There are two ways to buy beans: canned or dry
Beans are great sources of protein and fiber. Depending on the bean, one cup will get you 14-16 grams of protein and 6-12 grams of fiber. A half a cup of Tempeh made from fermented soybean about the size of a beef burger will get you 18 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. Hamburgers have no fiber. Beans are a good foundation for a healthy diet.
Canned beans are convenient. Just open the can. Most are high in sodium, but you can buy low sodium or no sodium cans of beans.
You can heat canned beans on a stove top or microwave.
Environmental note: One can a week is 52 cans of trash per year. Two a week is 154 cans a year. More per week are more trash per year. Cans also absorb raw materials in the making.
Dried beans may require a period of soaking before cooking.
You can cook lentils, Split Peas, Mung beans and Adzuki beans without soaking first. The rest require soaking and/or long periods of cooking time. More soaking means less gas (farting).
Environmental notes:
Dried beans usually come in plastic bags and minimize trash.
Cooking beans produces heat. This is good if it’s cold outside. It warms the house. If it is warm or hot outside, it will warm the house and may require air conditioning to remove the heat. To shorten cooking time by half or more, and reduce the amount of heat generated, soak the beans beforehand, and use a pressure cooker.
There are two kinds of pressure cookers or quick cookers:
Manual-this requires monitoring and adjusting the cooker to keep the steam heat at full pressure.
Automatic-you press a few buttons to tell the cooker to pressure cook if it has other functions and tell it how long to cook. It will keep the steam heat at full pressure for you. When the cooking time ends, the cooker switches to warm mode or turns itself off.
Be aware that the pressure cooker will only be usable for about half the capacity rating. For example, a three quart pressure cooker can only handle about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts cooking material.
Here is a guide for cooking beans from the NY Times.