Leftover bean stew becomes a new dish using the beans themselves. Cooked chickpeas and beans act as binders when mashed, so they can be used in spreads, patties, and fillings. If you want to keep the beans whole, drain them and add them to a cold salad; use only leftovers that were refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking and are no more than 3 to 4 days old. Set the liquid aside and add it to soup or to the water for cooking rice. This is what distinguishes leftover bean stew from leftover soup: the main ingredient is the beans, not the liquid.
Cooked legumes are full of softened starch and protein. When mashed, the beans break down and release starch; mashed chickpeas or beans turn into a self-binding, paste-like mass. The same starch is what makes bean stew thicken the next day. This quality makes leftover legumes a natural binder: they form the base for spreads and patties that hold their shape without adding eggs or flour. When left whole, the beans add substance to a salad and hold the dressing on their surface. Lentils lose their shape sooner and are more likely to mash than stay whole.
First, separate the beans from the liquid. Pour a pot of tomato-paste-and-onion stew into a strainer; the liquid drains into a bowl while the beans stay in the strainer. Do not discard the liquid: add it to soup or the cooking water for bulgur pilaf, where it contributes the flavor of the tomato paste and legumes. Use the beans for a spread with the sauce still clinging to them, and do not rinse them, because some of the flavor is in that sauce. Draining the beans before mashing keeps the spread from becoming watery and makes it easier to adjust the consistency; if needed, add water later by the spoonful.
Mash chickpeas and dried beans with a fork or in a blender; loosen the mixture with tahini, lemon, garlic, and olive oil to make a dip similar to hummus or a bean spread. Beans from a stew made with tomato paste give the spread a reddish color and fuller flavor. Knead the same spread with fine bulgur, chopped green onions, and parsley to make a patty mixture; the fine bulgur absorbs moisture from the spread and helps the mixture hold its shape in your palm. Eat the patties as they are or brown each of the 2 sides in a skillet.
Green lentil stew follows the same path: mash the lentils and knead them with bulgur to make a mixture similar to lentil patties. Mashed legumes can also be used as a binder in other fillings. Add a little mashed chickpea to vegetable fritters (mucver) and they will hold together with less egg; mashed beans added to a meatball mixture retain its moisture and keep the meatballs tender. Because legumes have a strong flavor, add them in moderation; do not use enough to overpower the main flavor of the filling, and check the mixture after each addition.
If you want to keep the beans whole, use them in a cold salad. Rinse drained chickpeas or beans lightly with cold water because you do not want the tomato-paste sauce in the salad. Then toss them with chopped onion, parsley, tomato, and a lemon-and-olive-oil dressing to make a salad similar to piyaz, a Turkish bean salad. Cold beans hold the dressing on their surface and stay intact; to keep them from breaking, do not stir the salad with a spoon—toss the bowl instead. Adding hard-boiled egg or tuna makes it a main dish. Check the salt at the end, because the beans already taste salty from the stew.
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