Beans and Lentils - How do I eat them?!?!

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emtjmac
emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
in Recipes
I want to start including more beans and lentils into my diet but I have no idea how to prepare them. I don't have an interest making soups or anything that takes longer than ten or fifteen minutes. I just want them to taste good. Any ideas?
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  • treechic93
    treechic93 Posts: 11 Member
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    Cookinglight.com offers some great recipes that you can search for using those ingredients. Lentils are a fast cook and we make a lentil burger with ground chicken or turkey breast in them - very tasty. I'd do some online recipe searches and include Eating Well as a site too. Lean towards the vegetarian recipes because they use a lot of beans and lentils to offset the lack of meat. Good luck and go slowly adding them to your diet, it can be a bit rough on the digestive system if you don't normally consume them and then start eating them in large quantities.
  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
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    bump
  • slickannie
    slickannie Posts: 8 Member
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    Easy to cook beans, soups, etc.; just get a slow cooker. You can use it to cook for you while you are out , ready and hot when you get home. Read the instructios that come with it then follow your recipes.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
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    With a spoon.

    Edit: I only read the title ;)
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,376 Member
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    If you do a search in the community tab for beans you will find some great threads with recipes - Here is one of the links here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/730841-the-bean-recipe-thread

    I know you will find some things you like in there. :smile:
  • beancurdie
    beancurdie Posts: 85 Member
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    This is my favorite way to eat lentils.

    http://www.theppk.com/2011/05/ancho-lentil-tacos/
  • steph0924
    steph0924 Posts: 78 Member
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    bump
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
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    How to cook dried beans and lentils usually says how on the packet. It really varies.

    My recommendation would be to add a lot of flavour to them, because they really don't have much flavour themselves.

    Salsa goes great with beans and lentils are great in curries.
  • aprilwilliams2729
    aprilwilliams2729 Posts: 107 Member
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    Use Lentils as a taco filling (just cook them in stock with mexican spices)
    Pasta, a can of beans (great northerns are good), spinach (or other veggies), some diced tomatoes and a bit of parmesan = Fast italian pasta
    Pasta, a can of black beans, some diced tomatoes, corn, and some greens (chard, etc) with some cheddar cheese = Fast mexican pasta
    White (great northern, etc.) or Pinto beans in the crockpot with a ham bone and some finely diced onions (may be a southern thing, but it's yummy!!)
    Quesadillas with black beans, corn, and low fat cheddar cheese
    There's a super yummy gnocchi recipe on either eatingwell.com or cookinglight.com - "Gnocchi with chard and white beans"
    Red beans and rice (You can make the beans in the crock pot) - cheap and easy - it's what's for dinner tonight
  • 00Melyanna00
    00Melyanna00 Posts: 221 Member
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    Beans are amazing with boiled or pilaf rice, or with pasta. For the pasta, you will just need to mix them with tomato sauce and cook everything in a pan, then use the mix as a dressing. Works better with short pasta.

    Lentils: I just saw this amazing dish here (though it might take more than 10 minutes to prepare) http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/09/quick-coconut-curry-lentils-with-greens/
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    If you have a slow-cooker you can make bean dishes that only take a few minutes to set up, then you go off and do your own thing until dinner is ready.

    I make a lot of Indian foods that have beans and lentils in them, but most of them take considerably more than 15 minutes from start to finish. Buying canned beans shortens the cooking time, but then you get all that pesky sodium.

    One really quick idea is to use canned refried beans as a dip or spread on other things.

