Protein, it’s a word you hear often in the health and wellness business. Many people rely on animals as their main source of protein but many forget that there are many plant-based sources out there. I eat about a 90% vegan diet (working toward 100%) and one of my main sources of protein is beans. There are so many different varieties and are easy to incorporate into your diet. Many people shutter though at the thought of using dried beans (this is actually my favorite way to make beans). I love using dried beans for a few reasons. One, they are CHEAP! You can get two to three maybe even more times the amount of beans if you buy dried then if you buy canned. Two, you do not have to worry about BPA like you do with canned beans. Three, I have an easy way to make a lot of beans that don’t require soaking like the traditional method. Four, it’s easy to make a lot then freeze for future meals.
So what is my easy way to make beans? I use the crock pot. Yes, you read that right… the crock pot. So far I have used this method for garbanzo or chickpeas and it works great. Seriously! So how do you do it? Take your dried beans, pick over them, then rinse them. Place them in your crock pot and cover with about 3 inches of water (remember beans expand so make sure you leave enough room). Set on low and in 6 hours you have perfect beans. I let them cool then put in baggies in 2 cup increments and put in my freezer. I use my small crock pot which is a 2.5 quart and put 2 cups dried beans which makes just over 4 cups cooked. See, I told you… easy. So give it a try!
What’s your favorite bean dish?
One Leaf Wellness 
I usually steer away from dried beans because they seemed so labor intensive… but I will for sure give this a try!
If you use a larger crockpot you could probably do a whole bag at a time!