Beans and Rice for Vegetarian Meals

Eating beans and rice as a diet guideline is actually a very healthy one to follow. It’s also a very quick high protein easy vegetarian recipe to make on those busy weeknights.

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Beans and Rice for High Protein Vegetarian Meals

The health hazards of heavy meat-eating have been publicized increasingly over the past few decades. If you are unaware or in denial about this, Google “why meat is unhealthy.” You can pick and choose among many items posted by several health experts and doctors.

Yet, many still feel the need to satisfy their craving for meat. Adding to this compulsion is the misinformation of meat versus vegetable protein. Simply put, required protein intake, especially animal and dairy protein, has been exaggerated. It has come to light lately that beans with rice, or legumes and grains, are an excellent source of all the protein you’ll need.

Making Beans with Rice Delicious

A favorite Cuban dish combines white rice with black beans, sometimes referred to as turtle beans. After cooking the rice and beans separately, pour a liberal amount of black beans over a portion of white rice. Include some of the black bean juice or sauce. But don’t overdo it. You’ll need room for some extra virgin olive oil and fresh lime juice. The ratio of beans to rice is your choice. But 40% beans to 60% rice is a good estimate for starters.

The ratio of beans to rice is your choice. But 40% beans to 60% rice is a good estimate for starters.

Raw chopped onions or tomatoes are added if desired, according to taste or tolerance. Now pour enough olive oil over the combination to moisten the whole amount. Add a generous squeeze of a lime, mix, and salt to taste. Use organic salt if possible. Yum, really good, filling, and very healthy. Every Cuban restaurant in Miami, Florida, or elsewhere serves this up as a side or main dish.

Even Healthier and Still Delicious Rice and Beans Options

Brown rice is the whole grain version of rice. It is healthier than white rice because it hasn’t been milled and processed to have the outer bran removed. It’s a little more difficult to cook than white rice.

The combination of brown rice and black beans is possible. But a tastier combination is brown rice and garbanzo beans or chickpeas. The garbanzo beans and brown rice are mixed after cooking separately as before. All the condiments mentioned earlier can be used. But simply adding only a high-quality soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos seems more appropriate.

Other Types of Beans

Lentils are much faster cooking than all other beans, and they don’t need to be soaked. Combined with brown rice, it is a tasty, healthy dish that is lighter than the black bean or garbanzo bean and rice combinations. Mexican cuisine focuses largely on kidney bean and pinto beans combined with white rice. But brown rice is a healthier substitute.

Soybeans are not mentioned in this article as a choice. Much has been discovered over the past few years that point to soy as an unhealthy choice for consumption. Canned beans can be used, if they are without additives, including salt. Especially avoid any MSG or other chemicals. Canned beans are precooked, so all you do is heat them.

Healthiest and Cheapest Rice Recipes and Beans

Buying bulk organic rice and beans are best. You can purchase weeks’ worth of bulk raw beans at a time. Soaking and preparing raw beans is bewildering and confusing to many. This is the packaged food society! But more details for brown rice cooking are, and bean preparation are here.

According to Dr. Dean Ornish, author of Reversing Heart Disease, regarding vegetable combinations for protein, “You don’t have to be a scientist or a nutritionist to combine foods properly. It’s easy: just eat any grains and any legumes sometime during the same day.”