Legumes

The warming, soothing and downright healing effects of dal are well known throughout South Asia and its diaspora. This is an everyday dish for a good reason: It’s simple to make but tastes complex, and the flavor only deepens over time. There are countless ways to make dal; this version requires just 10 minutes and five ingredients (not including salt), all serving important purposes: The lentils cook quickly, the turmeric lends an earthy wholesomeness and the rich chhonk, or tempering, made by sizzling spices with ghee, brings instant depth.

If you keep canned beans, tomatoes, onion and garlic in your pantry, you can make this dish on any weeknight without having to shop. The pickled onions aren’t strictly necessary, but they are simple to make and add a welcome tangy contrast to the beans. Pickled peppers are a fine substitute. If you have a bell pepper or jalapeño or two, chop them up and sauté them with the onions. And if you want to be fancy, grate the zest off the lime before juicing for the pickles, and stir it into the sour cream.

In 1990, Consumer Reports published a recipe for chili that became a classic. (You can still find raves about it online today.) We recently gave it a nutritional upgrade, cutting back on the sodium and using leaner meat. The recipe hues to the basic formula of meat, tomatoes, spices, and beans, and this recipe is the  meatless version to eliminate the saturated fat and increase the fiber. You can eat this chili right after it has cooked, but keep in mind that chili is often more flavorful on the second day, after the ingredients have a chance to blend overnight.

This is a classic French way to cook lentils, and it’s very easy. Aromatics are sautéed and then simmered with French lentils, also known as Le Puy lentils, for 20 to 25 minutes. It is an easy side dish, redolent of a Provencal feast.

Khatta chana, stewed chickpeas in a tart tamarind sauce, is a popular street food in the Punjab region of northern India. We learned to make it from Meeru Dhalwala, co-owner of Vij’s restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dhalwala adds heft to the chickpea curry by spooning it over sautéed brown sugar greens, a nontraditional side dish. Our version combines chickpeas and collard greens in a delicious one-pot braise that dials down the sweetness and uses canned chickpeas for convenience. If you prefer kale, it’s a fine substitute for the collards.

The beans (we thought canned were just fine) are the heart of our shrimp and white beans recipe, but the shrimp play the starring role. Most shrimp and white beans recipes boil or poach the shrimp before tossing them with the beans, but we found this approach made the shrimp too bland. It occurred to us that searing the shrimp would deliver all the flavor of high-heat cooking in a matter of seconds right on the stovetop. We coated the shrimp, then seared them in an extremely hot skillet.

In this vegetarian sheet-pan meal, crisp tortillas are topped with chile-laced black beans, sweet roasted peppers, avocado and plenty of crumbled queso fresco or grated Cheddar. A cumin salt, flecked with lime zest and sprinkled on right at the end, adds both brightness and a musky spice flavor. You will need 3 sheet pans for this. If you have only 2, crisp the tortillas in a skillet on the stovetop instead of in the oven.

Dried beans cooked from scratch have a more uniform texture than most canned beans (some of which tend to get mushed in the can). Also, you can control what gets added to the beans (particularly salt). And they cost much less than canned beans. A 16-ounce bag of dried beans yields roughly 5 or 6 cups of cooked beans, while a 15-ounce can of cooked beans yields roughly 1½ cups. Finally, homemade beans freeze beautifully, so why not make a big batch on the weekend and use it in recipes later in the week?

But there are a few things to keep in mind regarding dried beans.

Lentil and rice pilaf with tomatoes makes a quick midweek dinner. The legume-grain combination has an earthy flavor and hearty texture, and provides high-quality, complete protein, ideal for vegetarians. On the side, serve feta, black olives, and steamed chard or kale.