    Chickpea flour can be used to make a kind of pancake and is also used in stews in several countries, my favorite being the Ethiopian shiro wat. Easy to make, but more time-consuming than you want. Google "socca" if you want to look into the breads/pancakes made with it.
  • WarriorReady
    WarriorReady Posts: 571 Member
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    Make black bean quesadillas... Canned low sodium black beans rinsed, salsa (your choice of flavor), & cheese. You can make at least 6 tortillas with a can of beans. Spray skillet with a light mist of olive oil (or whatever you would normally use) and heat on both sides.
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    If you plan for a bit of extra sodium, canned beans are a quick, easy way to get those legumes. We make quesadillas with pinto beans, cheese, and tortillas (grilled on the stove similar to a grilled cheese sandwich). A can of white beans with some diced ham can become a quick meal. Black beans can make a great salsa. Dry beans are better as far as storage, low sodium and less additives, and cost, but canned beans are a viable alternative that are great for quick meals. Open and heat, rather than soak and cook.
  • zhidecitta
    zhidecitta Posts: 15 Member
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    My suggestion is to learn to use your spices. A traditional Indian style lentil dish (Masoor Dal if you're googling recipes) would use turmeric, cumin, onion, ginger, coriander, red chili powder, and curry powder or leaves. You can make lentils a thousand different ways if you have a selection of good veggies to have with it, and a spice cupboard that's thorough enough. It really does make a difference, and after a while using spices, you'll start to get a knack for how to flavor a dish to make it taste like anything you want that day. Another personal favorite of mine is to use thyme, sage, marjoram, onion, and garlic, and to cook the lentils in broth instead of water. It comes out tasting like stuffing! Good luck with the legumes.
  • FitToFifty
    FitToFifty Posts: 164 Member
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    My husband who doesn't like beans, loves black beans (low sodium canned) fried in a pan with some olive oil and garlic.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    Beans and lentils are tastier and a complete protein, if some meat (or fish) is included in the dish---there are lots of great recipes on the web. Beans must be soaked before cooking, if you are cooking them from a dried state. Lentils can be cooked from the dry state in about an hour. But there are lots of canned varieties that can be used as is---there are even lots of organic beans to choose from. They are great for increasing the protein content of a dish without having to include more meat (expensive when you use organic meat like I do). They are full of phyto-nutrients too---many that we are just beginning to appreciate. They are great for Type II diabetics too as they have a very low glycemic value. I make a red lentil and chicken stew that everyone at our house loves. I only use one large chicken breast in it and it is a very cheap and nutritious meal. High in protein and nutrients, low in fat and calories. I include onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, mild and hot peppers and celery in addition to the lentils and chicken and other spices. Spices, by the way, are very good for you. Very savory.
  • Wonderwoman2677
    Wonderwoman2677 Posts: 434 Member
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    I used my crock pot to cook a can of kidney beans with dried lentils. I used chicken stock and a can of tomato sauce and threw every spice I had in there. We ate it with tortilla chips and cheese... even my kids and husband who don't like anything new loved it.

    A little goes a long way and you can freeze what you don't want to use right away.
  • fitsin10
    fitsin10 Posts: 141
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    bump
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Lentils are one of my favorite foods. So much protein and so few calories! I get them dried and boil them for about 20 minutes, in the meantime I heat up some frozen veggies. I mix the veggies into the lentils and serve with some butter melted in and seasonings. Mmmmmmmm :)

    As far as beans, I looove black beans. I get the canned kind which only take like two minutes to heat up. I usually make black bean tacos on whole wheat tortillas with them! Black beans, sometimes corn, cheese, and sour cream all rolled up. Double mmmmmm :)
  • fattypattybinger
    fattypattybinger Posts: 337
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    I am currently soaking Mung Beans to sprouts. I love sprouts on Sandwiches and Salads. It takes about 7 days depending on how you like. I bought them at a Grocery large bag $8.00 and use only 1/3 of a cup put them in a jar cover with one cup water and rinse them twice a day. My kids love doing this and they will be sprouting too. You can also get lentils to sprout. PS Beans are very easy to cook you can buy the dried ones soak them overnight and add some los sodium crushed tomatoes with peppers some spices in the slow cooker while you are at home quick dinner will last several days. Very easy even my older son who lives on his own and hates to cook will do this. It is also nice on the wallet too. Good luck!

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