Spilling the Beans

How to Freeze Heirloom Beans

By Emily Adams / August 15, 2026 /

There’s nothing quite like a big pot of heirloom beans. And while you can reinvent them several ways, a proper pot of beans sometimes makes more than most would want to eat in a week. The good news is that cooked heirloom beans freeze beautifully, and if you do it right, you’ll barely notice a…

Spice Review: Castillo Spanish Pimentón

By Emily Adams / August 12, 2026 /

I’ve bought a lot of smoked paprika over the years, different brands, different price points, and none of it prepared me for Rancho Gordo’s Castillo Spanish Pimentón. This one is more complex than any paprika I’ve ever tried. It’s not just smoky. There’s a bittersweet depth to it that regular paprika doesn’t come close to,…

Specialty Grain Spotlight: Scarlet Rice

By Emily Adams / August 10, 2026 /

Once you get far enough into an heirloom bean habit, it stops staying contained to beans. Beans, rice, corn, and squash have been grown and eaten together for generations, and once that clicked for me, I wanted to work my way through all of those categories, not just the bean aisle. Rice felt like the…

Marinated Black Garbanzo Beans with Cucumbers

By Emily Adams / August 4, 2026 /

I must admit, I bought these because they looked cool – and I’m so glad I discovered them! A Note on Black Garbanzos These are noticeably firmer than regular chickpeas, which makes them hold up beautifully in a marinated, cold prep like this. I’ve still got a good amount of unmarinated black garbanzos left, so…

Spice Review: Sal de Gusano

By Emily Adams / July 31, 2026 /

I bought this one mostly out of curiosity and came away thinking it deserves a permanent spot next to my regular finishing salts, not just as a novelty. Where It Comes From Sal de gusano is a traditional Oaxacan condiment, made by toasting and grinding chinicuiles, the red larvae that live inside agave plants, together…