Easy Bean Quesadilla

Ingredients

• One 15-ounce can black beans
• 1 teaspoon cumin (dried spice)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 4 ounces shredded, mozzarella style soy or rice cheese
• 4 large, whole wheat or sprouted wheat tortilla shells

Instructions

• Rinse well and drain the black beans. Rinsing away the liquid around canned beans can help cut down on the amount of gas you may experience from eating beans.
• Combine black beans, cumin, olive oil, low-sodium soy sauce, and yellow mustard in a pan on medium heat.
• Stir beans and other ingredients together while heating.
• Mash beans slightly to make the mixture a little bit "sticky."
• Divide bean mixture into four portions and place each portion onto half of large tortilla shell.
• Sprinkle 1 ounce of shredded soy or rice cheese onto the beans on each tortilla.
• Place about 1 teaspoon olive oil and spread around to coat a flat skillet. Heat skillet on medium heat.
• Fold tortilla in half and press down to stick together so you have a half circle shape.
• Place tortillas on the skillet and heat each side (flip once). Heat until the cheese melts and the tortilla is brown.
• Garnish with low-fat plain yogurt.
• Serve and enjoy!

Serving suggestion: Serve this with a fresh green salad, a fruit salad, or a side of steamed veggies for a nice meal.

Also, try adding chopped tomatoes, chopped red peppers, chopped onions, or any other ingredient you like to this recipe.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 225 calories; 38 grams of carbohydrates; 11 grams of protein; 6 grams of fat; 9 grams of fiber; 190 milligrams of potassium; 600 milligrams of sodium**

% of calories: 67% carbohydrates, 20% protein, 24% fat

**To decrease sodium content of the recipe, use beans without salt added and substitute in a low-sodium cheese.

Why Beans?

Beans, which are also called legumes, are one of the healthiest foods around. Research consistently shows that people who eat more beans as a regular part of their diet have lower risk of cancer and heart disease (1-7). In fact, one study suggested that women who eat beans or lentils two or more times per week have a significant (24%) reduction in breast cancer risk as compared to women eating beans or lentils less than once a month (8). Clearly, beans should be an important part of any cancer-fighting diet. The recipe we've provided here will help you add beans to your healthy eating plan.

References

1. Park D, Huang T, Frishman WH. Phytoestrogens as cardioprotective agents. Cardiol Rev. 2005;13(1):13-17.

2. Sabate J. The contribution of vegetarian diets to human health. Forum Nutr. 2003;56:218-20.

3. Rizkalla SW, Bellisle F, Slama G. Health benefits of low glycaemic index foods, such as pulses, in diabetic patients and healthy individuals. Br J Nutr. 2002;88 Suppl 3:S255-62.

4. Champ MM. Non-nutrient bioactive substances of pulses. Br J Nutr. 2002;88 Suppl 3:S307-19.

5. Dixon RA, Sumner LW. Legume natural products: understanding and manipulating complex pathways for human and animal health. Plant Physiol. 2003;131(3):878-85.

6. Kushi LH, Meyer KA, Jacobs DR Jr. Cereals, legumes, and chronic disease risk reduction: evidence from epidemiologic studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;70(3 Suppl):451S-458S.

7. Hasler CM, Kundrat S, Wool D. Functional foods and cardiovascular disease. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2000;2(6):467-75.

8. Adebamowo CA, Cho E, Sampson L, Katan MB, Spiegelman D, Willett WC, Holmes MD. Dietary flavonols and flavonol-rich foods intake and the risk of breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 2005;114(4):628-33.