Phaseolus beans

A substantial soup, almost a main course, combining meaty black beans and sweet red peppers with the heat of red chilli in the accompanying salsa.

This comforting aromatic stew from Vicky Jones' excellent Beans, Peas & Everything In Between, is a perfect vegetarian dish, evocative of the wild fennel much used in Sicilian cooking.

Finished in the oven, rich and sweet Boston baked beans are an American classic perfect for cold winter nights.

This recipe, from Jenny Chandler's brilliant cookbook Super Pulses, uses black beans to create fudgy, indulgent chocolate brownies. Beans are used in place of flour to add more nutrition and also make this recipe suitable for gluten-free bakers.

The Tex-Mex answer to stuffed crêpes, quesadillas are wheat-flour tortillas stuffed with cheese and whatever else comes to hand. American recipes call for Monterey Jack cheese, or sometimes Cheddar, but Wensleydale works wonderfully. Meaty black beans make these quesadillas more substantial, great for a brunch with guacamole, salsa and sour cream trimmings.