My copy of the Colorado Bean News arrived the other day. A lot of it is technical stuff about the business of growing beans, but there is always some information for the consumer.

In case you didn't know, incorporating beans into your otherwise healthy diet has all kinds is good for losing weight, heart health and preventing colon cancer.

How to prepare beans.

Soaking dry-packaged beans: Hot soak or quick soak: For each pound of beans, add 10 cups hot water, heat to boiling, and let boil 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cover for at least 1 hour but not more than 4 hours. Most beans triple in size as they rehydrate, so be sure to start with a large enough pot.

The traditional overnight soak is simply putting the dry beans in 10 cups cold water overnight or at least 8 hours. You can put a couple of tablespoons salt in the water, to facilitate the soaking, but only do it with this cold water soak, and be sure to rinse them off before starting to cook them.

The soaking is complete when you cut a bean in half and the middle is the same color as the outside.

Cooking dry-packaged beans: Drain the soaking water and rinse the beans. Cook in fresh water. Add spice (like cumin, garlic powder, or sauteed onions) to beans as they cook rather than at the end of the cooking time. Don't add salt and acidic ingredients (tomatoes, vinegar, citrus juice) until the beans are tender, because the beans may never get soft.

Try a few to test for doneness. Cool leftover beans and cooking liquid in a shallow container (2 inches deep) in the refrigerator.

Some people avoid beans because of the gas. Here are some suggestions: gradually incorporate beans into your diet so you body can get used to them; Discard the soaking and cooking waters because that's where the gassy carbohydrates are.

Canned beans:
Always drain and rinse canned beans before adding to a recipe to reduce the amount of sodium.

Here's one of my favorite pinto bean recipes. It doesn't follow all the rules above, but most of them.

Pinto Bean Pot

1 pound (2 cups) dry pinto beans
6 cups water
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup salt pork cubes, or bacon
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce (optional)

Wash beans. Cover with water; soak overnight. Rinse and place in a deep kettle with water and cook, covered, until tender, about 2 hours.

Sauté salt pork until crisp; remove bits and reserve. Sauté onion and garlic in drippings until tender. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add seasoning, tomato sauce, and reserved pork to onions. Add 1 cup reserved liquid from cooked beans. Cook 5 minutes. Combine this sauce with the beans.

Put beans into a casserole, cover, and bake 2 hours or more, until beans are tender.

Vegetarian Chili

1/2 cup dried pinto beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
9 cups cold water
1 cup finely chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small carrot, diced (1/3 cup)
1 small stalk celery, diced (1/3 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup dried lentils
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon oregano, crumbled
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 can (16 ounces), whole tomatoes, with their liquid, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, halved, seeded, and diced (about 1 cup)
1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered or cut into sixths, if large (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cook the pinto and kidney beans until soft in 5 cups water. (Soak overnight first, if desired.) Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in the oil over medium heat until onion is softened and transparent, about 8 minutes. Add to the cooked beans, lentils, chili powder, paprika, oregano, coriander, and 4 cups water. Stir to mix well, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat; simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours. Stir in the tomatoes, red pepper, mushrooms, and soy sauce. Continue simmering, uncovered, until the beans are very tender, and the lentils are falling apart, for about 1 hour. Add more water as needed if it becomes too dry. Stir in the salt and serve.