3. The Chinese embraced beans before Europeans realized the world was round. They didn’t just dry beans. They created entirely new food products from soy beans, including soy sauce, tofu and pungent fermented black bean. Red or adzuki beans are popular in China, Japan and Korea for use in sweet desserts, including cookies, steamed buns and ice cream.

4. From Israel to Morocco, you’ll find chickpeas. In Israel, you can enjoy them in hummus, a spread made with garlic, lemon and olive oil, or in falafel, a spicy, heavily herbed, deep-fried ball. Falafel is typically tucked into pita and doused with hot sauce, tangy white sauce and topped with salad. In Morocco, chickpeas are always a part of couscous, where together the bean (chickpea) and the grain (couscous) combine to make a complete protein.

5. The United States and Mexico offer their own take on bean dishes, whether it’s Puerto Rico’s red beans and rice, New Orleans-style black-eyed peas, or Mexican refried beans.

Though the use of the bean in chili is hotly disputed (certain Mexicans and Texans believe that true chili is just meat and heat), most Americans wouldn’t recognize a bowl of chili without pinto, kidney or white beans. And where would our growing U.S. vegetarian population be without the comfort of black bean burgers and burritos?

But when it comes to an all-American favorite, no bean dish competes with the hands-down winner: Boston baked beans. Whether at a summer campfire or on a cold winter nights, there’s an honest perfection inherent in this slow cooked bean and molasses dish.

So although beans are great value, they’re more than just a budget option. I like to think of them as that intelligent, well-traveled, confident person in the room who doesn’t say much, but when they do, it’s captivating.