Learn to Love Legumes

Peas and beans - legumes. It's amazing how little we eat, given the opportunity to eat them many times per week. Save for some chili in the winter and the occasional bean burrito here and there most people don't eat many legumes. There is a wealth of scientific data about the benefits and in this time of exploding health problems like diabetes and heart disease, healthy eating needs to be taken more seriously. A study done in 2011 by Loma Linda University and published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer found that eating legumes at least three times a week cut the risk of colon cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the U.S., by one-third. Those are just statistics so consider that we're talking about tens upon tens of thousands of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, teachers, engineers, artists. In other words those statistics are people. While bean dishes can be made any time of year and in many different ways they can also be added to dishes to give an extra degree of healthiness. You can add kidney beans to salads, black beans to rice dishes and lentils to practically anything. Here is a bean recipe from my book that is very low fat, fun and tasty.

Black Bean Burgers - A delicious alternative to grease laden burgers. These are loaded with tons of protein without all the fat.

1/2 medium chopped yellow onion

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 15 oz. cans black beans

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Toppings:

sliced avocado

sliced tomato

lettuce

ketchup

mustard

This can be made by pulsing all ingredients in a food processor until mixed but it can be put together with a lot less fuss and in a jiffy by just getting your daily aggressions out and mixing by hand in a large mixing bowl. Mix all ingredients thoroughly and form into four equally sized patties. Spray some non-stick onto a skillet and cook on medium until done. Serve on whole wheat buns and enjoy!