Class 9 - Legumes, Seeds, and Nuts

What are the dietary guidelines for legumes, nuts, and seeds?

- a variety of proteins and oils should be part of a healthy diet - legumes, seeds, and nuts are an alternative source of protein that often contain healthy fats

What are incomplete proteins?

when one or more of the essential amino acids are missing and common with plant foods - beans - peas - grains - nuts - seeds - vegetables

How to cook dried beans?

- dried beans should be soaked for at least 8 hours, rinsed and covered with new water and cooked - cooking time of dried legumes can be decreased with an alkaline environment, but thiamin is lost and may result in mushy product - cooking time of dried legumes can be increased with an acidic environment

How are legumes, nuts, and seeds cooked?

- most must be dehydrated before being cooked - are low in fat so require oil or a fat for frying - when cooked, legumes will increase in volume

What are the nutrition recommendations for legumes, nuts, and seeds?

- nuts and seeds should be unsalted - legumes are a good source of protein, potassium, iron, folate, fiber, magnesium, and zinc - green peas and green beans are not counted in the legume subgroup - nuts and seeds are a good source of fiber, vitamin E, thiamin, magnesium, zinc, phosphorous

What are the cooking considerations for legumes, nuts, and seeds?

- storage of the product - the pH of the cooking liquid or medium - the mineral salts present in the water used to rehydrate the beans - moisture content of the dry legumes

What are complementary proteins?

- when 2 or more incomplete protein sources are eaten in combination to compensate for each other's lack of amino acids

What are legumes?

Legumes can be considered a protein as well as a vegetable - beans - peas - lentils

What are complete proteins?

contains adequate amounts of all essential amino acids - dairy - eggs - meats, poultry, and seafood - soy