The Instant Bean

No strangers to the nutritional versatility of beans, the Stones (The Brilliant Bean) are equally familiar with the common complaint that beans require too much preparation time to be a practical staple in today's kitchen. Their response is this collection of 150-plus innovative and appealing recipes that generally require no more than 30 minutes' prep time. Speed-it-up tricks include using canned beans when appropriate and, for dried beans, quick-soaking methods, using a pressure cooker and freezing recipe-sized portions of cooked beans. They describe characteristics of nearly 50 varieties of beans (including the not-so-common lablab, adzuki, molasses eyes and rattlesnake) and offer a chart of soaking and cooking times for dried beans. Recipes aim to please jaded palates: e.g., Black Bean Chocolate Mousse Pie; Garlicky Lentil Salad with Browned Sausage; Crisped Black Beans with Orzo and Toasted Walnuts; and Cannellini, Calamari and Spinach Stew. Home cooks will relish the range and ingenuity as well as the ease of preparation of these recipes, although the Stones' reliance on Maggi seasoning in so many dishes seems oddly limiting. (May)