Sorry for no posting today. I was out all day on business. Before I dive back into the Really Serious Stuff, I’d like to have a word with you about beans.

Yes, friends, beans. Nature’s little scrubbrushes! Food prices are going up. If you’re not the one in your house who does the grocery shopping, you may not realize this. Both of us shop, and boy, is it noticeable, especially on the bread aisle. When we’ve talked about food and healthy eating in this space before, some of you have said that the poor and the otherwise cash-strapped cannot afford to eat healthy. That’s true if by “eat healthy” you mean “shop at Whole Foods.” And it’s possibly true if by “eat healthy” you mean “buy only fresh fruits and vegetables.” It’s not true if by “eat healthy” you mean “eat exactly what fits my narrow range of taste.” But it’s not altogether true.

Sharon Astyk has some practical suggestions for how you can eat healthy for less money. Excerpt:

So what do you eat when you are poor? Well, your friends are going to be beans, lentils and grains. They are nutritious, tasty, simple, accessible and store well. If there’s any way you can come up with the money, buy them in big bags in bulk – a minimum of 10lbs, 50 is better – much cheaper per pound.

Whole grains and dried beans store nearly forever (brown rice is an exception here – it isn’t a whole grain, and it goes rancid quickly – white stores better, but is less nutritious). You say you can’t use 50lbs of beans? I bet you can – over 5 years. They will still be good, just need a bit longer to cook. You have to think ahead a bit here – remember, you’ll need to soak the beans or throw them in the slow or pressure cooker or on the back of the stove the night before.

The obvious thing is beans and rice. Sweat an onion on the stove in a little oil, throw in a carrot if you’ve got one, some garlic. Add spices – cumin, coriander, bay and dried chilies are good, but is almost any combination. Add the beans and a little liquid – water, broth, flat beer if you’ve got it lying around. Cook any kind of beans for a short while, until you like the way they taste, add a little salt and eat them over rice.

There’s a lot more in Sharon’s post — and because she’s raising her family on a professor’s salary, she knows well how to stretch a dollar. I think she’s right on target with this bean suggestion. I’m amazed by how many people I know who turn their nose up at beans. I like beans fine, but being on the Orthodox Lenten fast meant that I had to learn how to be creative in cooking them, because I was eating them a lot. I’m convinced that people who think they dislike beans have simply never had them prepared well. You’d be amazed by how delicious various beans can be when cooked with onions, garlic, and the right spices. And you can vary the spices a lot. I bought three dollars worth of dried favas in bulk at Whole Foods last week, spiced them well, and have had at least six meals with them — either over rice, or plain. I have enough cooked favas in the fridge for three or four more meals. And they’re really good, too. As Sharon points out, if you go visit an Indian grocery store, you’ll find all kinds of great spice options for beans. Plus, beans  and legumes don’t all taste the same, so if you’ve decided you don’t like beans, it could be that you don’t understand how wide the variety is. Those orange lentils, for example, don’t have a strong taste at all, and tend to express well whatever spices you cook them in. Favas and kidney beans are stronger-tasting.

Would I rather have steak or chicken instead of all these beans all the time? Sure. But that’s not possible now, for religious reasons. Because religious restrictions compelled me a few years back to get smart and creative about cooking beans, I now find that I eat less meat in normal time, and more beans, which are rich in protein and fiber. And cheap!

Sharon also recommends oatmeal. As I’ve pointed out here before, buying steel-cut oats out of the bulk bin is really cheap, and makes for a filling breakfast. Don’t ever buy “Irish oatmeal” in the picturesque can. It’s way, way more expensive than the same thing from the bulk bin. If you’ve decided you don’t like oatmeal, give the steel-cut variety a try. It’s simply normal oatmeal that hasn’t been pressed. It takes longer to cook, but the flavor is so much nuttier and more delicious.