French beans with Moong dal

Green beans and other beans, such are kidney beans, navy beans and black beans are all known scientifically as Phaseolus vulgaris. They are all referred to as “common beans,” probably owing to the fact that they all derived from a common bean ancestor that originated in Peru. From there, they spread throughout South and Central America by migrating Indian tribes. They were introduced into Europe around the 16th century by Spanish explorers returning from their voyages to the New World, and subsequently were spread through many other parts of the world by Spanish and Portuguese traders. Today, the largest commercial producers of fresh green beans include Argentina, China, Egypt, France, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Italy, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.

For a high fiber diet French beans should be included in the diet. Beans are healthy as they are not only fibrous but also anti oxidants. Beans can be cooked in many different recipes.

Preparation time : 11-15 minutes

Cooking time : 15-20 minutes

Course : Main Course-Veg

Cuisine : Indian

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 200 gms French beans, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1/2 Cup Moong dal husked
• 2 Dry red chilies
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• a pinch of cooking soda / soda bi carbonate
• 2 tabsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 6 Curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp asafetida / heeng
• 2/3 level tsp Salt / or salt to taste
• 1 tbsp Ginger , grated
• 2 tbsp Scraped coconut

Method:

Step 1.

Wash and soak the husked green gram dal for 15 minutes. Keep aside.

Step 2.

Wash and cut the beans in to 1″ long pieces. Keep aside.

Step 3.

Grate 3″ piece of coconut and keep aside.

Step 4.

Heat oil in a wok / Kadahi / pan add mustard seeds, wait for mustard to crackles add asafetida, curry leaves, and whole red chilies, sauté for few seconds.

Step 5.

Add the soaked, drained moong dal , grated ginger, salt, turmeric, chili powder and give it a good stir. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame, stirring in between.

Step 6.

Add cut beans, pinch of soda, mix well. Cover and cook till beans are soft. Sprinkle grated coconut cook for a minute more. Serve hot with boiled rice or any Indian bread of choice!

Note:

Beans must be fresh tender and flexible.

Just prior to using the green beans, wash them under running water. Remove both ends of the beans by either snapping them off or cutting them with a knife.

Healthy Steaming of green beans is recommend for maximum flavor and nutrition. Fill the bottom of a steamer pot with 2 inches of water. While waiting for the water to come to a boil, rinse green beans.

It is best to cook green beans whole for even cooking. Steam for 5 minutes and toss with our Mediterranean Dressing and top with your favorite optional ingredients.

Health Benefits of French beans:

Antioxidant Support from Green Beans

Best studied from a research standpoint is the antioxidant content of green beans. In addition to conventional antioxidant nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene, green beans contain important amounts of the antioxidant mineral manganese. But the area of phytonutrients is where green beans really shine through in their antioxidant value. Green beans contain a wide variety of carotenoids (including lutein, beta-carotene, violaxanthin, and neoxanthin) and flavonoids (including quercetin, kaemferol, catechins, epicatechins, and procyanidins) that have all been shown to have health-supportive antioxidant properties. In addition, the overall antioxidant capacity of green beans has been measured in several research studies, and in one study, green beans have been shown to have greater overall antioxidant capacity than similar foods in the pea and bean families, for example, snow peas or winged beans.

Cardiovascular Benefits

Just as you might expect, the antioxidant support provided by green beans provides us with some direct cardiovascular benefits. While most of the cardio research on green beans involves animal studies on rats and nice, improvement in levels of blood fats and better protection of these fats from oxygen damage has been shown to result from green bean intake. Interestingly, the green bean pod (the main portion of the green beans that provides the covering for the beans inside) appears to be more closely related to these cardio benefits that the young, immature beans that are found inside.

While not documented in the health research to date, we believe that the omega-3 fatty acid of content of green beans can also make an important contribution to their cardiovascular benefits. Most people do not even recognize green beans as a source of omega-3 fats! While there is a relatively small amount of the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) in green beans, this amount can still be very important and is actually fairly large in comparison to the amount of calories in green beans. You get 1 milligram of ALA for every 4 calories of green beans that you eat. For every 4 calories of walnuts that you eat, you get 1.4 milligrams of ALA. So you can see that green beans—while not as concentrated in ALA as walnuts—are nevertheless an underrated source of this heart-protective nutrient.

Other Health Benefits

The strong carotenoid and flavonoid content of green beans also appears to give this vegetable some potentially unique anti-inflammatory benefits. For example, some very preliminary research in laboratory animals shows decreased activity of certain inflammation-related enzymes—lipoxygenases (LOX) and cyclooxygenases (COX)—following intake of bean extracts. Because type 2 diabetes is a health problem that is known to contain a basic component of chronic, unwanted inflammation, we are also not surprised to see some very preliminary research in the area of green bean intake, anti-inflammatory benefits, and prevention of type 2 diabetes. (The very good fiber content of green beans most likely adds to the potential of green beans to help prevent this common health problem.) We expect to see more research in both of these health benefit areas (anti-inflammatory benefits and prevention of type 2 diabetes).

Ref.http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=134

Nick’s kitchen medical Disclaimer:

• Nick’s kitchen is for Vegetarians. It sometimes provides education and support to individuals who want to become vegetarian, or move toward a more vegetarian diet.
• Nick’s kitchen provides some information on vegetarian and vegan diets to the best of their knowledge and abilities.
• Nick’s kitchen does not claim to be health care professional, nutritionist, nor does it claims to treat any illness through vegan or vegetarian diet.
• If you have a medical condition,Nick’s kitchen recommend that you consult your health care professionals before changing your diet.
• Any changes that you make to your diet, and the results of those changes, are your decision and your responsibility.