Black beans
The same gain as the lentil, in a bean that holds its shape and carries a meal.
Glycemic index
30
Low
Boiled. Tinned sits slightly higher than cooked from dry.
How to use it
As the base of the meal. In a stew, through a salad, mashed as a spread.
The best version
Bought dry and cooked yourself they taste better and cost a fraction. Tinned is a fine second choice: check the salt and rinse them.
How to prepare it
Soak overnight and throw the soaking water away. Salt at the end, and keep acid out of the pan until they are done.
Combine with
Lime or orange
Vitamin C in the same meal gets more iron out of the bean. That is why nearly every kitchen that knows beans keeps a citrus fruit next to the pan.
What it does
Pulses were compared across 26 randomised trials with 1037 participants between them against the same diet without them, at the same calories. At a median of 130 grams a day, LDL cholesterol fell by 0.17 mmol/L.
Watch out
The trials treated pulses as a group, so beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas together. For the black bean on its own this has not been worked out.
Raw or half-cooked beans are toxic. Soak them, throw the water out, and cook them properly through.