Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit (and Ideal Protein Source)

As a child, I remember learning “Beans, beans, the musical fruit,” while driving back from the Rose Bowl parade in our old red and white van. When my mother scolded my father for teaching my sister and I such songs that ended with people “tooting,” my father said we’d never remember them. Of course, some thirty years later, I remember.

In my parent’s home, I grew up on steak and noodles; it was a favorite and eaten regularly. As an adult, I follow a vegetarian diet and avoid refined carbohydrates. It’s likely I’ll never eat my favorite childhood dinner again, and I’m perfectly okay with that.

I’ve actually replaced both of those old favorites with: Beans.

I absolutely love beans and lentils, and I’ll share how to make one of simplest and best tasting bean dishes I’ve ever had. This dish is incredibly delicious and full of protein. In addition, if you’ve read anything about how it takes a thousand gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, or worse, that many animals used for consumption these days have tumors, you’ll also understand that regularly using this dish will benefit both the environment and your body.

One of the best things about bean dishes is that there are so many different kinds of beans, and they all taste different. The recipe I’ll share will work with just about any type of bean or lentil, but my favorites are red lentils and black-eyed-peas. Red lentils are delicious and because they take about 15 minutes to prepare, it makes them a perfect pasta substitute. Black-eyed-peas take a little longer, about 40 minutes, but when you taste them, you’ll know why you waited.

Best of all, you’ll just need a few simple things to make this dish, all of which I keep on hand.

The first is coconut oil, which if you’re not cooking with it regularly, you should be. Coconut oil is full of medium chain fatty acids, which offer remarkable health benefits. Coconut oil is known to kill cancer cells, be anti-bacterial, and contrary to popular knowledge, prevents heart troubles. On top of that short summary of the benefits of coconut oil, coconut oil is the only oil that can stand the heat of cooking without creating free radicals. Plus, it’s delicious.

The second item you’ll need is sea salt, which you should know is different than standard table salt. Unprocessed sea salt is full of minerals -which most people are deplete in – and is structurally different than standard table salt, which the body sees as toxic. So, if you haven’t made the switch yet at your table, now’s a perfectly good time to do so.

The third is fresh sage. Like many herbs, sage has anti-bacterial properties, protects against cancer, and is absolutely delicious. Now, you’ll just need your beans or lentils and purified water and you’re all set.

So, here’s what you do with it all…

Add a teaspoon or two of coconut oil to your pot. Heat it, and tear up and add in 5-7 large fresh sage leaves for each large bowl of prepared beans or lentils you plan to make. Let the sage sauté on low heat for a minute, then add your purified water and beans or lentils. You’ll need about three times as much water as dried beans or lentils. Just it bring to a boil, and when boiling turn the heat down to medium low, cover, and let cook until they’ve finished. If you’re unsure how long to cook the type of beans or lentils you’re using, do a quick Google search to find out.

When they’re finished the beans or lentils will be soft. Now, add in a teaspoon of coconut oil per large bowl and use sea salt to flavor. You’ll be amazed at both how simple and delicious this is. Six to seven cups of beans or lentils each week meets the protein requirements of humans – so they’re an easy hearty replacement if you want to move away from eating meat. Dig in and enjoy!