I can’t believe we are half way through January already. How are your New Year’s resolutions holding up? One of the most common resolutions is to eat more healthily. And that often entails preparing meals from scratch rather than eating out, as cooking your own meals makes it much easier to control both the quantity and quality of the food you eat. While we all start out the New Year with the best of intentions, hurdles are inevitable. But you can overcome them by being a little strategic about it. The hurdle I most often hear about is time and/or lack of interest in cooking. So the strategy here is to have a few quick, easy-to-make recipes using foods that are readily at hand in your pantry. That’s why I chose this Spicy Black Bean Burrito Bowl as the recipe to share this month.
It’s perfect because it:
- is made from pantry staples,
- takes no time (or skill) to prepare,
- can be easily scaled up,
- keeps well,
- can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner,
- is a very warming and satisfying dish on these cold winter days, and
- goes great with non-alcoholic beer, for anyone participating in Dry January (and if you are, be sure to have a look at my previous post for some extra motivation and tips).
The other great thing about this Spicy Black Bean Burrito Bowl is that it contains half (or more) of your daily fibre requirement. This is something many of us fall woefully short of. And doesn’t everyone love Mexican food?
Sign up to my newsletter today to receive the recipe for this Spicy Black Bean Burrito Bowl. And read on for more about the benefits of black beans as well as some recipe tips to make this bowl even more flavourful and nutritious.
The Beauty of Black Beans
Beans and other pulses (like lentils) are extremely nutritious. Yet they are often underrepresented in the daily diets of anyone not vegetarian or vegan. My post Beans, Beans, They’re Good for Your Heart goes into great detail on why eating beans improves cardiovascular health. So I won’t rehash/re-fry it all here and instead invite you to read the post. I will, however, point out a few reasons why black beans are a thing of beauty.
Black beans are high in magnesium and fibre and we could all use more of both in our diets. You’ll get a whopping 15 grams of fibre in 1-cup cooked black beans! As that’s matched by 15 grams of protein as well, eating black beans won’t elicit as high a blood sugar response as will other higher carbohydrate foods. And the same 1 cup provides 120 mg of magnesium (29% of the recommended daily value).- As well as magnesium, black beans are high in other bone-building nutrients like calcium and phosphorous.
- Studies have shown that black beans positively affect gut bacteria. And, as we now know, a healthy gut microbiome is crucial to good health.
- Black beans are antioxidant standouts, with almost twice the antioxidant activity of red kidney beans and yellow peas, for example. Chickpeas, delicious though they are, are relatively low in antioxidant activity. Antioxidants are vital for good health and they are supplied by the vegetables and fruits that we eat, which is why I’m always banging on about eating more of them!
- When buying canned black beans, be sure to rinse them well to lower the salt content, and choose brands that are in BPA-free cans. My go-to brand is Cullen’s Black Turtle Beans, which are organic and Canadian-grown. They also pre-soak them before pressure-cooking, which helps ease digestibility.
Tips & Toppers
Here’s a tip to make for super-speedy prep. If you haven’t made the brown rice ahead of time, consider using one of the pre-cooked brands that just need a few minutes in the microwave. In a pinch, I like this Organic Brown Rice & Quinoa Side Dish from Farm Boy. It’s just brown rice, quinoa and water, with no added seasonings, salt or oils.
And here are some tips on my favourite toppers:
Salsa – The recipe calls for salsa and my favourite salsas are Mad Mexican’s Pico de Gallo Salsa (this is a fresh salsa and it comes in mild or hot). For a pantry salsa, I always have a jar of Neal Brothers on hand. I’m a big fan of their Just Hot Enough Salsa. Although their Corn Salsa or Sweet & Smokey Mango Salsa would be brilliant here too. Feel free to use your favourite.- Avocado – At 18 grams of fibre per serving, this meal gets you a long way to your daily fibre requirement of 25 grams a day for women and 38 grams per day for men. According to Health Canada, most of us don’t get even half our requirement all day, let alone in one meal. Adding an avocado to your bowl amps up the fibre content by a further 7 grams, along with a heaping helping of healthy fats and creamy deliciousness.
- Like it extra smokey and spicy? – Hurtberry Farm, my favourite local producer of hot sauces, has a rich molé-inspired sauce called Starless that is a flavour bomb!
- More cheese please – Feel free to get creative with the cheese topper. The recipe calls for a cheddar (I’m a fan of old cheddar) but you can also try some aged Monterey Jack, or a black garlic or smoked cheddar or even feta or goat cheese. There are even jalapeno peppercorn cheddars out there. So let your imagination run wild, there are no borders here. Buen provecho!