Sunday, June 28, 2009

Black Bean Burger & seeking your suggestions on Soy Products

As a health freak, i was so obsessed with favorite health food(Soy). I was extensively using soy milk, extra firm tofu replacing paneer(cottage cheese), silken tofu to fortify roti dough, soy chunks, soy crisps, soy burgers, soy bars and what not for couple of years. As you all know in this country you have the whole sale clubs so that everything can be bought in bulk and your basement can be filled with them. Well i was one too, i used to buy cartons of soy milk and store in my basement as buying in bulk worked out cheap if you are living on it. All this continued for years until year and half before. My younger one was having lot of feeding issues and we were struggling hard so that she comes atleast in the graph(0-5 percentile of the growth chart) and through a common friend met with a doctor. He suggested certain supplements and asked us to give protein rich food to her. I proudly talked about our protein rich diet habit with soy milk and all the products i listed above. He immediately said don't give her soy milk and tofu and you also better stay away from it. He said commercially manufactured soy products/protein is not good and may even cause cancer. We were shell shocked and googling more found the following

Soybeans in fact contain a large number of dangerous substances. The act of fermenting soybeans nullify the anti-nutrients & toxins , cooking and precipitation do not. Although hese enzyme inhibitors are found in reduced levels within precipitated soy products like tofu, they are not completely eliminated. For this reason, if you are going to consume soy, USE fermented products only, like tempeh or miso. Only after a long period of fermentation (as occurs in the creation of miso or tempeh) are the antinutrient and phytate levels of soybeans reduced, making their nourishment available to the human digestive system. There is lot of information available on this when you google and my head was swirling, so as a layman what i decided was to throw away the 2 packs with a dozen each of soy milk from my basement in the trash and not to go for tofu or soy burger any more. If you gals have more information to share on what all soy products are safe to use and a safe quantity to consume, please enlighten. So that was the reason i started making my own burger in batches and freezing them. Now coming to the recipe.

Know what you Eat - Black beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other legumes. In addition to lowering cholesterol, black beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. Oats are an excellent source of iron, dietary fiber and thiamin. They also contain antioxidants that are believed to protect the circulatory system from diseases such as arteriosclerosis, which affects the arterial blood vessel. Chia seeds are very good source of omega - 3, dietary fiber, antioxidants. They also contain calcium and protein.

Cooking Time : 20 - 30 min
Preparation Time : 10-20 min
Serves : Makes 6 patties


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups(12 oz) - Cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup finely chopped red,yellow,green bell pepper
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tsp Onion powder
1/2 tablespoon Oregano powder
1 tsp or taste cayenne pepper
1/2 Cup of Powdered Chia(Powder Chia in a food processor into fine powder)
1/2 cup of Oats powder (Use quick cooking and make a fine powder in your food processor)
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Method

1) Rinse and drain black bean thoroughly and let it drain compeletly without any water.
2) In a food processor run the celery through you will get a coarse paste
3) Heat Oil add chopped onions and saute till translucent, now add the chopped peppers, celery paste, 1/4 tsp of salt and saute till the peppers are well cooked.
4) Now add the drained black beans, onion powder, oregano, salt and cayenne pepper saute for 5 minutes and then switch off the stove
5) Using a thick spoon mash the black bean, once well mashed add the powdered chia, oats powder and combine thoroughly.
6) Preheat oven to 375 degress.
7)Divide the mixture in to balls and flatten them with your hand and place them in parchment paper in a baking pan and bake for 10 minutes on each side and then broil for 5 minutes till the pattie is well baked.
8) Serve in a burger bun with vegetables and ketchup of your choice.

Event Participation

This dish goes to Low fat eggless baking event hosted by Madhu.
This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa created by Susan.
Original Recipes - Monthly Round up hosted by Lorie.

This dish is our contribution to AFAM-Bell Pepper event, hosted by Priya orignially started by Maheswari.

29 comments:

Unknown said...

That is some serious news abt Soy! Thanks for sharing.

sangeeta said...

hello dear ..
i am a great soy milk and tofu fan and make it at home.
my father is an agriculture technologist and he had told everything about the toxicity in soy.
to overcome it you just have to soak soy beans for 12-14 hrs and change the soaking water 3-4 times during this...after this you can grind and proceed for making the milk..i make soy curd and tofu at home cuz it is safe and cheap too.
my daughter who is a neuro patient had a perennial problem of chest congestion and switching over to soy milk cured the condition within a week...so i make it in bulk and store in the fridge for 4 days.i do lot of experimenting with soy products , a few recipes you can find at my blog while many are still in my drafts..will post them soon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing such a healthy and variety recipe.

Parita said...

Very healthy recipe dear, I dont use Soya products too much in my diet, somewhere i had read that consumption of too much soya is hazardous to health, m not sure where i had read, let me digg in, i'll let you know if i find that article!

chef and her kitchen said...

Thats a very healthy one dear..Even i started using these soy products in my cooking more than before..

Anonymous said...

A black bean burger sounds healthy and delicious! I use a few soy-based products such as Nayonnaise regularly.

Aruna said...

Thanks a lot for sharing the info about soy, even i used to take soya milk everyday when i was in 10th (Nutrilite) but it dint help, i guess it was basically from soy, i had a great amout of hair loss instead.
Whatever you eat doesn't matter but we have to eat the right amount of food. Too mmuch of it will always cause problems.

