompanies eating beans.

Find more bean recipes.

Black, pinto, garbanzo, kidney, anasazi… So many beans, so little time!
Read more about bean varieties, and start cooking some beans!

What kind of beans do you like to eat?