Beans, beans and more beans

Apparently my son loves beans, which is great news if we are to become vegan for a day or two (or maybe seven) as they contain high levels of protein.

I had some kidney beans leftovers from yesterday's lunch and my son gladly ate his portion for dinner without touching his beloved pasta and today he said: "Mommy, I want beans". I didn't even know he knew the name for it as he is only 2 1/2.

I know very little about beans or, more correctly, I have a bad association with them as I was forced to eat beans during my three months stay at a British boarding school when I was twelve.

I didn't for instance know that there are over 4,000 types of beans on record in the US alone (Wikipedia) or that soy products are beans and that the most well-known soybean food of them all is tofu (The Kind Diet).

But the best thing about beans is that they kinda taste nice (I have to admit). In her book, The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone goes as far as saying that she hasn't met a bean she doesn't like (very cute). I hope I'll be able to say the same, especially since there seems to be no way around The Bean if I am to take the vegetarian route.

In terms of how much better beans are compare to meat, Alicia puts a steak head to head with a cup of beans, and of course the latter wins:

Steak Beans

20% calories from protein 25 % of calories from protein

80% of calories from fat 5% of calories from fat

0% of calories from complex carbohydrate 70% of calories from complex carbohydrate

...and the list goes on. The last advantage is the price. The steak (1 serving) costs anything between 5 and 10 dollars compare to the beans (4 servings) that cost between 2 and 4 dollars. It's cheap to be a vegetarian, even if that means buying organic. So, until next time, live green!