Beans Around the World Contest submission. These brownies are gluten-free, fudgy and easy to make! So chocolatey, you'd never guess they have beans in them.

some beans of the world

This is one of the reason I start buying pesticide-free lemons!

A great winter warmer, I never use a recipe, just what I have in the cupboard, tins of mixed beans, tomatoes and chilli. Serve with a good chunky slice of bread.

A delicious vegetarian main dish, inspired by the Greek Islands

For ages and ages there was this very satisfyingly plump pottery pot on my grandma’s kitchen shelf at our family cottage. I had no idea what the purpose for it was, but as a wee kiddo, I sure loved staring at its glossy surface....I remember it reflecting any light in the room brilliantly. Just a cool beans sheen this chubbo pot had. It was yellow, but had definitely been well used into more of a deep mustard hue on its hot spots. The only thing I’d ever seen prepared in it was my other grandma’s wild rice casserole, which though very healthy, I didn’t like too much (note: I’m sure there are some beautiful, toothsome wild rice casseroles out there, seasoned and delicious but this one was BLAND). Anyhow, I didn’t realize until just today (legit) that this lovely pot’s sole reason for being was to cook....wait for it....beans!!!!!!!! And I’m sure they’d be delicious. Maybe next summer on a rainy, coolish night, I’ll try baking up some sweet, sticky, mustardy, boozy baked beans. Oh, it’s a must. Hail the beautiful bean pot! Curvaceous and so enticing ;) this - albeit quick - sketch is just an ode to the happiness that this lovely kitchenware brings me, in both nostalgia and potential. I’m also really trying to just let myself loose a bit more with illustrating. I loved the quote Salli posted the other day....“I’d rather have no style than any style” (Ed Ruscha, via Salli Swindell). Trying to get out of the headspace of comparison and pressing too hard (literally and figuratively) and instead just letting the ideas flow. Definitely a work in progress to be mindful in this practice.

I've bean to Brazil!

I've BEAN around the World
What better fits this time of year in January than a wonderful tasting and warming Ribollita, what means boiled again. Of course with lots of beans, white beans and in this recipe they are Great Northern Beans. In Italy, Cannellini Beans are used and the famous Ribollita comes from there, more precisley from Tuscany, but is popular throughout the country. Especially on the days of the blackbird, that are the last three days in January. Originally it’s a leftover soup which is served the next day with stale bread and sprinkles of olive oil.

'It's Bean In The Family For Years' cannellini beans on Pugliese bread recipe illustration

This is one of my family’s favourite recipes and it’s so simple! I crave it all year but especially when the weather starts to change in the fall. It used to be the first meal I’d ask for when I’d come home on break from college!Top it with sour cream and Fritos and it’s a match made in cozy yummy heaven!

Brenebon soup (red kidney bean soup) is a Manado (North Sulawesi of Indonesia) recipe adopted from the Dutch from their colonialism period. It has become the family recipes from generations, even now it is considered one of the best grandma's soup, that flavor of cloves will get anyone down with a fever feel better! The surprise is not only brenebon can be enjoyed as soup for rainy days, it can be enjoyed as shave ice for hot and sunny days. The texture of kidney beans goes so well with the smoothness of avocado and the sweetness from pandan-scent-brown sugar, and the mountain of crystal shaved ice ? It's like having magical snow and the ethnicity of tropical land into your mouth.

A celebration of beautiful beans in different languages around the world!

Beans Around the World

Entry for the Beans Around the World Contest

My Aunt Dianne is famous in our family for making the most delicious Southern pinto beans. When I asked her for her recipe, I was shocked to find out that the dish was so simple; just put a few ingredients in the slow cooker and let them cook through a busy day. These comforting, savory cooked beans are the perfect main dish for a winter weeknight alongside some salty, buttery cornbread. They're also a super satisfying source of fiber, iron, and protein.

I created this illustration from Aunt Dianne's recipe in watercolor, pencil, and digital media. My mom Shelley and I created the hand lettering together with watercolor and digital media.