Deborah Madison turned us on to the magic of epazote, "the bean herb". This was not, mind you, for its various medicinal uses, which most significantly include the treatment of intestinal hookworm (yum), but because it makes cooking tasty beans relatively fast and nigh on idiot-proof. Not only is it tasty, in a savory/tangy sort of way, but it eliminates the soaking step and speeds up cooking, and also makes beans easier to digest! Amazing!

The basic recipe, known to work well with both black beans and pintos:

* rinse 2 cups dry beans
* put into 6 cups water; boil hard for 10 minutes, skimming off scum
* add small onion, diced, and 2 tsp epazote; simmer, covered, 45 minutes.
* add 1.5 tsp salt; simmer 15 minutes more.

At this point, taste for doneness. Consume, or give another 15 minutes. (Pintos seem to need the extra time.)

For extra tastiness, you could consider adding the following; the oregano can go in at the same time as the epazote; other ingredients go in at the "taste for doneness" stage, and use the extra 15:

* oregano
* chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
* tomato, diced
* bell pepper, diced

Serve with rice, cornbread, or River Street Bakery's three-seed sourdough.

Ypsilantians: Von's has it for $0.99 / half ounce. Haven't seen it elsewhere. Jorvikers: tragically, not in the Blooming Prairie catalog. (I'll have to check the mega-size in-house catalog at the co-op.)