Beans / Lentils

Being that I have some stomach issues, I'm looking to add more fiber into my diet, and it seems beans and lentils are a good way to go. I've been trying to eat something with beans nearly every day. Lately I've been having hummus for lunch, which I never get tired of, but I'm wanting to branch out and try some new things. DH isn't a big fan of the bean, so salads or something I can make ahead of time for lunches would be good, or something I can quickly reheat on the stove would be nice. I'm making a chicken chili with pinto beans tonight and plan to have some leftovers for lunch. Hmmm. Any ideas for other things I can make in advance that will keep in the fridge for a few days? I was thinking of trying some sort of black bean dip, like a hummus made with black beans for pittas, etc. just to change things up. I've never really cooked lentils, but I hear they are pretty easy to cook and have seen a few lentil salads, so I'd be willing to give them a go.
Thanks!

I use butter beans to replace mash potatoes, I boil them until soft, then push them through a seive to remove the skins and make a fine mash, then add a little butter and seasoning, delish!

I also do chorizo, butter bean and tomato stew (with garlic and shallots) to have with bread or rice, you could also have this cold for lunch, or thin it out with water and add some cream cheese or cream to make soup.

Or what about a boston bean style bake with pork belly or something? Could use Harricott beans.

For lunch you could do a canellini bean dip with veggies and pita chips, like this  - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/white-bean-dip-with-pita-chips-recipe/index.html

Then there's all the Indian food options

I add beans into lots of things like casseroles. If you want an easy source of fibre, pop a tablespoon of ground flax seeds (linseed) into your cereal or a yogurt everyday. Keeps me right as rain!

This is my favorite bean salad:

http://ptpfoodblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/mixed-bean-salad.html

It was originally a recipe for a bean crostini, but now I just eat it as a side dish or a main salad with a little baguette. You could stuff it in a pitta with some cucumbers and lettuce if you wanted to make it a sandwich.

Almost everything I make has beans in it (I can give you recipes if you want)!  Always rinse and then soak your beans overnight for better digestion and slightly quicker cooking time.  Except for red lentils--they don't need to be soaked and they cook super quick (they break down completely).  They do need to be rinsed though.

Sometimes I cook up batches of beans and then freeze them in 2 meal-sized portions so that when I have less time I just defrost and add them to stuff.

Another quickie thing is to add pesto and / or sun-dried tomato paste to beans.  Good hot or cold.

You can also add chick peas or butter beans, or any bean really to pasta.  Red lentils are good for thickening up tomato sauce (pasta sauce).

If you want an easy source of fibre, pop a tablespoon of ground flax seeds (linseed) into your cereal or a yogurt everyday. Keeps me right as rain!

Where do you find this?

Thanks for all the recipe ideas, everyone. That's great!

Where do you find this?

Probably a health food store.  If you can only find whole flax seeds you can ground them in a coffee grinder.  Keep them cool and once ground (best to grind only what you need for a few days at a time) keep in an airtight container in the fridge as the flax oil in them is really perishable.

I love beans - they're cheap and give a good source of protein/fibre  

Baked beans with toast/potatoes/eggs/whatever

Chillis of all sorts

Bean burritos/quesadillas/etc

Red lentil and butternut squash curry

Red beans and rice

White bean/black bean/Refried bean dip

lentil soup

sausage and lentil caserole

Warm white bean-red onions with a balsamic vinegarette over salad leaves

Mashed white beans and garlic

chorizo, bean, tomato, onion, herbs, and white fish stew

breakfast burritos with beans/black bean omlets

could go on and on  

a-ha! I knew we had this topic before! (why is it that the Advanced forum search is so so so much better than the crappy Google search?)

I basically just searched so I could/copy paste my favourite EVER lentil recipe... Macos (mock tacos)!

Cook a bunch of brown continental lentils (NOT puy) and optionally, some black beans in a saucepan with some stock and tons of cajun seasoning until they're really mushy (usually 45min-an hour). Then use that as the "meat" base for tacos, adding all your usual toppings into a shell or tortilla (or even pitta if we're short).

It sounds a bit "blah" but honestly, I've had more raves over this than any of my other regular dishes. I've had people (meat eaters and veggies) stick their head in the pan and lick the last bit out! I'm still continually amazed that it's my meat&potatoes boyfriend's favourite meal...

Yes, macos! Yum!!

Along the lines of the mock tacos, a friend of mine does a vegetarian cottage pie with lentils instead of mince.  Cook the lentils with some onions in a good strong vegetable broth, layer them with mashed potato, and bake.  She serves this with a red wine gravy and it is soooo good and really filling. 

How about a "not-pork" pie?

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/picnic-food/pie/not-pork-pies.html

Not that you're looking for vegetarian recipes per se but I've always wanted to make that one.

Dal curry is easy and yummy. I also like chickpea curry. Oh, and taco salad! I prefer it with just beans and almost never make it with beef anymore.

Another fave is white beans with chorizo served over chicken.

Oooh I just saw this Jewlz, looks tastables!
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2008/12/black-eyed-pea-dip-for-new-year.html

Oh thanks, everyone! That all sounds sooo good! I can't wait to get some lentils and beans and try some of these recipes out. I can't decide which to do first!  I think I may have to try that dahl recipe posted on the other thread. I haven't had dahl in ages, and it sounds delish, plus it would be easy to reheat a cup for lunch each day. But all of those sound fab, I'm drooling over the "macos" and I forgot about that blackeyed pea dip on HT.

Does anyone have a really good recipe for black bean burgers? I love them but have never made them before. Thanks for all the lovely ideas and for posting to that other thread.