In the legume family, in general dried beans are higher in protein than dried peas. I think soybeans are the highest,followed by lentils, followed by dried beans in general (black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, etc.) and then by dried peas. In the pea category, dried southern peas (blackeyes, pinkeye purplehulls, zipper peas, crowder peas, etc.) are a little higher in protein than dried green peas (English peas, etc.). It goes without saying that any bean or pea harvested and eaten as a snap bean or as a edible podded pea or as a shelly green bean or pea has less protein than those grown to maturity and harvested dry because at the green stage they have not yet fully developed the proteins that will develop before you harvest them as dried peas/beans. I've grown most of the bean varieties offered by SESE but I grow them as snap beans or as shelly beans(particularly lima beans) at the green stage but not as dried beans, and they produce just fine in spring and fall, but most flower and set beans poorly in mid-summer because the heat impedes their pollination. Pretty much any bean variety I ever have grown, excluding runner beans which also have trouble in high heat, will produce well with only minimal irrigation as long as the temperatures don't go too far above about 90 degrees. At 90 degrees, blossom drop often becomes a problem. I don't grow beans or peas to the dried bean or pea stage because both are so inexpensive to buy in bulk at the grocery store that it does not make any logical sense to me to devote a lot of garden space to growing them and then devote a lot of time to shelling them, only to have a relatively small harvest as a result. When you grow beans to the dry stage, you are discarding the dry pods and keeping the dry beans/peas and it is amazing how a big bucket of bean or pea pods gives you relatively few peas/beans (by weight or volume) once shelled compared to all the empty, dried pods you throw on the compost pile. I don't like spending all that time growing and harvesting them only to keep 5% of the plant to eat while composting the rest, but that's just me. I simply like the maximum production from the soil we've spent years improving, and raising beans or peas to the dry stage gives us a smaller harvest overall than harvesting them and eating them as snap peas or snap beans, although the same harvest if eating them as green shellies. Drought tolerance is in the eyes of the beholder to a certain extent because there are many kinds of drought. Beans or peas that grow and produce well in moderate or severe drought might not grow and produce nearly as well once your area advances to extreme or exceptional drought. The beans that have produced best for me in periods of extreme or exceptional drought are Rattlesnake, Worchester Indian Red Lima and Violet's Multicolored Butter Beans. All southern peas produce very well in heat and drought. Dawn

I pick and sort for stuff in my dry beans. Much cleaner then they used to be I've noticed. Used to be a pebble in most every bag but I've not found a rock or dirt clod in years. Still a weed seed now and then. I rinse them to remove dust. Chop up an onion into a pot of water and add the beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a couple hours. Got beans! More gas then those that soak them but gas is good for your digestive system. After two hours you have cooked but firm beans. Six or eight hours and you have soft beans. Reheated the next day and you have bean mush... my favorite! When they break down they take on lots of liquid. Use low heat and stir often when reheating soft beans as they burn to the bottom of the pot. In a hurry? Nuke them with some water for about 20 minutes for a pound package with two cups of water. Check after ten minutes and add more water if needed. Use fresh beans! After a year beans take on a bitter flavor. My grandfather taught me to throw out last year's beans as they are not worth eating. Watch where you buy them... I grabbed a package without looking at Meijer's and they were over a buck a pound! Local grocer is about half that price... not that fifty cents kills my budget. I'm eaten several pounds of dry peas recently cooking them the same as the beans. I'm using up some ham but a couple drops of liquid smoke would do as well for flavor. I love a sliver of habenera pepper... not enough to make them hot but it gives a nice tangy note. I think dry lentils are my most common food of these types. Just lentils and an onion makes a good filling energy providing food. A side note I just past the 15lbs lost mark from about the start of last November. A couple holidays and many beers so I'm really happy with my diet. Beans, peas, lentils, and rice have been major "filler" foods that help me feel full with lots of energy for work. Wing your chili and never look back! I love kidney beans and cabbage with hot peppers... some cumin and you could call it chili. Garlic if you want it sweet. Good tomatoes really help but I've used a squirt of ketchup when in a hurry. Either I've got a magic touch or chili is really hard to make bad. I make everything from skillet chili which has almost no liquid to chili soup that is mostly liquid. If I made vegatarian chili for someone I'd probably go a half pot of tomatoes, quarter pot of beans, some onion, squash, couple mildly hot peppers, bit of garlic, few shakes of cumin, tablespoon of chopped cumin seed, and maybe a handful of corn. I salt and black pepper it to taste at serving time. Making for just myself I pour on the hot peppers but that is my taste. good luck! : ) lyra

BLACK BEANS Serves: 8 1 lb dry black beans 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 large Spanish onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut in quarters or diced 1 tsp dried oregano 2 bay leaves salt to taste Wash beans well and remove any bad beans and debris. Place beans in glass bowl and cover with water and soak overnight. Wash and seed bell pepper and cut in quarters. (You can chop it if you prefer, if you donâÂÂt like to eat it, but do like the flavor it lends, pull the quarters out before eating.). Dice onion and garlic (I use a garlic press). Place the beans with the water in which they soaked in 6 Qt pressure cooker. Add extra water if needed to have 1" over beans. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Cool cooker quickly and check consistency of beans. If not tender enough close cooker and do another 10 minutes and check again. If there is too much liquid, leave cover off and boil to reduce some of the liquid. There should be some liquid, but it should not be thin and soupy. Some family members like to add a tablespoon of sherry vinegar before serving. Beans can be successfully frozen for a long time. Some cooks prefer to make a sofrito in the pressure cooker first, with the olive oil, onion, garlic. pepper and oregano before adding the beans and the bay leaf. It turns out well done either way ��" do whatever you prefer. If you like, remove about half of soup from pot and puree with a blender, and then return to pressure cooker. Adjust seasoning as needed. Add water if needed for desired consistency. Black bean soup may be served over rice and garnished with your choice of lime juice, sour cream, avocado, chopped onions, grated cheese, parsley or cilantro, tortilla chips or cornbread. For Crockpot: Soak beans overnight in crockpot, add veggies to the crock or sauté the veggies, then add to the crock. Add oregano, bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low or until beans are tender but not mushy. For Stovetop: Soak beans overnight in saucepan. Add veggies to the saucepan or sauté the veggies first, then add to the pan. Add oregano, bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours until beans are tender but not mushy. Stir several times each hour.

The only store here I have found the anasazi dry beans in is HEB. I try to stock up when I go there. Kroger doesn't carry them. I was surprised to see the cranberry beans at Kroger. They are similar to each other in taste and consistency. They are a mild bean and don't cause the gas problems of some beans. I have been considering just ordering them online since I don't get to HEB often. My mother loved a big pot of butter beans and ham, we do too but when I was a kid I didn't like them.