During
the time that I was a vegetarian, I stumbled through life eating whatever wasn’t
meat and doing my best to stay healthy. I knew beans were supposed to be a good
source of protein, so I added them to my diet and hoped for the best. It wasn’t
until about a year ago, while I was at my parent’s house perusing their
plethora of cookbooks and food-related bathroom reading materials, that I found
Full of Beans.
I cracked it open and to my surprise, I learned some amazing facts that my
former vegetarian self really could have taken advantage of. I call it my bean
bible.
Simply
because you are a meat-eater does not mean that alternative sources of protein,
such as beans, should not be a healthy part of your diet. Since I first
discovered that book, I’ve learned a lot of intriguing and useful information
about beans. As a consequence, I began to feel increasingly confident eating
them and knowing that I am getting all the nutrients my body needs.
Not
only that, but as I did more research, I learned that proteins that come from
plants are way more healthy than meat proteins, because they contain much less
fat. A six-ounce broiled porterhouse steak can contain up to 60 percent of your
daily intake of saturated fats, whereas a one-cup serving of lentils contains less
than a tenth of that, according to the The Nutrition Source by the Harvard School of Public
Health.
The
most valuable thing I learned from my bean bible was how to pair my beans to
make a full protein. As many people know, beans do not contain all the
essential amino acids to comprise a full protein. They must be eaten with
complimentary proteins that contain the other amino acids. Luckily, a lot of
the foods people already tend to eat with beans are, in fact, complimentary. For
example, beans and rice, beans and cheese (Mexican food), beans and pasta, and many
more.
Here
are some more of the complimentary pairings for beans:
Grain
protein
Rice,
rye, corn, wheat, and pasta
Seed
and nut protein
Sesame
seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, cashews
Other
proteins
Milk,
cheese, yogurt, eggs
Beans
are also incredibly cheap compared to their meat counterparts. Dried beans are
even less expensive than canned beans, and they taste almost the same, but they
require a little more work.
What
you need to do is wash the beans thoroughly, and then soak them. You can soak them
in cold water for 7–10 hours; or bring them to a boil, turn off the heat, and
let them soak for one hour. Then rinse them, and they are ready to be cooked.
Cooking depends on the type of bean, how old they are, and many other factors.
Your best bet is to read your package of beans; it should give you an
appropriate cooking time.
The
book also offered several tips to reduce flatulence. One way to do this is to
thoroughly rinse your beans, as many of the gas-producing elements of beans
accumulate in the water that your dried beans are soaking in. It is advised to rinse
them after soaking and after cooking. Also, rinse your canned beans! According
to Full of Beans,
apparently this can reduce flatulence up to 80 per cent. Additionally, if you
love beans and eat them all the time, your body will become more accustomed to
them and you won’t have so many problems. Cool beans, eh?
The
recipe this week is Bacon Bean Burgers with Mango Guacamole – take out the
bacon and you’ve got your vegetarian option. The reason I chose this recipe is
because, as a vegetarian, sometimes you just want a delicious burger to chow
down on, and those frozen patties just don’t cut it all the time. A lot of
those store-bought veggie patties are dry and, frankly, pretty gnarly. This
recipe is also a wonderful, healthy choice that makes up a full protein and is
a cheap way to get your burger fix.
I
recommend you garnish it with something saucy, because bean burgers are
naturally less fatty and less moist than regular burgers. I chose guacamole,
although salsa, hummus, and aioli are great alternative options. A really good
bun makes a burger that much better, so head down to your local bakery or gourmet
food store to find some of those – if you only have time to head to the grocery
store, I recommend Kaiser rolls.
Whether
you are a vegetarian or an omnivore, beans can help you expand your variety of
food choices, lower the cost of your dinners, keep things healthy, and at the
same time rest easy knowing that a great source of protein can be found outside
of meat and poultry.
Bacon
Bean Burgers with Mango Guacamole
Ingredients
1/2
cup mayo
2
cans black beans
1/2
large onion, chopped fine
1/2
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/3
cup walnuts, chopped very fine
1
egg
1/4
cup cilantro
3
cloves garlic, pressed
1/4
tsp cayenne pepper
1
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2
tsp salt
Package
of bacon
Step
1: Sauté onions in a pan.
Step
2: Rinse one can of beans and place in blender. Add the sautéed onions and the
rest of the ingredients except the walnuts. Blend until smooth. Add an
additional 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs if the mixture is really wet. It should be
quite sticky but still firm.
Step
3: Place the blended mixture in another bowl. Rinse the other can of beans and
add it and the walnuts to the mix. Stir it up with your hands.
Step
4: Take the mixture and form it into patties that are about the size of your
palm.
Step
5: Put about 1 tablespoon of oil into a pan on low-medium heat and fry the
patties for about 7–10 minutes on low heat so that they have a chance to cook
properly. I recommend that you don’t flip them often, because they do start to
crumble. I just flip them once, checking on them every few minutes.
Step
6: Preheat your buns, load them up with all your favourite toppings, and add
your bacon. Use your best guacamole recipe; I added mango instead of tomato to
mine to switch things up – yum!
Leanne
comes from a long line of food lovers, and has been cooking since she was eight
years old. She has spent many years creating the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
In spite of all of her food experimentation, to this day her favourite meal is still
a delicious bowl of popcorn.
//Leanne Kriz, columnist
//Author photograph
//Leanne Kriz, columnist
//Author photograph
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