Deepthi Shankar said...

thatz a lot of info on soy products. Thanks for sharing

chakhlere said...

Nice to know about it !!
Never knew so many facts about soy!!
And Btw grt and healthy recipe!!

Pooja said...

What you said about soy is absolutely true! I recently saw the controversial documentary-Food Inc(http://www.foodincmovie.com) which ran in only selected theaters. You should definitely see it!! I do not know if its still running but its def worth watching at least by purchasing a dvd. After viewing you wont look at your dinner plate the same way again! Some Excerpts..Ever wondered why the chicken you purchase is heavier n less expensive for the same qty of organic chicken? Why a hamburger is available for $1 when you wont even get a broccoli for the same price!? Is the govt and agencies(including FDA!!)hiding something? Watch the movie for more info! Thought of blogging about the movie but I ran out of sufficient time to pen it down!

American soy is a genetically modified soy and due to the intense lobbying and multi million dollar ads, the truth is masked. So better stay away from it!

The black bean burger looks delicious and healthy! A nutritious alternative.

Madhuram said...

Sadhana and Muskaan read this link which I dug out from veggie boards forum. Thanks to you, I also got it cleared.
http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog/how-soy-can-kill-you-and-save-your-life

It's quite a big article and the gist is to avoid consumption of processed soy like fake meat products, soy cheese, soy isolate etc and stick to (organic and not genetically modified) whole soy foods like soy milk, tofu, miso, edmame etc. I think it makes complete sense because too much of processed foods whether using soy or not is not recommended.

Another point to be noted is the source of these negative soy claims. If we look it carefully it will be from the dairy and meat companies.

I have once made kidney bean burgers from Jai and Bee's blog. I have to try the BBB. I think adding some corn will also give a nice look to the burgers. Thank you very much for your support for the low fat event.

Unknown said...

Thanks all for your comments. Soy contains lot of estrogen, and this estrogen causes breast cancer in women and early puberty in girls. Does anybody know if the estrogen level differs or is lower in the fermented products. If so, please let us know.

Madhuram said...

As I have mentioned in my previous comment, check the link, it clarified everything about soy and breast cancer. The article talks about the myths and facts surrounding the intake of soy.

Preeti Singh said...

That a healthy looking burger...and you are invited with full heart to join me in breakfast...I don't use soy products much...and once saw one video that soy products are not that healthy (sply for womens)

Priya Suresh said...

THanks for sharing those infos about soya products yaa! black bean burger looks fabulous, if u r interested send this burger to AFAM-bellpepper event am hosting for..

Vidya said...

I read a few months ago that too much soy consumption messes up your bodies estrogen levels and could cause problems especially for women. It was in a forum where someone had listed their own health problems as a result of becoming a vegan and relying too much on soy products. Let me try and dig up that link. Thanks for your informative post.

Ann said...

Thanks for the info abt soy! and the pic looks yumm!

Hari Chandana P said...

very nice post..thanks for the info.. amazing snap..

Lisa Turner said...

Thank you for sharing this information with your readers. I have known about the health hazards of consuming unfermented soya products for many years now. The only soya products I eat are tempeh and miso.

Anonymous said...

i envy u for the burger u have made.I am sorry am unable to give u any info on soy..but all I knw from my dr is xessive eating of soy isnt gud..esp for males..

Manju said...

Weel, even I was surprised once when the nutritionist who visited us at our work place, told me that drinking soy milk is not good..at that time i never bothered to ask why..i should have!! But as with every other food product, there is something good and something bad. I think the best way out is moderate intake and as many natural/organic products as possible!

The black bean burgers look great! i am yet to try making burgers on my own!

iRaw said...

Mmm, the bean burger looks really good! I can eat them for breakfast...actually, sometimes I do.

:o)

Raks said...

Looks very nice and sure its healthy and filling too!

Preeti Singh said...

Hi... have you changed some setting.... I am not able to see you latest blog update (dahi vade... my favorite :( )

Unknown said...

very good info as usual and I don't know what is the true but since I am a thyroid patient my doctor suggest me to don't take soy food so I don't use soya food in any form hummm but once in a 2 months i use soya chunks because i like them very much Burger look so tempting......

Ashwini said...

eye opening info abt soy..never knew this fact.. nice burger

Unknown said...

Thanks all for your comments. Madhu i checked out link it indeed clarifies on the estrogen levels. It does clarify about tofu, but Soy milk processing seems to involve lot of chemical processing (even when you go for organic). As suggested by Sangeeta i think it is better to go for home made soy milk and tofu. Seeing all conflicting and changing reports, research etc, sometimes i feel that what ever food has been tried, tested by our ancestors even though they didn't have any food group, nutrition ideas were so clever and the best(hand pounded rice for complex carbohydrate, sambar for protein, kootu, curry for vegetable source, rasam for digestive spices and the yogurt for calcium and the same thing for the Northern side with home ground whole wheat rotis and sabzis).

Chitra said...

Oh..this is really a shocking article for me..as far as i googled,i just got know the benefits of tofu..never knew they are hazardous for women..thanks anyway..All ingredients we use in our cooking has got its own advantages and disadvantages..so its better to use everything in a limit i feel..Hope u agree with me..thanks a lot for warning us :)

Lore said...

Awesome vegetarian burger! Thanks for sending it my way :).
As for soy, I don't use it at all, but it's always nice to find out more info.

 
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