According to the USDA, beans can serve as nutritious, low-fat, low-cost meat substitutes. USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans include dry beans in both the meat and vegetable groups.
Cooking Tip #9
It’s true that if you soak your beans, your cooking time will decrease slightly -- but by how much really depends on the bean type; sometimes it’s just a matter of cutting 15 minutes off, sometimes it’s more.
