Anasazi bean
Phaseolus vulgaris · Legume
Top 10 pairings
The Anasazi bean is an heirloom cultivar of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, recognised by its striking two-tone seed coat — burgundy-maroon blotches splashed across a creamy white ground, like a tiny painted pinto. Grown in the dry Four Corners country of the American Southwest, it is a sweet, mild, mealy bean that cooks faster than most dried beans and is marketed as easier on the digestion.
Picking a good onedrag
Sharp maroon on off-whiteDamp, musty or holed
Cupboard stockEveryday bestThe soup, chili, refried and bean-pot bean, and a drop-in for pinto. Soaked and boiled hard in fresh water first, then simmered right through to soft.
The mottlePattern still high-contrast, the ground gone a shade creamier
Whole seedsA few chipped coats and a stray loose skin, the rest intact
In the handHard right through, the chatter a little flatter
At the mouth of the bagFainter now, papery and clean, nothing sour underneath