I feel silly asking this because it seems like it should be such an easy thing, but I am looking for some suggestions on incorporating more beans into my diet. I am not a fan of their texture, so I have a hard time getting them in. Not to mention, I don't know the first thing about them...what to cook with them, which kinds are best for what kind of meal. It seems like there are so many different kinds. Just looking at the bean section at the grocery store gets me confused. Do I get canned, or is it better to buy the dried ones?

Right now, I usually only get them in if I have chili, or if I make a chickpea salad (chickpeas, chopped celery, oil, vinegar and onion powder).

Thanks!
K

My favorite bean dishes are:

roasted chick peas
black bean, tofu, and tomato dish (in phase one recipes - I think it's called chilled lime tofu with black beans and tomatoes or something)
in soup
on salad
Lebanese bean salad

I usually buy canned beans, for easiness sake. I drain and rinse them before adding them to dishes. I do love lentils also. I buy them dried and add them to soups or just make them as a side dish, kind of in the same way I'd make rice as a side dish.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm going to search for that recipe with the tofu, which is another food that completely baffles me. I am hoping I will find a way to actually enjoy them. (since they do not taste like chocolate :-D)

easy lunch or dinner:

heat up 1 serving of refried, FF vegetarian beans in a pot. Warm up some Perdue Short Cuts in another pan - just until warmed. Top beans with the chicken, RF sour cream, salsa and cheese for a 5 minute dinner!

I like beans There are tons of great soup recipes that use different kinds of beans; some feature the beans, some hide them better. I like black beans the best. I will add them to salads, "pizza," lots of recipes. I mostly used canned for ease but this week tried making my own refried beans and that required dry which I forgot about soaking overnight. You can really hide them in baked recipes for things like muffins and brownies - you would never know they are in there!

This one sound good.

When we have our been , lets say at lunch , so the beens will be our grains right . I just a little . so no rice , pasta or bread. whit them.

It's my understanding that beans do not count towards our grain servings for the day. That's why I want so badly to like them. LOL

Beans do not count as a grain, so eat up.

A serving of 1/2 cup is recommended if you aren't used to eating beans, but that's only because of the "side effects". But you may eat as much of them as you can handle.

I didn't know beans were allowed! This made my day, seriously. Refried beans with some cheese are one of my all-time favorite things.

I've noticed that the "side effects" seem to diminish a tad when your body adjusts to eating so many of them

Rinse them really well, you'll have less "side effects" that way. hehe, gotta love euphemism.

Puree them and add them to sauces as a thickner. It fills you up more too. refried beans are great in a taco salad. There are recipes in the dessert section for "breads" and brownies made with beans. Make homemade barbecue sauce and serve over beans as a side dish. Make black bean burgers.

I'm vegetarian so we eat a lot of beans. Canned are fine. because we eat so many we do dried beans a lot, because it's cheaper. Canned also have slightly higher GI index, but they are still low GI food either way.

Thanks for the suggestions! I went shopping today and got a few different varieties of canned beans to experiment with. I can't believe I didn't think of the refried beans! My kids love those and so do I! Having those with dinner tonight!

ooh and cheesy bean dip too. Mix refried beans with cottage cheese, cream cheese and chopped onion and tomato and taco seasoning. Dip veggies in it. Or if you're on phase 2 or 3 you could dip in whole wheat tortilla chips. yum.

The mock cornbread is a great way to get beans in your diet and you will not recognize them. I recommended that one to a friend with a very picker toddler.

Yummo! For lunch today I had some black beans with cheese and sour cream and low-carb Green Chile!!

So good!