Healthy and affordable, black beans are a great source of fiber and p rotein. High in antioxidants, this powerful food is also a nutritional powerhouse that is considered a key ingredient in the natural fight against cholesterol. Considered a staple by many vegetarians, black beans will satisfy your taste buds as well as your hunger.

The following recipes from falmingo1012 and elmer (allrecipes.com) are both nutritious and delicious.

Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients you will need are as follows: 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained 2 carrots, grated 1/2 onion, chopped 3 potatoes, shredded 1 cup corn 2 eggs 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Salt and pepper to taste

To make these scrumptious burgers, start by mashing the black beans with a fork inside a large bowl. Once all beans are mashed, mix in the carrots, onions, potatoes and corn. Stir eggs into the mixture until all ingredients are combined. Form the veggie mix into patties (this recipe should yield approximately eight patties) and season them with salt and pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet on medium heat. Cook the patties in the hot oil until they are cooked through. The average patty takes around six minutes on each side.

The nutritional information for this recipe is based on a one patty serving. Calories: 188 Total Fat: 5.3g Cholesterol: 53mg Sodium: 291mg Total Carbohydrates: 29.6g Dietary Fiber: 6.7g Protein: 7.3g

Black Bean and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients you will need are as follows. 1 seedless cucumber, quartered and cut into chunks 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1 cup frozen corn, thawed 1/2 red onion, chopped 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 1/2 teaspoons orange marmalade 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon honey ½ teaspoon ground cumin Salt and pepper to taste

To make the salad, toss the cucumber, black beans, tomatoes, corn and onion together in a large salad bowl. Whisk olive oil, orange marmalade, lemon juice, honey and cumin together in a separate bowl. Drizzle over the vegetable mixture. Toss to coat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Nutritional information for one serving, or approximately ¼ of total salad is as follows. Calories: 274 Total Fat: 11g Cholesterol: 0mg

Asian cuisine is often a staple of a vegetarian diet. This might be due to the sheer number of vegetable-based concoctions, or simply due to the ease of adapting the traditional recipes to an absence of meat. If you would like to try a traditional side that can easily function as a meal, you might want to try making your own spring rolls. Unlike those found in most restaurants, these rolls are baked rather than deep fried. Consisting only of a soy wrapper, vegetables and a sauce, this is one of the more healthy adaptations of a traditional favourite that is available.

The Ingredients

Perhaps the best part of making truly vegetarian spring rolls is the relatively small number of necessary ingredients. You will need a packet of soy spring roll wrappers, which can generally be found in the produce section of most supermarkets. The salad mixture inside can actually vary by taste, but the easiest way to satisfy the needs of the recipe is to invest in a packet of pre-made “broccoli salad”, which should include julienned carrots and broccoli. You will also want to slice up a large, sweet orange pepper and dice up half an onion. The only other ingredient you will need is a bottle of Thai chili sauce, commonly sold as “Spring Roll Sauce”.

Cooking Equipment

You will need relatively little equipment for this dish. You will need a small wok or frying pan, a cookie sheet and a space to prepare your vegetables. You may want to find a few small bowls for dipping sauces as well, and investing in aluminum foil is also wise.

Cooking the Spring Rolls

1. Slice pepper, dice onion
2. Oil wok
3. Add salad, pepper and onion to wok
4. Add approximately one cup of Thai Chili sauce to mixture, stir until thoroughly mixed in
5. Add one tablespoon of mixture to each spring roll. Seal each spring roll with a dab of water to keep closed
6. Place completed rolls on cookie sheet. Use aluminum foil on sheet if you are worried about sticking.
7. Bake at 350 degree for approximately fifteen minutes, or until the spring rolls are a golden brown. The finished product should have a slightly chew but still firm consistency.
8. Allow the spring rolls to cool for ten to fifteen more minutes.

Serving

The dish itself can be served in several ways. It makes a wonderful appetizer or side to a stir-fry, but it can also be served as an entree. Drizzling the dish in the chili sauce is often preferred by those that like a bit more spice with the meal, and the food is traditionally served with the chili sauce as a dipping condiment. Each roll is relatively small in and of itself, so it is important to make sure that you invest in enough ingredients to feed a crowd if you use it as an appetizer. The standard recipe should easily feed about four adults, though this may vary with the number of wrappers purchased.

The vegetarian lifestyle is about putting clean-burning fuel into your body, and discouraging the killing and otherwise inhumane treatment of animals. One of the mainstays people imagine when they think of vegetarianism is the salad. Despite all of the delightful meals you can prepare as a vegetarian, the salad is still the first thing that springs to mind when somebody declares they do not eat meat.

As you know by now, the world of salads has evolved far beyond a lemon slice on a platter of greens. In fact, they have evolved so far, that many salads are more fattening than a burger and fries. However, one does not have settle for a dull salad, to have a healthy salad. One of the most exciting salads you can prepare, in fact, is one of the most healthy. The reason is because it incorporates almost every vegetable you can think of, dices them into miniature bite-sized pieces, and mixes them together in one beautiful, mouth-watering salad.

The Diced Salad consists of

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Yellow squash
• Red bell-peppers
• Onion
• and Mushrooms.

The only problem with this salad is that it is so time consuming in preparing. This is because each ingredient must be diced into quarter-inch to half-inch pieces. The tomatoes must not contain the juicy pulp, only the skin should be used, otherwise it will give the salad a messy appearance. Once all of these vegetables have been diced, the salad lettuce should be cut up into pieces only a bit larger than the diced vegetables. When finished, the colorful vegetables should be mixed together with the lettuce, and the result is a salad that is as pleasing to look at, as it is delightful to taste. Many people prefer not to use salad dressing on this salad, because it takes away from the natural combination of all of the flavors. Whether or not you are a vegetarian, if you want to impress a houseful of guests, serve this salad and listen to the appreciation.