To paraphrase Robert Altman: Beans, now more than ever! Real ones know beans shouldn’t be introduced with an apologetic tone—yes they’re cheap and nutritious, but they’re also elegant, buttery, robust, with the axis of history contained within their stout little bodies. If you’re after further inspiration, here’s a round-up of 23 recipes from my back catalogue for all the bean lovers out there, from Palestinian Msabaha to salt and vinegar beans, to freeform black bean cobbler. I’ve broadly included a few lentils in there, too.
1. Hummus Qawarma
“plush, billowing pure velvet hummus draped with seared lamb marinated in enlivening spices“
The bean: Chickpea
2. Ottolenghi’s white bean mash with garlic aioli
“a side dish or snack of self-possessed simplicity, as ivory-neutral and elegant as Shiv Roy’s high-waisted slacks“
The bean: Cannellini
3. Hummus with avocado, pomegranate, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds
“I couldn’t emphasise the serenity of this more if I was running through the streets yelling “Serenity!” through a megaphone”
The bean: Chickpea
4. Chickpeas Diabolique
“it’s sticky, it’s messy, it’s rich and decadent but rustic and unpretentious, and it tastes amazing“
The bean: Chickpeas
5. Catalan chickpeas and spinach
“it really floored me—for something so simple, starring two undeniably excellent but not terribly flashy ingredients, it’s just beautiful“
The bean: Chickpeas
6. Chilli oil beans
“a stunningly fragrant and rich spice-jewelled condiment, absolutely lush and sheer magic against the creamy mellowness of the beans“
The bean: Cannellini
7. Butternut, chickpea and peanut soup
“the flavour of turmeric always evokes carrots to me — freshly, lightly vegetal — which works beautifully with the actual carrots“
The bean: Chickpeas
8. Caramelised onion butter bean soup with chilli butter pumpkin seeds
“the difference between day one and two was astonishing — the cognac bloomed, the garlic rose like the sun, and the bean-thickened broth grew more velvety and savoury“
The bean: Butter beans
9. Chilled cannellini bean soup with basil spinach oil
“the basil spinach oil lends peppery, herbal richness to the soup without overwhelming its frictionless calm“
The bean: Cannellini
10. Four-bean soup with Kewpie aioli
“creamy bumps of beans amidst the barley like the colourwork in a Fair Isle cardigan, the familiar soffrito background of onion, carrot, and celery, and fat cloves of garlic”
The bean: Four-bean mix
11. Roasted garlic lentil soup
“velvety, buttery, flooded with pure garlic and studded with rich, sweet fennel seeds. This soup is cosy, but it’s elegant with it“
The bean: Red lentils
12. Lentil, radish, avocado and fried potato salad
“leaving no adjective behind, it’s a perfect balance of oily, salty, sweet, earthy, peppery, crunchy, creamy, and tender“
The bean: Brown lentils
13. Instant gnocchi, big beans, and red chilli pesto
“the accompanying titular beans are large on purpose, to create a little trompe l’oeil effect both visually and under the tooth“
The bean: Butter beans
14. Pasta with harissa, beans and feta
“the beans in their infinite mellowness have a quieting effect on the chilli, not unlike Patrick Swayze calmly de-escalating the hired goons in Road House“
The bean: Cannellini
15. Pappardelle with fennel and bean escabeche
“gloriously piquant and rich from the white wine vinegar and olive oil, with a ramshackle elegance from the roughly hand-sliced pappardelle and tender beans“
The bean: Butter beans
16. African peanut stew
“substantial and rich with rambunctious flavour from the spices and chilli and ginger but also this mellow, sweet earthy creaminess from the peanut butter”
The bean: Black-eyed peas
17. Freeform black bean cobbler
“what makes the cobbler so easy is that flour-and-oil mixture, which sidesteps the price and exertion of using butter“
The bean: Black beans
18. One-pan fried chickpeas, rice, and greens
“a civilised jumble of textures — tender rice, popcorn-esque chickpeas, softly crunchy almonds, almost-melted greens”
The bean: Chickpeas
19. Salt and vinegar beans
“the creamy and tender beans slicked in their caustic coating, the sourness somehow at odds with and yet so perfect with the beans’ texture“
The bean: Borlotti
20. Msabaha
“simmer-softened chickpeas wallowing in a lemony tahini pool, some whole, some crushed into sauce-thickening rubble”
The bean: Chickpeas
21. Guinness beef chilli
“the objectionable Guinness bitterness and vantablack intensity mellows overnight, yet acts as an extra spice and source of heat as it pools around the melting beef and beans”
The bean: Black beans
22. Chickpea, Mango and Fried Cauliflower Salad
“the components all have their place: the dense granular mildness of the chickpeas, the oily caramelised fried cauliflower, the sweet summer brightness of the mango”
The bean: Chickpea
23. Hands-free black bean and brown rice casserole
“just throw stuff in a baking dish and an hour later dinner is yours. The pantry ingredients add to the effortlessness, though avocado and coriander make it even better”
The bean: Black beans
And if I may, a reminder that you can sign up here to hear irregular and unobtrusive updates and details about my forthcoming 2025 debut novel, Hoods Landing. Find out more, which you probably already know, at my official author website. The lastest exciting development is that you can now pre-order Hoods Landing from anywhere in the world.
Music lately
Reberrymemberer by Drop Nineteens, it’s so scuzzy that it’s like trying to fight your way through a cloud of ground white pepper but in the most rewarding way possible.
Perfect 10 by Takatapunani, a stunning debut and this beat is ferocious.
I got to see the excellent Auckland Music Theatre production of Merrily We Roll Along this weekend, the original Broadway production was a shortlived flop so this was a Sondheim musical I’d somewhat written off in terms of ever getting to see it. The story starts in the present day and moves backwards, so plot points are paid off in reverse to devastating effect. Franklin Shepherd Inc as recently performed on Broadway by Daniel Radcliffe is an increasingly manic yet expositional patter song that I was especially taken with; I also enjoy this rendition by Raúl Esparza.
Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might be Giants, it just—keeps—going!
PS: As we enjoy our food we can’t forget those going violently without it. Words continue to fail me when it comes to Gaza but that’s no excuse to not say something. NZ-based humanitarian org ReliefAid’s Gaza Appeal continues to work to deliver water sourced and treated from within Gaza so give it if you’ve got it. Convoys of Good is another registered charity providing support. Feeling hopeless is kind of a luxury but as a response to the world, hardly a surprise. If you want to feel in control of something remember that the absence of your dollars can have power. Boycott Zine Aotearoa has helpfully put together two comprehensive free zines so you can quickly see who to studiously avoid when buying food, drinks, household items and beauty products.
Hungry and Frozen 
Delicious
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This is such a wonderfully chaotic and poetic take on dinner — I felt every word. “Monday sitting on its chest like a sleep paralysis demon” is too real 😂. And honestly, meals like this are little acts of rebellion against dull routines. Now I need to try this toast.
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“little acts of rebellions against dull routines” exactly! Glad to have you as a reader of this blog since you so clearly get it.
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