9 Nutritious Beans, Legumes and Legumes to Add Variety to Your Meals

9 Nutritious Beans, Legumes and Legumes to Add Variety to Your Meals

Are you looking for inspiration to add a little variety to your plant-based dishes?

Canned black beans are a convenient plant-based protein source that is relatively easy to find in most grocery stores. However, there are dozens of different types of beans and legumes that you can add to your personal ingredient rotation and recommend to your coaching clients when discussing nutrient-dense choices.

Here are some of the benefits of consuming more legumes in your diet:

They are generally inexpensive, especially if they are made in the region where you live. They also have a long shelf life. These characteristics can help supportFood control. Different types of legumes often have an important place in cultural foods around the world. They are environmentally friendly Groceries; Growing them helps reduce greenhouse gases, improve soil fertility and feed the plants growing alongside them. There are hundreds of types of impulses. Trying out new types is a great way to shake things up in the kitchen!

In this article, we'll give you an overview of beans, legumes, and legumes and introduce you to nine nutrient-dense beans and legumes that you may not have heard of. Not only do we talk about their nutritional content, but we also introduce you to their historical background and some culturally relevant uses.

What is the difference between beans, legumes and legumes?

It is not uncommon to use the terms beans, legumes, and legumes interchangeably. However, from an agricultural science perspective, there are differences between the three.

Legumes are plants in the Fabaceae family, which also include leaves, stems and pods.

Legumes are the edible seeds found in the pods of legume plants. These include beans, lentils, chickpeas and green peas.

Beans in their many forms (like pinto, black, kidney, butter) are a type of pulse.

In other words, a pea in the pod, the way we eat peas, is a type of legume. Green peas from the pod are legumes.

From a coaching perspective, does it really matter which term you use? Not necessarily. What's important is that both you and your customer are talking about the same thing. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recognizes that fresh peas, green beans, soybeans and alfalfa are taxonomic legumes. the The FAO categorizes these foods as vegetables due to their nutritional profiles and gastronomic uses.

9 Nutrient-Rich Legumes to Try

What creates impulses? so nutritious? Impulses are:

Low in saturated fat High in protein An excellent source of complex carbohydrates An excellent source of fiber Excellent sources of iron Sources of vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium Sources of various antioxidant components, including vitamin E, selenium, phenolic acids, phytic acids, copper, zinc and manganese

Adzuki beans

Adzuki beans, “the kind of beans” in Japanese, are round, dark red beans that have been grown in Asia for hundreds of years. In Asian healthcare systems, adzuki beans are credited with properties that support kidney health.

People enjoy too Adzuki beans in China, Korea, New Zealand and the Philippines, in addition to those who enjoy the culture surrounding Adzuki beans.

Cannellini beans

Cannellini beans are also known as Italian white kidney beans or Fasoli beans. As you may have guessed, cannellini beans are an ingredient used in many Italian dishes, including minestrone, stewed beans and pasta and fagioli soup.

Cannellini beans are fluffier than red and black bean varieties and have a milder flavor, making them a great addition to vegetable and tomato bases.

Kidney beans

These beans are a stack in many Central American, South American and Southeast Asian cuisines. In northern India they are called rajma, and in Latin America they are called frijoles rojos or frijoles colorados. In the United States, red kidney beans are also an important element of Creole cuisine.

Mung beans

Mung beans are grown in India, China, and Southeast Asia, and to a lesser extent in southern Europe and southern parts of the United States. They are readily used in both their seed and germ forms in sweet and savory dishes in Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines.

In China they are known as mung beans and form the base for sweet pastes, pastry fillings and mooncake fillings. Mooncakes are traditionally eaten Mid-Autumn Festival.

Yellow lentils

Yellow lentils are not as well known in the West as red lentils, but they are often an important part of the Southeast Asian diet as well as the diet of people from the West Indies. Lentils are one of the oldest and heartiest foods produced in human agriculture. They are similar to red beans in taste and texture, but their color is preferred for making traditional daal.

Pigeon peas

The exact origin of Pigeon peas is not known, but they have a long history in India, where they are called Tur, and in Africa, where they are known as Congo peas, Angola peas or red gram. Colonists introduced these legumes to the Caribbean and are now an important part of Caribbean gastronomy. In Jamaica they are known as gungo peas.

