White Bean

Unlike most legumes, dried lentils cook quickly, which means this satisfying soup is fast enough for a weeknight supper. Make a double batch and pack up individual servings for lunches.

Bright zucchini, sweet corn, nutty millet, and creamy white beans add vibrant flavor and texture to these gluten-free veggie burgers.

Step 1: Prep this simple soffritto and nutty pesto. Step 2: Make beautiful, clean soups on a whim.

For an extra burst of flavor, swirl some salsa verde into each serving of this hearty soup packed with farro, white beans, kale, and plenty of lemon.

If there is a lot of liquid in the pan when the spinach is done, drain it before adding the beans.

Sub in whatever you have on hand in Dana Cowin's mix-and-match chili recipe

This riff on a classic cassoulet skips most of the exotic ingredients and elaborate preparation but still delivers deep rich flavor.

Don’t toss out your Parmesan rind. Use it to flavor the beans and broth for this comforting classic.

When your beans are tender, take them off the heat and focus on the cooking liquid, doctoring it with good olive oil, salt, and pepper, tasting and seasoning it until the liquid itself is straight-up delicious.

You're going to want to keep making this wholesome vegetarian soup all winter long.

This soup is a terrific choice for those over sixty, as it's abundant in nutrients one especially needs later in life. These include healthy plant protein (older adults are prone to protein insufficiency), fiber, vitamin K, potassium, lysine to aid in calcium absorption, and folate to help reduce homocysteine levels, which are a major risk factor for heart disease. And of course, all soups are soft and so are a favorite for anyone with dental difficulties.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit Executive Chef Mary Nolan

Balsamic-marinated steak cooks over the broccolini and white beans in this sheet-pan dinner, flavoring them with its tasty juices.

The rich Spanish flavors of smoked paprika and Marcona almonds are balanced by the bright freshness of parsley and celery in this update on a classic side dish.

Chicken thighs are an inexpensive and delicious alternative to chicken breasts. This one-pan dinner is perfect for a weeknight because it's so simple to put together and cleanup is a breeze.

Be sure to start this recipe a day early to allow plenty of time to soak the beans.

This frosty drink is as refreshing as frozen lemonade but has the added lushness of summer melon. Fresh thyme gives the fruit’s sweetness some grown-up dimension.

Gravy is pure comfort for me, and if I can make a gravy into a meal, so much the better. This is one of my favorite ways to have a rich, comforting, and filling dinner in less than half an hour. It also contains one of my favorite methods to get a toasty gravy base with lots of depth—toasting bread crumbs. After caramelizing the onions, you sprinkle in the bread crumbs and toss them around a bit until golden brown. Then, when you add the liquid ingredients, the bread crumbs thicken and flavor the gravy. It's wonderful served with grilled or sautéed kale, and over mashed potatoes.

Choose portobello caps with dry, firm gills—damp and soft ones mean the mushrooms are old.

Chewy nubbin of farro give special appeal to a hearty Mediterranean vegetable-bean soup that's loaded with calcium-rich kale. If you don't have time to cook the beans from scratch, check out the Express Farro and Chickpea Soup variation.