On a Whole Foods Plant Based Way of Eating, we get a lot of our protein from the legume family (beans, peas, lentils). One cup of cooked beans varies anywhere from 9 to 18 g protein. Lentils have the most at 18 g/1 c cooked, and green peas are the lowest at 9 g protein/1 cup cooked. Most other beans average 15 g protein/1 c cooked. So I like to include some sort of legume in every meal we eat.
And if you have a pressure cooker, making fresh beans is cheap and fast! We need to soak all beans, except lentils, overnight. This gives them the opportunity to expel gas that you might otherwise have to deal with later, and it cuts down on the cooking time as well. Always rinse the beans after soaking, and use NEW water to cook them in the pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover the beans, and maybe 1/2 inch over that. Use a chart to determine time for each different bean. Most beans are pressure cooked between 4-8 minutes if they have been soaked. I love the cookbook, Vegan Under Pressure, by Jill Nussinow. She has good cooking charts for beans, grains, rice and veggies, as well as wonderful recipes! (See her Chocolate Cake recipe for the pressure cooker, made once a week here at our house!)
Once the timer goes off and the beans are done, let the pressure go down naturally, DO NOT EVER Quick Release beans or grains. They will all explode open with the fast drop in pressure, and when you open the pot, you'll have a big unidentifiable mess (I learned the hard way!). Let them cool completely before putting them in storage jars, or in the freezer. I like to freeze a jar or two for later use.
Now it is time to go out and buy some new beans you have never tried! There are sooooo many ones out there: adzuki, cranberry, peruno, anasazi, black garbanzo, mung, black lentils, red lentils, yellow lentils.....the list is endless. And try your hand at some delicious Indian or Ethiopian recipes using red or yellow lentils too!
Enjoy this short video below on cooking beans in the instant pot! Don't forget to subscribe to the youtube channel to get updates when new videos are posted!