A Month of Bean Dishes

For persons who eat a plant-based diet, beans are an essential nutrient, providing proteins which help build and repair cells. While other foods may contain protein, you get more bang for your buck with beans. They are low fat and inexpensive, which helps your waistline and your wallet. Many people don't think they can eat beans every day because they cause gas and bloating, however I have found that the more you eat them on a regular basis, the more your body adjusts and the gas and bloating is minimized and many times disappears altogether. At least it did for me.

Beans are versatile and you can use them in soups, ethnic dishes or all by themselves. Even before I began eating a plant-based diet my family enjoyed a weekly bean night. I lived in the South most of my life and grew up eating black-eyed peas with turnip greens and cornbread. I also love Mexican food and beans are an integral part of most Mexican or Tex-Mex meals. Tofu and tempeh are made from soybeans and are used in many Asian dishes. They contain more fat than regular beans, but also are high in protein.

Below are 30 days of bean meals you can have for breakfast, lunch or supper. The first six are simply boiled beans you can have with greens and cornbread and after that are ideas for other bean dishes. I usually cook a big batch of pinto beans at the beginning of the week and then use the leftovers for bean burritos, refried beans, etc. You can use either dry beans or canned beans for most of these bean meals. You can google many of the recipes.

1. Pinto beans
2. Navy beans
3. Kidney beans
4. Butter beans
5. Black-eyed peas
6. Fava beans
7. Louisiana red beans and rice
8. Green bean casserole
9. Refried beans
10. Garbanzo bean stew
11. Minestrone soup with white beans
12. Refried bean burritos
13. Lima bean casserole
14. Lentil soup
15 Stir "fry" veggies with tofu
16. Bean chili (use as many different types of beans as you like)
17. Rice and bean enchiladas
18. Chickpea hummus with pita bread
19. Scrambled tofu
20. Bean burgers (use any type of beans)
21. Tempeh Rueben sandwiches
22. Chili bean casserole (canned chili beans and low-fat taco chips)
23. Bean and rice stuffed bell peppers
24. Vegetarian baked beans
25. Hoppin' John (made with black-eyed peas, tomatoes and rice)
26. Bean tacos
27. Baked tofu with mushroom gravy
28. Kale with onions and tempeh
29. Three Bean soup
30. Southwestern sautéed beans, corn, peppers and onions
31. Bean dip with pita, fat-free crackers or taco chips