Beans!

Any bean. If you dont like so much "beany" taste and want to start trying anyways, great northern or navy beans are good to start with. They really take on the flavor of whatever you cook them in. Usually you soak them 8 hours or so (overnight) and then drain them. Make sure to pick thru them to get the few bad ones out. Then just throw them in a pot with some stock and cook for an hour or so. I love making ham and beans with these and its so simple. There are TONS of recipes online for beans.

Crockpot "refried" beans: Put 1 lb. dry pinto beans, 1 chopped onion, 1 T. minced garlic, 1-2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. cumin in a crockpot with 9 cups of water. Cook on HIGH for about 8 hours, stirring occasionally. Mash with a potato masher or use a stick blender in them before eating. Makes a BIG batch of yummy beans you can then use as a dip, in tacos, on nachos, etc.

Chickpea flour (called besan in Indian stores) makes nice little pancakes by itself and adds protein when you mix it in with other flours. Try googling "socca" and you will likely come up with some recipes.

Black beans are great in chili and soups, too. I use allrecipes.com to look for recipes because I can search by ingredients.

The beans that you are reading about are either the dried beans such as garbanzo also called chick peas, red kidney beans, navy beans, pink beans, black beans, lima beans, lentils: let see have I missed any, probably but these are the ones I know of. Any way, these beans are also sold precooked in cans for convenience. Just rinse well with water before eating to wash off some sodium. You can eat them as you like. I put them on salads, in chili, in whole wheat pasta or brown rice or quinoa in tuna salad, soups or I love them so much I can even out them right out of the can!

If you want to cook your own you have to soak overnight in water then cook (boil) for about an hour or more depending on the bean. I would avoid baked beans cause of all the sugar in the sauce.

I love black beans. One of my favorite ways to eat them is mixed in with scrambled eggs with some jalapenos, a little bit of cheese, and salsa on top.

Or I mush them up with oats, flour, chili powder, cumin, an egg, and diced onion and peppers and grill or fry them into a veggie burger patty.

Im vegetarian so I eat beans a lot, some of my favorites
-chickpea salad, like chicken or tuna salad (with mayo and mustard) but with mashed chickpeas
-black bean enchiladas or burritos
-roasted chickpeas
-potato and navy bean soup
-taco soup
-lentil sloppy joes (not beans but good for you)
and these have all been approved my meat eating family

I typically eat Black Beans, Pinto Beans, or Red Kidney Beans. When I get bored of any one kind, I mix all three together.

If you buy your beans canned, be sure to check the label on the can before you buy it. Most canned items, including beans, have added sodium for flavor. It can be upwards of 500mg per serving, which is obscene in my opinion.

Also, if you get bored of eating beans with rice, try it with quinoa, with pasta & sauce or pesto, and in home made chili.

According to evidence reported by anthro-scientists from the Blue Zones project, cultures that get the majority of their protein from beans and fish tend to live longer, healthier lives than cultures that get the majority of their protein from red meats. If you like red meat, try to eat it only every now and then. I used to eat red meat like 6 times a week, and since I've started eating more Beans and Greek Yogurt (also has a lot of protein if you buy Fage brand), I only eat it about twice a month (a steak about the size of a deck of cards).

My point is, beans are great, get used to eating lots of them!

I make bean burritos (black beans or kidney), put beans in taco salads (black or kidney, again), I put lentils in cabbage roll ups, but I cook them in vegetable broth with two tbsp soy sauce and 5 tsp cumin (delicious). There's all sorts of things you can do with beans!