Meditations on a Perfect Pot of Beans

When I was broke, beans were my favorite form of self-care. Now that I’ve perfected my recipe, I’m sharing it with you.

Layla Schlack
Published in
5 min readOct 31, 2019

Photos: Layla Schlack

I’ve never been poor, but I’ve certainly been broke. And like a lot of people of some privilege who find themselves having an economically challenged few years, I attacked the situation, finding satisfaction and even joy in efficiencies, cost savings, and budget living. Some people take toilet paper from public bathrooms or memorize a schedule of museum free days. For me, it was beans.

I was starting to get serious about cooking at that same time in my life, and learning to make meals that cost less than $2 worth of ingredients per person felt powerful. Dried beans were a no-brainer. When I had been a vegetarian for several years of my childhood, my dad had regaled me with stories of subsisting on beans and rice in college. He even bought a stovetop pressure cooker to make them for his vegetarian daughters. I was unimpressed.

But fast forward to my early twenties, and a bag cost the same as a can of prepared beans but offered about six times as many servings. All I had to do was make them taste good.

I started with chickpeas, cooked with equal parts store-bought stock and water, a smoked turkey neck (bear…

Tenderly
Tenderly

Published in Tenderly

A vegan magazine that’s hopefully devoted to delicious plants, liberated animals, and leading a radical, sustainable, joyful life

Layla Schlack
Layla Schlack

Written by Layla Schlack

Senior editor of Wine Enthusiast with opinions about solid food too.

Responses (10)

What are your thoughts?

So do you soak beans?

The BEST bean stew recipe that I’ve seen to date. Thank you so much. I made a big pot and put up plenty in the freezer, shared with friends.

It was aduki beans and brown rice for us, cook up a pressure cooker of both and then have stir fry, add seeds and vegetables, olive oil and tamari, eat like kings;)