Beans, Common

Appears in

Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes

Published 2021

About

Sometimes, the naming of a plant seems not nearly specific enough. The title Common Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, encompasses everything from deep-dark black beans to stark-white gigante beans and all of the red, yellow, mottled, and speckled darlings in between. Some are runner beans; some are bush beans. I’m sure there is a genetic reason to lump them all together. Sadly, I’m not a botanist, and so it seems a bit unruly.

While each bean is dramatically different in color, texture, and flavor, they can all be prepared similarly. You will quickly start to see how one bean will present differently from another. A black bean pot liquor is thick and inky; one from cannellini beans is light in color and milky in texture. In the end, they are more alike than they are different, so swap with abandon.