Beautiful beans: how to use them in everything from burgers and dips to flatbread and chutney

Beans are not just delicious but good for us - and the planet. They're also amazingly versatile

Judith Choate loves beans. Everything about them is good," says the American chef and food writer. They're cheap, they're highly nutritious. They're good for the planet: when farmers farm them, they put nutrients back into the earth. I can't even think of anything bad about them, except the one thing that people object to, which is they do take some time to cook." Choate has now written The Mighty Bean, a book packed with simple recipes to encourage more of us to love legumes. Here are some of her tips to make the best of beans.