Black Bean Burrito, Indian Style - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

Today's Recipe
If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
The combination of Southwestern ingredients and Eastern seasonings add a unique flavor to this burrito. Enjoy!
Black Bean Burrito, Indian Style
Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced thin
• 4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 1-1/2 cups sweet potatoes cut in 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup green peppers, thinly julienned
• 1 cup red peppers, thinly julienned
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 TBS + 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 2 cups or 1 15 oz can black beans (BPA free), drained
• 2 oz Chevre goat cheese (optional)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 4 whole wheat tortillas
• Topping
• Prepared salsa (optional)
• 1 head of romaine lettuce, shredded (remove outer leaves and discard)

Directions:

1. Chop onions and garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to bring out their health-promoting properties.
2. Prepare other vegetables.
3. Heat 1 TBS broth in a 12 inch stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onion, garlic, ginger, and peppers in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garam masala and sweet potatoes and mix well. Add 1/2 cup broth and cook covered on low heat for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
4. Add beans making sure they are rinsed and drained well first. Mix, cooking for another 5 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. While vegetables are cooking, shred lettuce.
7. Place vegetable mixture in tortilla and top with goat cheese. Roll and top with salsa and shredded lettuce. /ol> Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Black Bean Burrito, Indian Style
   In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Black Bean Burrito, Indian Style
   Healthy Food Tip
   
   The Latest News About Black Beans
   
   Black beans could not be more succinctly and descriptively named. They are commonly referred to as turtle beans, probably in reference to their shiny, dark, shell-like appearance. With a rich flavor that has been compared to mushrooms, black beans have a velvety texture while holding their shape well during cooking.
   Black beans are actually a variety of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and belong to the popular legume family of plants. Black beans share many characteristics with their fellow bean family members, including red (kidney) beans, white (navy) beans, yellow beans, pinto (mottled) beans, pink beans, and anasazi beans.
   
   What's New and Beneficial About Black Beans
   • Recent research has shown that black beans provide special support for digestive tract health, and particularly our colon. The indigestible fraction (IF) in black beans has recently been shown to be larger than the IF in either lentils or chickpeas. It has been shown to be the perfect mix of substances for allowing bacteria in the colon to produce butyric acid. Cells lining the inside of the colon can use this butyric acid to fuel their many activities and keep the lower digestive tract functioning properly. By delivering a greater amount of IF to the colon, black beans are able to help support this lower part of our digestive tract. Lowered colon cancer risk that is associated with black bean intake in some research studies may be related to the outstanding IF content of this legume.
   • The soaking of black beans in water has always found fairly widespread support in food science research as a way of improving overall black bean benefits. Yet, the discarding of the bean soaking water has been a topic of considerable controversy. A recent study that may help put this controversy to rest looked at many different advantages and disadvantages of tossing out the water used to soak beans. It found that the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages. On the advantage side of things, getting rid of the soaking water also means getting rid of some of the phytates and tannins that can lower nutrient availability. It also means reducing flatulence-related substances like raffinose (up to 33% removed along with the soaking water) and stachyose (up to 20% removed). A final advantage was the retention of resistant starch. While some of the total carbohydrate content in the black beans was lost along with the discarding of the soaking water, the amount of resistant starch remained unchanged. (Resistant starch is a type of carb that will typically make its way all the way down to the large intestine without being digested. Once it arrives in the large intestine, it can help support the growth of desirable bacteria in that area of the digestive tract.) On the disadvantage side of things was that 15% of total phenols were lost, we actually don't think that that is an amount that is of concern. There was a slight loss of some additional phytonutrients as well as minerals. When adding up all of their findings, the researchers concluded that the many advantages of discarding bean soaking water clearly outweighed the disadvantages and then made this recommendation a firm part of their research conclusions.
   • We tend to think about brightly colored fruits and vegetables as our best source of phytonutrients, but recent research has recognized black beans as a strong contender in phytonutrient benefits. The seed coat of the black bean (the oute rmost part that we recognize as the bean's surface) is an outstanding source of three anthocyanin flavonoids: delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin. These three anthocyanins are primarily responsible for the rich black color that we see on the bean surface. Kaempferol and quercetin are additional flavonoids provided by this legume. Also contained in black beans are hydroxycinnamic acids including ferulic, sinapic, and chlorogenic acid, as well as numerous triterpenoids.
   • In Brazil—a country that, along with India, grows more black beans than any country in the world—beans have been given an exclusive place on the Brazilian Food Pyramid. In other words, beans are recommended as their own unique food group! The country's 2006 Food Guide for the Brazilian Population recommends that beans be consumed at least once every day. That recommendation is actually quite close to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which establish 3 cups of cooked legumes per week, or 1/2 cup serving six days per week, as the minimum desired amount. Recent research linking bean intake to lower risk of type 2 diabetes, many types of cardiovascular disease, and several types of cancer was one of the key factors used by the Brazilian government and the U.S. government in establishing their bean intake recommendations.
   WHFoods Recommendations
   Many public health organizations—including the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and the American Cancer Society—recommend legumes as a key food group for preventing disease and optimizing health. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends 3 cups of legumes per week (based on a daily intake of approximately 2,000 calories). Because 1 serving of legumes was defined as 1/2 cup (cooked), the Dietary Guidelines for Americans come very close to the recommendation of 1/2 cup of cooked legumes on a daily basis. Based on our own research review, we believe that 3 cups of legumes per week is a very reasonable goal for support of good health. However, we also believe that optimal health benefits from legumes may require consumption in greater amounts. These greater amounts are based on studies in which legumes have be en consumed at least 4 days per week and in amounts falling into a 1-2 cup range per day. These studies suggest a higher optimal health benefit level than the 2005 Dietary Guidelines: instead of 3 cups of weekly legumes, 4-8 cups would become the goal range. Remember that any amount of legumes is going to make a helpful addition to your diet. And whatever weekly level of legumes you decide to target, we definitely recommend inclusion of black beans among your legume choices.
   
   Health Benefits
   Black Beans provide numerous health benefits including:
   
   • Digestive tract support
   • Blood sugar regulation benefits
   • Heart health promotion
   • Better regulation of blood sugar
   • Antioxidant protection
   • Anti-inflammatory benefits
   For more details on black beans' health benefits, see this section of our black beans write-up.
   
   Nutritional Profile
   The seed coat (outermost surface) of black beans is an outstanding source of three anthocyanin flavonoids: delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin. Kaempferol and quercetin are additional flavonoids provided by this legume. Also contained in black beans are hydroxycinnamic acids including ferulic, sinapic, and chlorogenic acid, as well as numerous triterpenoid phytonutrients, Black beans also provide about 180 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids per cup in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
   Black beans emerged from our food ranking system as an excellent source of enzyme-supporting molybdenum. In addition, they are a very good source of heart-healthy dietary fiber and folate. In the case of folate, for example, a one-cup serving of black beans provided about two-thirds of the DV for folate.
   Our food ranking system also qualified black beans as a good source of antioxidant-promoting manganese, muscle-building protein, energy-producing magnesium, thiamin (vitamin B1), phosphorus and iron. In the case of protein, for example, a one-cup serving of cooked black beans provided about one third of a day's protein requirement.
   For more on this nutrient-rich legume, including references related to this Latest News, see our write-up on black beans.