January 5 is Bean Day

National Bean day is January 5 so how will you celebrate?  First you may ask what the….what in the world is National Bean day…surely we have enough different kinds of beans they do deserve a day of their own and they are so good for you.

You might also think about colonial America where dried beans/peas could be kept for months without going bad and they could be used in a myriad of ways from soup to flower – to seeds for the garden year after year. Sustenance in a tiny pod. We owe a lot to the lowly bean in whatever variety. Perhaps Josh Avery in Watch For The Raven ate them nearly every day while he lived with his father. Surely, the Ute Indian would know of the value of the bean as well as maize or corn seeds. 

One source says there are 76 kinds of beans. Wow, that’s a lot of beans—Wonder where to find a list of them all. I tried Google – it boggled my mind trying to sort through the maze of answers I got there.

We have the chili bean (pinto bean to those in the know) full of protein and fiber – and what would chili be without them. {smile} Navy bean – and they have nothing to do with the navy, as far as I know. Cow Peas technically a bean – yellow wax beans, Edamame or Beer Friend Soy Beans, pole beans in a host of varieties.

Then we have the green bean that has become a staple casserole dish for Thanksgiving and other celebrations. 

Casaba bean, kidney bean (in various colors) lima bean – my personal least favorite, but nonetheless full of nutritional benefits.

We tend to hang our hat on one bean when we think bean – in 15 bean soup they count dried peas as beans. I guess anything that is a legume is construed (loosely) as a bean.

How about Vanilla bean or coffee bean –You certainly wouldn’t put either of those in your Chili but they are a bean product in their ready to process form. What kind of bean would you put in your bean and ham soup?  Perhaps black-eyed Peas for New Years Day. 

National Bean day?  I say yes the lowly bean (s) deserve(s )a day of its own. No matter how many varieties there are.