John Westfield

I'm a lifelong cooking enthusiast with a special love for strange and underused ingredients. I hope this blog helps open your mind to more of the wonderful edible treasures around us.

Can beans be dehydrated?

Load your dehydrator. Make single layers of beans on each tray, and it’s fine if they touch. You may want to use tray liners, but it’s not necessary. Dehydrate at 135 for 8-10 hours. It works well to allow them to dehydrate overnight. Check them after about 8 hours and remove the dried beans, leaving …

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Do beans lower cholesterol?

Beans contain a type of carbohydrate called resistant starch, which may help lower your total cholesterol levels, according to a study using rats published in the “Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology” in August 2003. You see, eating beans on a daily basis could help improve cholesterol levels in two different ways. One is by …

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What do beans need to grow?

Beans grow best in soil that is moist but well-drained. In dry conditions, they need regular water, but excessive moisture can be detrimental. Applying mulch, compost or an all-purpose fertilizer just before planting is generally all beans need to thrive. Beans need ample sunlight to thrive, so be sure to choose a sunny location. Beans …

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Do beans digest fast?

Beans are hard to digest. As an aside to that, all beans are quite hard to digest because of their complex mix of protein, starchy carbohydrates, a bit of fat, and enzyme inhibitors (sometimes known as “anti nutrients”). The enzyme inhibitors are released through soaking and rinsing the beans thoroughly prior to cooking. Why can’t …

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What beans for bean soup?

Beans come in all shapes, colors and sizes and can be used in these tasty bean soup recipes, including black bean soup, white bean soup, bean chili, vegetable bean soup and more. Sometimes you don’t have time to make a complicated dinner, and that’s when these dump and go soup recipes come in extra handy. …

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