If you're looking for a great source of protein, consider legumes, especially if you combine them with grains, seeds and dairy products.

The new year always brings good intentions to eat healthier, but not necessarily resolutions. We tire of the greens and root vegetables of winter. And the chill nudges us toward the hearty comfort of meaty dinners.

Before you eat too many pot roasts and pork chops, consider legumes. Eating beans, peas and lentils opens a whole new world of meals. Consider chick-pea fries from Italy, fried mung beans spiced with Asian flavors or a Portuguese dish of white beans and sausage.

There are other reasons to choose legumes. The dried, frozen and canned ones are a natural for winter because their quality isn't affected by the weather. Beans are a great source of protein as long as you eat them with "grains, seeds and dairy products" on the same day, Margaret Wittenberg writes in "New Good Food: Essential Ingredients for Cooking and Eating Well" (Ten Speed Press, $19.95). The combination of foods adds methionine, an amino acid that's insufficient in most beans.

Legumes also are perfect for the penny pincher or the gourmet — especially with food costs rising. The prices are generally low for the types found in supermarkets. Heirloom varieties cost a bit more, but they'll satisfy a food lover's need for the unusual. Check out the Peruvian Mayacoba beans, black-and-white vaquero beans and yellow eye beans at ranchogordo.com.

For local stores that go beyond the typical supermarket selection, visit ethnic groceries and Whole Foods stores.

When shopping, consider how much time you have to cook. Frozen shelled edamame (soybeans) cook in just a few minutes. Canned beans also are fast.

Dried lentils are another option for weeknights. Wittenberg recommends red lentils and black beluga lentils for a 30-minute meal, or French green lentils, brown lentils and Spanish pardina lentils for one that takes 40 to 60 minutes.

As for larger dried legumes, author Mark Bittman recommends a two-hour soak in hot water before cooking. Bittman writes that his method, described in "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food" (John Wiley & Sons, $35), reduces the number of times you'll have to check the cooking legumes. It also prevents them from getting too mushy.

His method: After washing and picking over the beans, put them in a pot and cover with cold water by 2 to 3 inches. Boil, uncovered, for two minutes. Cover the pot, turn off the heat and let beans soak for two hours.

Check for tenderness. If the beans are tender, add a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Make sure the beans are covered with an inch of water. If the beans are raw, add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches. Don't add salt yet.

Return the pot to a boil, partially cover the pot, and reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally, and taste a bean every 10 to 15 minutes. If you haven't yet added salt, add some when the beans just turn tender. Continue cooking until the beans are done to your liking.

Soaking in hot water also has an added benefit. Lots of oligosaccharides, the complex sugars in legumes that cause intestinal gas, leach out of legumes in a hot-water soak, Wittenberg writes. If you're really worried about these sugars, drain the soaking water and replace it with fresh water before cooking.

And if you're still sensitive to oligosaccharides after trying this method? Avoid legumes with high levels of these sugars, such as navy beans, lima beans and whole dried soybeans, Wittenberg writes. Instead, choose anasazi beans, azuki beans, black-eyed peas, lentils and mung beans.