A Deal That Won’t Disappoint

Into the plastic black yard bag they go… the “fantastic NFL sweatshirt” that wore like a limp, tattered old flag, the teacher recommended novel that is so bad I feel guilty giving it away, or the fingernail polish paint pen that I could only create blobs with on my freshly painted fingernails. If you clean out your closets I’m pretty sure you will also find some things that were supposed to be a fantastic deal but ended up being a disappointment because of false advertising or a bad recommendation. I promise I will not do that to you today. I want to tell you a little about beans, and I promise that they will not disappoint.

I am a rather new bean convert because I discovered their value later in life. According to the Bean Institute (1) they are:

*Rich in soluble and insoluble fiber which lowers cholesterol and benefits the colon and digestion
*Super lean source of environmentally friendly protein , 21-25% protein by weight and the cheapest source you will find
*Only 2% fat, and 85% of that is unsaturated
*Great sources of many vitamins and minerals including iron, folic acid, copper and magnesium

What’s not to like about super high fiber content, lean protein ( and coupled with a whole grain, a super low saturated fat, COMPLETE PROTEIN source), outstanding vitamin and mineral content, versatility, taste, and dirt cheap price tag? No wonder so many people in this world can live off of beans as a main staple of their diet. What keeps so many of us from us from consuming the USDA recommended 3 cups of beans or legumes every week?

SOAKING EASES DIGESTION
I know the little song about beans being musical fruit, etc. No need to repeat the whole thing, but one way to combat that is to leach out some of the sugars that are difficult to digest. I do this by soaking my beans for 24 hours at least, rinsing them a few times within that time period, and cooking them in a crock pot while I sleep. The soaking takes care of a good portion of the sugars and is the easiest thing you will ever do in the kitchen. Then cooking them overnight in the crockpot is the second easiest thing you will do. Watch my video and you will see what I mean!

EAT BETTER QUALITY MEAT USING OUR BEAN RECIPES
Another barrier is not having enough recipes to use them in. I can help you there too as you will regularly see bean based recipes here at Orange Tree Lane, along with thoughtful research about the many wonderful nutritional benefits of eating them. I use them also to save money so that we can eat better quality meat. Since a bag of beans costs about $1.50, we can enjoy vegetarian eating on some nights of the week and then spend more on the meat we do buy. The cows we eat are grass fed, hormone free, free range “happier” cows, and that makes me happier too.

I’ve chosen some old favorites for this week’s menu with an eye towards beans in the Quick Black Bean Enchiladas and Julia’s Favorite Chili. That one in particular is in the classic Orange Tree Lane style of making red meat a part of our diet rather than the star of the show by sharing the spotlight with, you’ve got it, beans.

In most recipes you can swap out the beans specified with your favorite variety, or take a plunge and try something new. Either way, I’m learning to recognize a good deal when I see one, and beans are it.

Happy cooking!

Molly
Test Cook and Research Specialist for Orange Tree Lane

PS- (Increase the amount of beans in your diet gradually for the greatest comfort. And soak them!)

See an older post about beans:
http://orangetreelane.com/blog/beans_for_your_heart