Books that celebrate bean cuisine

When I converted to a vegetarian diet many years ago, there were not many options on restaurant menus or in cookbooks. I remember getting a cookbook focused on beans that had recipes for varieties of beans I had never even heard of before. Unfortunately, none of those recipes were good – there were precious few seasonings called for, the timing in many recipes was off, and I was not a good enough cook to know how to improve them. The book ended up in the thrift store donation pile.

My how things have changed in the ensuing years. Now there are a plethora of books that celebrate all things vegetarian and vegan, and many excellent options for bean cookery as well. The website Food Print, a nonprofit dedicated to research and education on food production practices, recommends eight essential bean cookbooks. EYB Members will notice some familiar names in the list:

• Beans and Field Peas by Sandra Guiterrez
• Fagioli by Judith Barrett
• Bean by Bean by Crescent Dragonwagon
• Bold Beans by Amelia Christie-Miller
• Cool Beans by Joe Yonan (EYBD Preview)
• The Great Vegan Bean Book by Kathy Hester
• Grist by Abra Berens (which doesn’t focus solely on beans but does explore the topic)
• Heirloom Beans by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington

The article contains a brief description of the unique qualities each book has to offer. Bold Beans is the newest of the bunch, fresh off the presses in the UK and due to be released in the US next month. Fagioli was first published in 2004 and had gone out of print, with used copies fetching eye-popping prices. Author Judith Barrett teamed up with the Rancho Gordo team to publish an updated edition this year. The Great Vegan Bean Book boasts the best rating in the EYB Library with 4.5 stars.