Cowpeas

Cowpeas, also known as black-eyed peas, southern peas, powder peas, lubia, niebe, coupé or frijoles, are legumes widely grown in Asia, Africa, southern Europe and Central and South America. They are native to West Africa, and most of the world's cowpeas come from the Sahel, the region of Africa that stretches from Senegal to Sudan. They can easily be made alongside other crops like corn and squash.

Jack Beans

Jack beans, also known as sword bean or feijão-de-porco (pork bean), are a type of bean consumed in Brazil. They are also found in tropical parts of Africa, Central and South America, and the West Indies. While they are commonly used in human diets, including variations of the feijoada dish, they can also be used as fodder. Keep in mind that some people look down on jack beans precisely because they can be used as animal feed, but others prefer jack beans as an inexpensive, nutritious food in growing areas.

An interesting fact about jack beans is that they were used to regenerate soil quality afterwards Environmental disasters in Brazil.

Umbrian lentils

Umbrian lentils originated in the Mediterranean and are still consumed in this region and some countries in Southeast Asia. They are often enjoyed in simple lentil stews with herbs and garlic or as a bed for meat dishes.

Italy and the Philippines share the tradition eating lentils at midnight on New Year's Eve; Tradition dictates that the more lentils you eat, the more pennies you earn!

What about antinutrients in legumes?

Legumes are rich in nutrients, but also containAntinutrients– Components that may inhibit the absorption of nutrients or negatively affect the body's ability to convert nutrients into a usable form.

The American Oil Chemist's Society states that the main antinutrients in legumes are protease inhibitors, phytate, oxalate, lectins, tannins, saponins, polyphenols, amylase inhibitors and oligosaccharides.

If You Eat Lots of Legumes, Should You Be Worried About Antinutrients? In most cases there is nothing to worry about. Soaking and cooking legumes naturally reduces antinutrients and makes nutrients more readily available. Eating sprouted legumes is also a good way to reduce the presence of antinutrients. The Benefits of Eating Legumes regularly the costs outweigh the costs, especially if you follow aplant-based diet.

In general, the main reason to worry about antinutrients is if a person has one dietary mineral or protein deficiency.

Bonus: How to prepare dried legumes at home

Canned beans and legumes are convenient; packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein; and relatively inexpensive. However, learning to prepare and cook dried beans has several advantages over using canned beans.

You can reduce the amount of salt added or remove it completely. Canned beans and legumes are often high in sodium. You can add yoursown spices and flavors. It is often even cheaper than canned beans. The average price per cup of canned beans is $0.60, while the average price per cup of cooked dried beans is $0.25. That's a lot of nutrition for a small price!

With a little advance planning, you can make your own legumes, including beans and chickpeas, right at home.

You need:

2 cups dried legumes of your choice 4 cups water Herbs, spices and vegetables of your choice Pressure cooker 1 large bowl 1 kitchen towel (large enough to cover the bowl)

How to make them:

Place legumes in a large bowl. Add water (room temperature). Add herbs and spices (optional – some people prefer to add these right before cooking). Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Let the pulses sit for at least 4 hours, but ideally let them sit overnight. When you're ready to cook them, discard the water. If your parents or grandparents soaked beans and chickpeas, they may tell you to throw away the water as it helps Prevent gas. There is research to secure this. We know that tooSoaking impulsescan help eliminate antinutrients that leach into the water. If you haven't already, add herbs, spices, and vegetables. Add enough water to the pot so that the water is about two inches above the pulses. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and cook for 30 minutes.

Remember, you don't need to soak the legumes, but this will shorten the cooking time and help remove some of the legumes indigestible sugar of the beans, and it will also wash away some of theAntinutrients. If you don't have a pressure cooker, that's okay too. In this case, cook the beans on the stove for 2-3 hours, checking them periodically to make sure they are still covered in water.

Lentils don't necessarily need to be soaked and will usually cook through in 20 to 30 minutes without a pressure cooker. Cooking them in a pressure cooker will soften them and shorten the cooking time, as will pre-soaking them.

Main takeaways

As a nutrition and health coach, learning new types of foods and their nutritional content has benefits. Not only can this help you personally navigate the food landscape, but you can also learn how to add variety to your customers' diets or encourage enjoyment of their cultural foods. Many cultures have legumes as part of their staple diet, and learning about cultural foods can help you create a safe coaching space for your clients where they feel understood and respected.

Need some recipe ideas that use inspiration from around the world? Check out this recipe and information guide provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization.

... more about that in the next part.
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