A Pot of Beans, Straight Out of Your Dreams

We can guess what you’re probably thinking: Enough already with the beans. The New Year good-luck moment is over. Both facts are undeniably true: There’s already a lot here on legumes, including Mark’s basic bean cooking recipe. And we hope that those leftover black-eyed peas in the fridge will inspire you to cook a pot of something — it doesn’t even have to be beans — as part of your plan to eat better this year.

While we know many of you love beans like we do, today we’re taking a step back and attempting to demystify them for those of you who don’t cook them regularly — here, a master recipe in the form of a step-by-step guide. The model here is dubbed “Antipasto Big Beans.” But the point is that to fend off potential boredom, every pot can and should be different. This filmstrip of photos and captions identifies how and when to vary components and seasonings, while offering a simple technique for walk-away stovetop simmering without pre-soaking.