2 Recipe ideas to beat high blood pressure

Three-bean salad is a classic that is as easy to make as it is nutritious. When you add rice and more vegetables, it becomes a substantial main dish. Here are a couple of bean salad recipes to try out.

This dish takes about 50 minutes to make and is packed with key nutrients. It is 530 Calories with 8 grams of fat, 23 grams of protein, and 21 grams of fibre. It's great for lowering your blood pressure because it is full of nutrients like vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and calcium.

• 250 g (1 c) long-grain rice
• 500 ml (2 c) water
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 125 g (1/4 lb) green beans, cut into 2.5-cm (1-in) lengths
• 1 can (425 g/15 oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (425 g/15 oz) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (425 g/15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 large ripe tomato, coarsely chopped
• 1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) canola oil
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) coarse mustard
• 10 ml (2 tsp) sugar
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) red wine vinegar, or to taste
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) chopped fresh thyme
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

You can replace the green beans with 250 grams (1/2 pound) broccoli, broken into small florets.

1.  Put the rice in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer according to the package instructions, until tender about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool.
2. Meanwhile, drop the carrots into another pot of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Add the green beans and cook until the vegetables are tender, another 4 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold running water.
3. Place the carrots and green beans in a mixing bowl and add the kidney beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, tomato, red pepper and red onion.
4. Whisk together the oil, mustard, sugar, vinegar, thyme, garlic and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Drizzle this dressing over the bean salad and toss well to combine everything.
5. Serve the bean salad over the rice, or gently fold the rice into the bean salad.

Another version of bean salad includes pinto beans.

Ingredients:

• one 275-gram (10-ounce) package cooked frozen corn kernels, drained
• one 425-gram (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small red pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 small green pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 chopped large ripe tomato
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 45 millilitres (3 tablespoons) chopped fresh cilantro
• 30 millilitres (2 tablespoons) olive oil
• the juice of 1 large lime
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 2 millilitres (1/2 teaspoon) mild chili powder
• 2 millilitres (1/2 teaspoon) ground cumin

Instructions:

1. Combine the frozen corn with the pinto beans.
2. Add the red and green pepper, tomato; scallions and cilantro.
3. Make the dressing with olive oil, lime juice, garlic cloves, chili powder, ground cumin and season to taste.
4. Add to the salad and toss well.
5. Toast 3 corn tortillas under a hot grill for 1 minute or until crisp, then crumble them over the salad and serve.

These salads provide excellent amounts of fibre, both the soluble and insoluble types. They are easy to make and delicious.