Beans, beans, good for the heart (and every other body part)!

The most popular beans are: black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, navy beans, cannellini beans, blacked-eyed peas, lima beans, lentils, split peas, great northern beans, and navy beans.

Beans are considered a carbohydrate and protein food with a super-high fiber content. Packed with additional nutrients such as folic acid, iron, manganese, copper, phosphorus, and vitamins B 1 (thiamine), beans are a near perfect food. Make beans your go-to heart healthy and virtually fat-free non-animal protein source.

As a healthy plant based food, beans can be used in chili and soups, made into hummus/dips/spreads, added to rice and veggie stir-fries, sprinkled on salads, and incorporated into bean burgers.

Serve this week’s heart healthy bean recipe, Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato White Bean Dip, at your next social gathering. (This recipe also includes four additional heart healthy super foods: garlic, extra virgin olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes and basil…doesn’t get much healthier than this!)

Zero cholesterol recipe of roasted garlic and sundried tomato white bean dip:
Roasted garlic and sundried tomatoes are the perfect combination to amp up the flavor in your dips!

Yield: 16 servings (2 Tablespoons per serving)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole garlic bulb
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of packaged sun dried tomatoes without oil
• 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp of cracked black pepper
• 1-15 oz can of white beans (northern beans, navy beans, or cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
• Optional: ¼ cup of packed fresh chopped basil

Directions:

Roasting Garlic:

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Remove the papery layers of the garlic bulb and cut 1/8 of the top to reveal the tops of the garlic cloves. Wrap garlic bulb in aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove garlic bulb from oven and let it cool for 5-10 minute and separate the garlic cloves from the skin of the garlic bulb.

Soaking Sundried Tomatoes:

In a small pot, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the sundried tomatoes. Cover the pot and let sundried tomatoes soak for 10 minutes. Drain the sundried tomatoes, but save the water to be added to the food processor.

White Bean Dip:

In a food processor, add the roasted garlic cloves, sundried tomatoes, olive oil, black pepper, and white beans. Process the mixture until there are no large chunks. Add about ¼ cup of the water from the drained sundried tomatoes to the white bean dip and continue to process until you create a white bean dip with a smooth consistency.

White bean dip is ready to be served with vegetables and pita chips OR used as a spread on sandwiches.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Calories: 56 kcal
Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrates: 8 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 3 g
Sodium: 190 mg