Beans, Beans and Proteins

When we initially considered changing our diets to a more nutritarian style, one of the first questions that came up in my mind was the concern of: will my kids be getting enough protein? As most people have been taught, you have to eat meat to get protein and lots of it. Although it is very important for kids to receive adequate protein in their diet as it is absolutely essential in the building & repair of body & brain tissues among numerous other bodily functions, it does not require eating copious amounts of animal products to achieve these goals. In fact with a little additional knowledge, it can be done quite easily without eating any animal products at all if you so choose.

We choose to eat meat sparingly as outlined by the nutritarian food pyramid and focus primarily on other plant-based protein sources. Not only has this made a significant difference on our digestive systems and how we feel from day to day but has also significantly reduced our grocery bills.

How much protein do children really require?

A simple calculation for daily protein requirements for children is:

 

As an additional source, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention states the Children’s Recommended Daily Allowances as follows:

Even though these numbers are most likely “playing it safe”, they are not difficult to achieve even on a plant-based diet. For example:

If you had a 40 pound 4 year old son, according to the simple calculation, he would require roughly 20 grams of protein daily. Feeding him just ½ a cup of black beans and ½ a cup of cooked quinoa would give him just shy of 12 grams of protein which is over half of the daily requirement. Add a bowl of oatmeal in the morning for breakfast and you’ve just added it up to nearly 18 grams of protein, which is 2 grams away from the daily requirement. All of this before you’ve even considered any of the protein received from other vegetables, fruits, nuts and/or seeds that your son may have eaten that day.

Just a note: If you are planning to remove all animal products from yours and your child’s diet, please make sure you educate yourself on all nutrient requirements and sources of such before you make any drastic change as there are important things to consider to do so safely such as where they will receive essential Vitamin B12, Omega 3’s, Calcium & perhaps Vitamin D in areas with less sunlight such as Northern Countries. You can find information on this in Dr. Furhmans book Disease Proof Your Child.

A resource that is not necessary but provided me great peace of mind when we initially started changing our diets was www.cronometer.com. They have a website as well as an iphone app that allows you to enter what you or your children have eaten in a day and it calculates how far you have left to reach your nutrient goals. Not only does it show you macronutrient requirements such as protein but also micronutrient requirements such as vitamins and minerals. You can also enter nutritional information for specific foods or recipes that your family may eat and it will remember them for you. Their database is quite large for most whole foods so it provides a good estimate of where you may be at. It will want to know a target ratio of the percentage of your calories coming from protiens, carbs and fats in the profile and you can make a rough determination by using the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDR’s) found HERE.

All About Beans

Ok so if you are going to adopt a nutritarian style of eating, you are going to want to get well acquainted with beans, lentils and legumes in general. As I previously alluded to, they are a valuable source of protein and fiber as well as other important nutrients such as folate, iron, magnesium, manganese and other vitamins and minerals.

Legumes are an incomplete protein, which simply means that they may be low in one or more of the 9 essential amino acids (building blocks) that our body requires from food. To ensure that the full compliment of amino acids are attained we simply make sure we are feeding our children a variety of complimentary proteins and not just legumes. Such complimentary protein sources include whole grains like quinoa and brown rice, nuts, seeds and vegetables. These complimentary proteins don’t need to necessarily be eaten at the same meal, just the same day, because the human body can gather what it needs from proteins consumed through out the day.

Having said that, legumes such as beans, lentils and peas are such a great and inexpensive protein power house that I want to share more information to make sure that you are able to utilize them to their full potential. Of course you could always buy canned beans which we do keep on hand ourselves, but I think you will find that you can get much more flavour and more control over the finished product by learning how to store, prepare and cook dried beans for your family.

As for storage, we buy our dry beans in bulk to take advantage of cheaper pricing and then store them in 6 gallon buckets with color coded gamma lids so that they are 1. easy to recognize and 2. easy to open. Gamma lids really are worth the few extra dollars as as they are so much easier to open than traditional bucket lids therefore you are more likely to dive in and use your beans when access is more convenient.

Now I know what you are thinking, “don’t beans take a long time to cook? I don’t have that kind of time!” YES & NO. Beans can take a long time to prepare and cook but we have over come those challenges in a few significant ways:

1. We cook all the beans we need for the week plus a little extra at one time.
2. We then store some of the beans in the fridge and some sectioned out in the freezer to thaw in their time of need.
3. At least once a week we use legumes that don’t require soaking such as lentils or split peas
4. HELLO PRESSURE COOKER! My best bean friend!

If you are serious about eating more beans you will not regret investing in a  pressure cooker. I can cook a big batch of beans that will last us nearly all week in as little as 10 minutes from start to finish in my pressure cooker and that is no joke. It definitely beats the traditional hours on the stove…but traditional is just fine too if that’s what you have to work with.

The following are instructions for cooking beans with and without a pressure cooker:

Soaking & Cooking Beans (With & Without a Pressure Cooker)

• Sort through beans and remove any shriveled beans & stones then soak beans over night in water to remove natural toxins & to help reduce cooking times.
• If no time to cook, rinse and change water, then let soak again in refrigerator for up to 2 days changing water every 12 hours.

