I have some French beans that are too fat to eat. If I take the beans out and use them in soups and casseroles, do I have to soak them overnight first? I don't want to poison the family!
The difference between kidney beans and homegrown types (french/runner/broad) is massive - you can check this online on Wiki or other proper sources who quote actual levels. There's a lot of scaremongering ont' web since health & safety went so far beyond common sense it's out of sight (why does the human race have such an aversion to the happy medium? why to we have to go full-speed from one extreme to the other on
everything?).
On my plot I have eaten about 10 - 15 raw in one day with no ill-effects at all, but only on a few days in each season - when I'm peckish and a few lumpy pods turn up and aren't worth taking home.
Fresh beans apparently have less toxin anyway, and dried ones have to be soaked first - I can't think why anybody would put them straight into a stew - they would take so long to cook (if ever)
I just make sure french and runners go into the stew/cassoulet
before it's simmered (I never try to cook stews faster than 45minutes - they just don't meld).
I would pre-cook kidney beans though, and any other types (pinto, turtle etc.) that I haven't looked up.
If I was a vegan I'd need to be more careful - mainly because the ill effects could creep up if you have few other sources of protein. No risk of that! I try to minimise activities where you have to be perpetually careful as well as smart. Dunvegan is a nice place to be... Can you be a MacVegan? (a load of veg plus one mackerel a week is no-brainer healthy and just as sustainable).
Cheers.