| 1 | How many beans to serve how many? as a rough rule, a pound of dried legumes will yield 8 moderate servings. |
| 2 | Getting them ready: spread beans on a big pan or plate and pick out any rubbish-especially small pebbles-and broken beans. |
| 3 | Rinse in a colander. |
| 4 | To soak or not? lentils don"t need to be soaked and neither do split peas. |
| 5 | All other dried legumes need soaking, especially if they have spent some time on the shelf. |
| 6 | Soaking how-tos: the basic way: cover with water to twice the depth of the beans and leave for 4 hours (most kinds) or up to 24 hours, with changes of water, for fava beans or other tough-skinned types. |
| 7 | Drain, then cook in fresh water. |
| 8 | Quick-soaking or parboiling: cover with plenty of water, bring to boiil and boil for 1 to 2 minutes. |
| 9 | Set aside, covered for 1 hour. |
| 10 | Drain and cook in fresh water. |
| 11 | Cooking: this varies widely among beans. |
| 12 | The newest crop may cook in as little as half the time needed by long-stored beans. |
| 13 | The rule is to cook beans at a gentle simmer, partly covered, until a sample is tender to the tooth. |
| 14 | Depending on bean kind and age, this may take as little as 45 minutes or as long as 3 hours; fava beans may need even longer. |
| 15 | When to salt: wait until the beans are tender. |
| 16 | Salting before that point will toughen them permanently. (wrv) |