• There are 3 Soak methods:

1.    Overnight soak (preferred if you remember): in water (about 8-12 hrs). Make sure the beans are covered by at least 2 or 3 inches of water as they will soak up a lot.

2.    Quick soak method: bring dry beans & water to a boil in a pot and then turn off and let sit 1 hour (minimum 15 minutes). Then drain, rinse & add fresh water with 3 inches above beans and cook as per usual.

3.    Quick soak pressure cooker method: put beans & water in pressure cooker, engage the lid and turn to high. When pressure gets to second red ring, turn heat low and time 1 minute. Then quick release, drain water, add fresh water & kombu seaweed (optional) & cook according to pressure cooker times.

 

• Cooking Beans Using A Pressure cooker:
  • Add beans & water to pressure cooker, enough to cover beans by a 2 or 3 inches but not more than ¾ of the pot full of water.
  • Or use ratio of 1 cup beans : 3 cups water (1:3)
  • Add kombu seaweed if desired (helps to tenderize the beans & seams to help minimize gassiness).
  • Add any fresh or dried herbs or vegetables seasonings you desire.
  • Engage lid & turn heat to high
  • When psi reaches second red ring, turn down the heat to maintain pressure at this temperature & start the timer
  • See pressure cooker times chart below.

 

• Quick release (my preferred method) involves running colder water over the lid (but not over the release mechanism) until the pressure decreases & the lid can be disengaged. (This is the method I use most often as I have more control over how long the beans cook.)

 

• Natural release is the method of cooling where you remove from the heat and let the pressure lower naturally.

 

• Pressure Cooker Times: (You may want to use the manual that came with your pressure cooker but here are some standard cooking times which may vary).

 

Bean/Legume	Soaked Natural Release (Minutes)	Soaked Quick Release (Minutes)	Unsoaked Quick Release (Minutes)	Pressure Level
Adzuki	2 to 3	5 to 9	14 to 20	High
Anasazi	1 to 2	4 to 7	20 to 22	High
Beans, black	3 to 6	5 to 9	8 to 25	High
Beans, garbanzo (chickpeas)	9 to 14	13 to 18	30 to 40	High
Beans, great northern	4 to 8	8 to 12	25 to 30	High
Beans, lima, baby	2 to 3	5 to 7	12 to 15	High
Beans, lima, large	1 to 3	4 to 7	12 to 16	High
Beans, navy or pea or white (haricot)	3 to 4	6 to 8	16 to 25	High
Beans, pinto	1 to 3	4 to 6	22 to 25	High
Beans, red kidney	5 to 8	10 to 12	20 to 25	High
Beans, soy (beige)	5 to 8	9 to 12	28 to 35	High
Beans, soy (black)	16 to 18	20 to 22	35 to 40	High
Beans, white kidney (cannellini)	6 to 8		30 to 40	High
Chickpeas (chick peas, garbanzo bean or kabuli)	9 to 14	13 to 18	30 to 40	High
Cranberry (romano or borlotti)	5 to 8	9 to 12	30 to 34	High
Gandules (pigeon peas)	2 to 5	6 to 9	20 to 25	High
Lentils, French green	–	–	10 to 12	High
Lentils, green, mini (brown)	–	–	8 to 10	High
Lentils, red, split	–	–	4 to 6	High
Lentils, yellow, split (moong dal)	–	–	4 to 6	High
Peas, split, green or yellow	–	–	6 to 10	High
Peas, dried, whole	4 to 6	8 to 10	16 to 18	High
Peas, black eyed	–	–	10 to 11	High
Scarlet runner	8 to 10	12 to 14	17 to 20	High

 

 

• Cooking Beans with Traditional Stove Top Method:
  • Before cooking, drain off soak water, rinse & add beans & fresh water to pot covering by at least 3 inches.
  • Add any fresh or dried herbs or vegetables seasonings you desire.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook at a simmer until tender.
  • See traditional cooking chart times below
  • Cooking with a couple inches of dried Kombu seaweed (helps tenderize the beans & seems to help minimize gassiness. )

 

• Traditional Stove Top Cooking Times:

 

Beans (1 cup dried)	Cooking Time (minutes)	Yield (cups)
Adzuki	50 – 60	3
Anasazi	55 – 60	2 – 2,1/2
Black (or Turtle)	1,1/2 hours	2 – 2,1/2
Black – eyed Peas	50 – 60	2
Cannellini (White Kidney)	50 – 60	2,1/2
Garbanzo (Chickpeas)	1,1/2 – 2 hours	2
Fava	50 – 60	1,1/2
Great Northern	1,1/2 – 1,3/4	2,1/2
Kidney, red	55 – 65	2 – 2,1/4
Lentils (brown)	40 – 50	2 – 2,1/2
Lentils (green)	40 – 50	2
Lentils (red)	20 – 25	2
Lima	50 – 60	2
Mung	50 – 60	2
Navy	55 – 65	2,1/2
Pinto	1,1/2 hours	2,1/2
Split peas, green	45	2