I knew quite early on in life that I wanted to cook. Ingredients always fascinated me. How Mother Nature dreamed up all these unique shapes, hues, textures and flavours. How things that grew out of the ground landed on our plates. I was one of those kids who was fortunate enough to grow up around avid gardeners, so I had no illusions about where my food came from.

Beans have always beguiled me. In the early to mid-90s, there was a printed KOO ad that was just a poster of all kinds of different beans on it, they were all labelled, and that ad stayed with me for so long because each bean was as unique as a fingerprint. I learned about butter beans and wondered whether they tasted like butter at all. Fava beans were bright green and stood out among the others, and I wondered whether I would ever get to taste one. My earliest memory of beans was sorting sugar beans on a tray to make umngqusho and separating the stones and foreign bits from the good beans. It was a job everyone hated, but I did it cheerfully because I loved noticing the little red lines and speckles and how there was never any repetition of a pattern on any one of them. The random nature of the lines made these beans such a wonder to me. Maybe it was my ADHD that made me notice the complexity and beauty of things, because it made me never finish things on time because I was always stopping to smell the proverbial flowers.

Apart from their good looks, beans have some of the highest quantities of plant-based protein and fibre. Fibre is what keeps the wheels of the digestive tract moving and helps promote a healthy microbiome in the gut. Protein is vital for building tissue and supporting the immune system. In other words, you need beans a lot more than they need you.

When I lived in Pretoria, I would discover jugo beans (or bambara nuts) at an African grocery store in Sunnyside. I got home and emptied the bag of beans into a bowl and topped them with water. The colours were mesmerising. It was back before I was really photographing food, but I captured an image that day because I was so blown away by their uniqueness – some were pitch black, some were beige, some speckled, some maroon and purple.

All they had in common was that little black eye. I started photographing beans every time I cooked them, which was often. Look at these cowpeas, look at the purple ones! I started making it a point to photograph the different beans I cooked or grew, because they reminded me to observe nature more closely, and that I may see something different each time. Be inspired with these amazing bean recipes from TASTE!

1. Green samp

I might be biased, but I adore this recipe. I’ve made it an embarrassing number of times because it just always hits. Try this recipe with any beans you have on hand. There’s no shame in using the canned ones either!

Green samp with veggies recipe

2. Home-made baked beans

If you thought you didn’t like baked beans, maybe you were just having them wrong. I don’t know. But what I do know is that you’ve got to try Bianca Strydom’s baked bean recipe – sweet, tomatoey, with an unexpected hit of umami from the dash of fish sauce. Brilliantly done, as always with Bianca!

Home-made baked beans recipe

3. Isigwaqane

Mogau took us back home with this one. As simple as pap with beans, this one is honestly not one I see often on menus, which is what makes it so special. It’s how our grandparents cooked, and I love seeing it brought into the now by younger chefs. Make this your new braai side or just enjoy as is.

Isigwaqane recipe

4. Green ribollita 

Hannah Lewry’s green ribollita has me salivating! It’s a perfect mix of textures and celebrates beans so beautifully. It’s also a smart way to use up leftover crusty bread – if you live in a household with leftover bread, of course.

Green ribollita recipe 

5. Mexican-inspired beans and eggs

Also by Hannah, these beans and eggs are simply gorgeous as a long, leisurely breakfast or simple supper – yes, eggs for supper is totally a thing. Adding beans just takes it to the protein stratosphere.

Mexican-inspired beans and eggs recipe

6. Green nachos with spiced beans

This is an old recipe of mine, which I still love, because it reminds me of the cook I once was. I loved to take recipes we’ve always known and give them the green treatment, like I did with my samp, and the results are always spectacularly unique and delicious. The creaminess of the beans and the crunch of the nacho chips? Wowzers.

Green nachos with spiced beans recipe

Find these and more recipes on www.taste.co.za.