We all know that we should be eating more legumes. Full of fibre, vitamins, minerals and all sorts of good stuff, there’s no denying how healthy they are. But aside from a smear of refried pintos in a burrito, the cannellinis in a bowl of minestrone or a bit of hummus with pita and crudités, beans are still a bit of a mystery food to most people. Far from boring, beans are incredibly variable in taste and application potential – and when you consider that they’re also one of the cheapest foodstuffs around, it’s no wonder that so many cultures worldwide rely on them as a staple food. From salads to spreads to a delicious topping on a baked potato, the possibilities are as endless as the varieties, and once they discover how simple it is to prepare a satisfying, meatless meal for a crowd many people wonder why they didn’t do it before.
However, beans come with that stigma – “beans, beans, the musical fruit” – and yes, if you start eating bowl upon bowl of them after a meat-heavy, fibre-poor past, well, the rhyme might ring true for a while until your gut bacteria adjust. But starting slow and gradually adding more legume-y dishes to your repertoire will keep you from becoming a public disturbance (or, for some of the less mature set – you know who you are – a musical icon!). Half the battle is the mind game most folk have surrounding any meatless meal – it’s not a “real” meal because there’s no meat. While many people now “get” that beans and lentils provide more than ample sustenance for a meal – thanks to a slew of food bloggers, cookbooks and the general vegetarian / vegan movement – I still come across a few that ask how “meat-freers” get their protein!
Thankfully, most adults out there are pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new foods and manners of cooking. Kids, however, are a whole other ball game. Poll an elementary class as to whether they want black beans and rice or chicken nuggets and fries for lunch and (assuming we’re talking about North Americans) it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what would sell out. Their “new” palates and taste buds undeadened by years of experience mean that half the time you can’t even successfully hide them in their favourite foods.
But just try getting anyone – especially a child – to resist a cookie. By and large, they are the favourite after school or teatime snack regardless of their “specifics”: after all, a cookie is a cookie is a cookie! I’ve already whipped up
brownies,
muffins and
bread with different beany boosts, but aside from a
tofu-based chocolate chipper way back in 2007 (it was 2007? Whoa!) I’d never tried the legume thing in a cookie. But I had this recipe from an old bean cookbook I took out of the library years ago and photocopied that used pureed navy beans as a base, so why not at least try? Even though I knew my sister (who’s miraculously maintained her super-taster ability over the years) would never touch them, my peers at
IHN sure would – especially since it was simple enough of a recipe to veganize and I had a slew of ideas for modifications I wanted to try. One of the first things I messed around with was the very base of the cookie dough. Gone were the navy beans, in came the nutty, almost buttery chickpeas. Vanilla got boosted way up – ¼ tsp in a cookie? Yeah right. Butter and shortening had
Earth Balance take their places, and instead of straight whole wheat flour I broke out a mix of spelt and oat flours, finally throwing in a handful of rolled oats just because.
Now, I consider myself pretty able in the kitchen. I can bake up a storm, make a mean pot of soup and have even been known to can a few things. Gluten free stuff isn't too foreign to me either. But candy and chocolate crafting is another whole ball game. I'm the first to admit that I'm not a fan of dealing with molten sugar, gooey melted chocolate, or even frosting and decorating cakes. I know - aside from the sugar thing, there are definitely instances of those on my blog. I'll do them... I just don't like to. 
