Ingredients
2 cans red kidney beans (or black beans), rinsed
1/2 sweet pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp parsley
1/3 cup quick oats
1 egg
Directions
1. Place beans, pepper, garlic, and onion in a food processor, blend until paste-like consistency.
2. Transfer mixture to bowl and add chili flakes, cayenne pepper, chili powder, parsley, oats, and egg. Mix together.
3. Form into 6 patties (use a 1/2 cup to measure) and place on baking sheet. (I use silicone).
4. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes each side. Be careful when flipping, they are delicate.
They turned out pretty good! With the spices there is definitely a “kick” to them and adding some
homemade BBQ sauce enhanced the taste.
Nutritional Info (per patty): 215 cal, 12g protein, 28g carbs (10g fiber), 2g fat.
Coconut oil is a controversial subject lately judging from your interest, confusion and questions about the subject. I don’t blame you. Saturated fats, and coconut oil is indeed a saturated fat, do cause headaches for us because we do not understand them fully thanks to the negative press. Before I go any further on the matter I want to stress that I am not a doctor so I don’t dispense medical advice. I have plenty of respect for doctors, however, not all doctors know everything there is to know about nutrition because they just don’t spend the time on this subject – typically, 25 hours of classroom time unless they do their own learning. In fact, a naturopathic doctor spends approximately 150 classroom hours studying nutrition. And no, I am not a physician, but I do have
NTP credentials which means I fully understand nutritional deficiencies and sufficiencies affecting the human population. I spent a year studying nutrition and must keep studying it to maintain my credentials. Some of my classmates were doctors looking to increase their knowledge about nutrition. Hmmmm!
Regardless of what I or anyone else has for credentials, the idea that I recommend the consumption of coconut oil is causing havoc amongst many of you. The biggest reason is because it is a saturated fat. “OMG!! Coconut oil is a saturated fat. My goodness! Stay away from that stuff!” That was the advice after WWI. Before the 1920′s heart disease was a rarity in North America. By the mid 1950′s heart disease was the leading cause of death in NA and today heart disease causes 40% of all North American deaths. We were told after WWI that saturated fats, predominantly coming from animal fats, are to blame. You would think that folks were gobbling animal fat like crazy from 1920 to today but that is not true since people virtually stopped eating pure animal fats like lard. What we did start to eat in massive quantities is processed foods, refined sugar, vegetable oil (often rancid) and white flour.
What does this have to do with coconut oil? Coconut oil has been tarred with the same brush as animal fat because it is saturated – this is just ignorance. We were led to believe that all saturated fats clogged our arteries. In fact early and often incomplete literature simply stated that coconut oil was bad because it was a saturated fat but gave no further information. People were afraid of the stuff based on nothing more than ignorance. But within research journals lays an abundant amount of information on the value of this food. It turns out coconut oil, though a saturated fat, promotes excellent health like few other foods can. It helps to get rid of psoriasis, dandruff, speed recovery from the flu and other viral infections, removes pre-cancerous lesions, hemorrhoids and cavities, it even minimizes genital herpes, hepatitis C, epilepsy and AIDS. The list goes on and on.
What clinches my love for coconut oil and other healthy fats is not only reams of data and research but the way my body and my mind respond. My hair, skin and nails look healthy, radiant and strong. My hormones are working just fine thank you – I don’t suffer from post-menopausal swings nor did I experience any other unpleasantries prior to the climacteric. I laugh a lot – something you can’t do when you don’t have fats. In fact healthy fats are part of the immune system, the libido (sex drive), every cell in your body, your brain and virtually every other human life facility. I am careful to eat only excellent quality organic fats. And even though I eat fat (and ate it while I competed too) I manage to stay slim. You can’t burn fat if you don’t eat fat. The metabolic system depends on it.
I already know how good coconut oil is because I have been taking it for at least ten years. Every time I go to the doctor for a medical I get my blood checked. My blood chemistry profile makes my doctor and I very happy. In fact I am going to have a similar medical check up this week. I will make a promise to post my stats for you. I suggest you do the research before you fly your coconut oil flag either in or out of the camp.
P.S. Stay tuned for an entire month dedicated to healthy fats. Please raise your questions here.
Best fat forward,
Tosca Reno B.Sc., B.ED., NTP
