Fit Fare

Beans and I have been friends for years. The likable legumes are firm yet yield readily to the teeth, releasing a creamy mess of comforting flavor. They can be spiced up, sweetened up, or tarted up however you like. They easily take a meal from skimpy to satisfying.

But when I learned about all the health benefits of bean consumption, mere like turned to outright love. Where else can you find such a nutritional powerhouse in cheap, tiny package?

Beans offer about 8 grams of protein and of fiber in every half-cup serving. They’re loaded with antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals, including calcium, folic acid, iron, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Even better, research has shown that eating the government’s recommended weekly serving of beans — 3 cups, or almost half a cup a day — can lower your cholesterol. That’s because beans contain one to three and a half grams of artery-sweeping soluble fiber.

Lowering your levels of bad LDL cholesterol through consuming foods like beans is an inexpensive, easy way to promote your long-term cardiac health. Plus, the fiber in beans is associated with lowered risks for cancer and better control of diabetes! Those beans will save you money both at the supermarket and the pharmacy.

Luckily, this wonder food doesn’t cost a fortune. Nor is it at all inconvenient: Dried beans can sit in the pantry practically forever and and don’t need much baby-sitting while cooking, and canned beans offer all the protein and fiber without any cooking necessary. If you opt for canned beans, drain and rinse them thoroughly to remove as much as 40 percent of the sodium and possibly some of the indigestible sugars that can make bean-eating uncomfortable.

But how do you fit a half cup of beans a day into your diet, especially if you aren’t accustomed to eating them regularly? Here’s a few tricks for working them into the meals and snacks you consume regularly already.

Sprinkle beans on salads. Beans aren’t just for potluck sides (though who doesn’t enjoy a freshly prepared three-bean salad?). Try mixing black or kidney beans into a taco salad, dotting your argula with cannellini beans, or accenting a Caesar salad with chickpeas.

Slip beans into soups. It’s easy enough to stir beans into your chunky soups; minestrone and chili don’t have to have all the fun! Why not supplement or replace the noodles in your chicken soup with some navy beans? Alternatively, you can purée beans to add creaminess and heft to broth-based or blended soups.

Take beans for a dip. Hummus is a classic bean-based dip, but don’t stop there: Thin fat-free refried beans with salsa for a high-fiber Mexican dip, or toss some white beans in the food processor with a ranch seasoning mix. You can even sneak beans into a gooey cheese fondue. Experiment!

Speaking of snacks . . . Toasted chickpeas can sub for less virtuous salty snacks. Heat drained and rinsed garbanzos in a skillet or on a baking sheet with the seasonings of your choice until they’re crispy.

Beans, meet meat. Mix beans into recipes to stretch your ground meat. Mix pinto beans into your taco beef or hamburgers, or replace the meat entirely to make bean burgers. Pasta with beans works as well as pasta with just meat. Think five-way Cincinnati chili . . . yum.

What about you? Have any great tips for working a serving a beans into your daily diet?