Beans can help keep weight under control at the holidays
Like most beans, garbanzo beans or chickpeas have high fiber content that makes them more filling than most other foods.
Pico de Gallo pitas
Makes 16 appetizer servings
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons minced red onion
4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Dash hot pepper sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
4 whole-wheat flat breads
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine red pepper, green pepper, tomatoes, red onion, 1 clove minced garlic, cilantro, oregano, lime juice and hot pepper sauce. Stir well, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Place garbanzo beans, remaining garlic, lemon juice and water in blender; process until smooth, scraping sides as necessary. Add sour cream and process until combined.
Cut flatbreads into quarters and arrange on baking sheet. Spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until hot and crisp. Spread each with about 1 tablespoon bean spread and top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons pico de gallo.
Per serving: 86 calories (8 percent from fat), 1 gram total fat (trace saturated), 1 milligram cholesterol, 17 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 167 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.
Recipe developed for The Star by professional home economists Kathryn Moore and Roxanne Wyss.
Helpful hints
Shopping tip: Although convenient hummus dips are available at most supermarkets, making your own is a snap and can help reduce the amount of sodium. More than 75 percent of salt in the American diet comes from consuming processed foods. To save time, we’ve gone with canned beans instead. Be sure to rinse to remove most of the sodium added when the beans are processed.
Cooking tip: This hummus-style dip can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Jill Wendholt Silva
The Kansas City Star
Invited to a party?
Offer to bring the appetizers.
Indeed, there’s little doubt that the preamble to any meal can torpedo the best of dietary intentions. “Just a few bites,” you resolve as you scoop up another chipful of that sinfully creamy dip.
But by the time dinner arrives, you’re full. Not to mention the added fat and salt you’ve just downed.
Choosing those little nibbles wisely before a meal can keep you from making costly missteps — you know, the ones that will linger on the hips through winter. The Star’s Pico de Gallo Pitas can keep you on the right track. Spread whole-wheat pita triangles with a tangy mashed chickpea dip topped with fresh salsa, and you have a Mediterranean/Mexican fusion twist that’s fresh and delicious.
When studying dietary guidelines, beans are an interesting fit. You might think they would be listed under the grains category but the federal government’s guidelines group meat and beans together instead.
That’s because beans are an excellent source of protein. A quarter cup of legumes (seeds that grow in pods) is equivalent to 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish.
Chickpeas, which are alternatively known as garbanzo beans or ceci, contain plenty of fiber, folate, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium.
The guidelines also spotlight the imbalance of sodium and potassium in the typical American diet. Too much salt can lead to hypertension, kidney stones, stroke and heart disease. A potassium-rich diet of leafty green vegetables and legumes can blunt the effects of too much salt.
More than most foods, a serving of beans can also act as a powerful tool in weight control.
The high fiber content makes beans more filling than most other foods. In the stomach, they digest at a slower rate, causing a more gradual rise in blood sugar that, ultimately, keeps hunger at bay longer.
On Easter morning, I was a little nervous. Our church does not offer kid programs on major holidays. This gives all the adults who otherwise would be teaching and crafting, and I’m sure a healthy amount of disciplining, a morning off. I used to stew the day before these holiday services, wondering if my kid would be the one to squawk, wondering if we’d have to disturb a whole row for a potty break, worrying that their boredom would turn to naughtiness.
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