Beans for Dessert

Beans for Dessert When it comes to dessert, fruit is always your best option as it’s naturally sweet and offers a healthy dose of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It is also well established that fruit consumption is linked to lower risk of chronic disease. If you want to stay on track with your healthy diet, improve your biometric screening results and you’re bored with having fruit for dessert, try Dessert Hummus! You’re likely familiar with hummus, the traditional middle eastern chickpea dip that pairs perfectly with crunchy carrots, cucumbers, and celery. Its main ingredient, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), has grown in popularity so much that the United States Department of Agriculture expects crop plantings to reach record highs in 2019. This trend reflects our newfound love for all things chickpea! Put off by the idea of beans for dessert? We [...]

Munch Through March Madness

If you’re one of the 97+ million U.S. viewers of NCAA’s March Madness, you’re bound to be tempted by typical gameday snacks. Wing orders alone increase by 24% during the tournament, and if your favorite team loses, you’re more likely to indulge in a variety of gameday treats.  Pizza and dessert orders also increase by 19% and 9%, respectively, following losses versus wins. But what about the beer? Three and a half million extra cases of it are produced in March to keep up with demand. It’s already easy to overeat traditional gameday foods (pizza, wings, chips, dips, and desserts) that are notoriously high in salt, sugar, and fat. It's a combination that fires-up our brain’s reward center and steers us towards overeating and unintended weight gain. Add distracted eating to the mix during March Madness, and you’re even more [...]

Banana Toast

Stuck in a breakfast or snack rut? Mix things up with banana and whole grain bread!  Read below to find out more about this winning combination. If you’ve ever made avocado toast, you’ll be a banana toast pro! If you have them, choose greenish, slightly unripe bananas for this recipe since they contain higher concentrations of prebiotic fiber compared to their fully ripe counterpart. Spot prebiotic-rich, slightly unripe bananas at the grocery store by looking for green tips with minimal brown freckling. Ripe bananas, on the other hand, are thoroughly yellow and lightly flecked with brown spots.  While bananas are a nutritious choice at any stage of ripeness, less ripe bananas have additional gastrointestinal benefits. That’s because fewer starches have been converted to sugar through ripening, resulting in more indigestible prebiotic fiber (and milder sweetness). Prebiotic fiber—also known as resistant [...]

Legume Pasta

Have you ever heard a dietitian nutritionist tell you to eat more legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils)? Wish they told you to eat more pasta instead? Believe it or not, there is a solution. If you’re a regular shopper of the pasta aisle, you may have noticed that things now look a lot more colorful. Those orange, green, and black noodles haven’t expired, they’re made from legumes instead of flour! Legume-based pastas are much higher in fiber and protein than their wheat-based counterparts and can be used the exact same way. Chickpea pasta is currently the easiest variety to find at any big box grocer, and its mild flavor is well-suited for nearly any pasta dish. Lentil and black bean varieties are available too! Toss with a classic Italian red sauce or with Asian stir-fry veggies. Feeling something simpler? [...]