IT used to be that whenever I whipped up a big pot of beans, I’d strain the cooking liquid directly down the drain.

This was back when I thought that, if you salted the beans while they simmered, they would never cook through, a culinary myth I bought into for years.

I was wrong on both counts. Salting beans gives them a richer, fuller and, well, saltier flavor. Ditto the broth: the added salt enhances the aromatics, making the broth as heady as chicken soup, minus the fowl.

This was abundantly clear when I stuck a spoon into a simmering batch of chickpeas destined for crostini. They smelled so good, so rich and herby that I couldn’t resist snagging a mouthful. Then I immediately gave myself a mental kick for wasting all those tasty bean broths over the years.