Chef Wendell: 4th of July vitamin & fiber dish
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This Independence Day, celebrate your family’s health freedom. Get back into the kitchen and prepare a delicious side dish of fibrous, nutritious beans with crunchy, summer garden veggies. Create disease-free health with this version bursting with vitamins, minerals, bell-ringing fiber and flavor. Free yourself from the grocery deli.
1st Segment: Promote the healthy virtues of cooking from scratch. Creamy bean salad from the grocers is tasty and convenient, but contains little nutrition, too much fatty mayonnaise, and chemical preservatives.
2nd Segment: Get thee back into thy kitchen. Make your own where you control the quality of the ingredients. Assembling the colorful dish and discus the vitamin profile.
- Get thee back into thy kitchen. Free yourself from the grocery deli!
- People who eat more beans have a lower risk of heart disease.
- Beans can help lower “bad” cholesterol building up in your arteries.
- Beans provide soluble fiber. Studies find that soluble fiber a day-the amount in 1/2 to 1 1/2 cups of navy beans-reduces LDL cholesterol by about 10 percent. (American Heart Association)
- Beans also contain saponins and phytosterols, which help lower cholesterol.
- Rich source of fiber-promote colon health and reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer.
- Beans contain cancer-fighting plant chemicals isoflavones and phytosterols.
- Beans and veggies help with weight loss.
- Improve rheumatoid arthritis.
- Reduce the risk for Alzheimer’s, diabetes.
- Beans stabilize blood sugar levels.
- Beans are high in protein. (the poor man’s meat)
- A good source of magnesium, vitamin C and folate.
Summer Kidney Bean Salad with Garden veggies
- 2 cans of kidney beans, drained
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 red bell pepper – diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper – diced
- 1/2 red onion – diced
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1 small bunch fresh oregano and thyme leaves
- Daiya cheese, diced
- Kalamata olives, removed pits and cut in half
- 2 lemons – juiced (1/3rd cup)
- 2 tbsp. Kalamata olive juice
- Zest of half lemon
- 1 tbsp. olive or avocado oil
- Himalayan salt and black pepper to taste
Don’t forget to:
- Open beans and drain juice. Cube cheese.
- Peel, stone and cube the avocado, wash and prep the veggies.
- Juice and zest lemons, de-stem thyme and coarsely chop oreganos leaves.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss everything together and gently mix.
- Allow to chill; remix and serve.