Easy Colorful Three-Bean Winter Salad

Photo Credit: Angela Tague

The lack of a garden or local farmer's market makes the winter months tough. How in the world am I supposed to enjoy fresh, local produce with a blanket of snow on the ground?

It's time to get creative with what's available at the grocery store.

I was craving a non-leafy salad the other day and tossed this little gluten-free gem together. It was delicious enough to eat as a main course. Leftovers worked well as a side dish. If you love three-bean salad, give this simple vegetarian recipe a try!

Colorful Three-Bean Winter Salad

• 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 2 cups three-bean salad (homemade from a jar, or canned)
• 1 can garbanzo beans (or soak and cook your own!)

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl and let them soak in the tart dressing from the three bean salad. Enjoy!

What types of salad have you been making during this cool weather?

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

Bean, Beans The Musical Fruit...Wait, Fruit?

Dry kidney beans. Photo from Morguefile.

OK, sing along with me:

"Beans, beans the musical fruit!
The more you eat, the more you...."

We all know the rest of the rhyme. (And, I'm not interested in blogging about flatulence!)

However, I am curious about the claim that beans are members of the fruit family. Really? So, I put on my investigative reporter hat and found this little nugget of nutrition trivia.

Beans are members of the legume family. Other legumes include lentils, peanuts, peas and soybeans, according to The Bean Institute. The most popular bean consumed in the United States is the pinto bean.

My top five favorites ways to eat beans are:

• Boiling and mashing black beans with the juice of a fresh lime and chopped garlic to use on tacos
• Tossing several beans together and dressing it with a light Italian dressing for a summer salad
• Adding pinto beans to a pot of vegetable soup for extra protein
• Mashing garbanzo beans and using them in lieu of ground beef to make a veggie "meatloaf"
• Combining kidney, pinto and white beans as the base for a vegetarian chili

So, how do you like to eat beans?

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

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