With the demands of modern life, finding time for meal prep can be a challenge. But what if you could throw together a healthy, hearty week’s worth of food without cooking a single ingredient?
That’s where the genius of the dense bean salad comes in.
Since influencer Violet Witchel started posting videos of Mediterranean-inspired salad recipes last year, her self-branded “dense bean salad”—or DBS—has exploded in popularity. True to their name, dense bean salads are simple, legume-forward, and filled with an assortment of vegetables and other raw ingredients like olives, chopped vegetables, and cheese—all marinated in a fresh vinaigrette.
Quick, customizable, healthy, and easy to make it bulk, it’s a trend that has excited foodies and nutritionists alike. “Anything that gets people to eat more beans is fantastic because beans are very healthy,” says Cyril Kendall is a senior research associate in the University of Toronto Department of Nutritional Sciences.
From its humble TikTok beginnings, the dense bean salad may have earned a spot in the weekly meal-prep rotation. Nutrition experts discuss the merits of this salad and what to include—or exclude—in yours.
No such thing as too many beans
Historically overlooked in North American cuisine, beans might be having a welcome comeback thanks to the latest meal-prep trend.
“North Americans are notorious for not eating beans,” Kendall says. “We’ve moved away from that healthy food source, and it’s something we should be consuming more of.”
From chickpeas to edamame, beans are high in plant-based protein and an easy way to add more healthy heft to a meal, with about 15 grams of protein per cup. Beans are also packed with important vitamins and minerals—such as B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium, according to Andrea Glenn, a registered dietician and assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University. And because of their high-fiber content (12 to 15 grams in a salad serving) and slowly digestible carbohydrates, beans reduce bad LDL cholesterol and have a cardioprotective effect.
With the demands of modern life, finding time for meal prep can be a challenge. But what if you could throw together a healthy, hearty week’s worth of food without cooking a single ingredient?
That’s where the genius of the dense bean salad comes in.
Since influencer Violet Witchel started posting videos of Mediterranean-inspired salad recipes last year, her self-branded “dense bean salad”—or DBS—has exploded in popularity. True to their name, dense bean salads are simple, legume-forward, and filled with an assortment of vegetables and other raw ingredients like olives, chopped vegetables, and cheese—all marinated in a fresh vinaigrette.
Quick, customizable, healthy, and easy to make it bulk, it’s a trend that has excited foodies and nutritionists alike. “Anything that gets people to eat more beans is fantastic because beans are very healthy,” says Cyril Kendall is a senior research associate in the University of Toronto Department of Nutritional Sciences.
From its humble TikTok beginnings, the dense bean salad may have earned a spot in the weekly meal-prep rotation. Nutrition experts discuss the merits of this salad and what to include—or exclude—in yours.
No such thing as too many beans
Historically overlooked in North American cuisine, beans might be having a welcome comeback thanks to the latest meal-prep trend.
“North Americans are notorious for not eating beans,” Kendall says. “We’ve moved away from that healthy food source, and it’s something we should be consuming more of.”
From chickpeas to edamame, beans are high in plant-based protein and an easy way to add more healthy heft to a meal, with about 15 grams of protein per cup. Beans are also packed with important vitamins and minerals—such as B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium, according to Andrea Glenn, a registered dietician and assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University. And because of their high-fiber content (12 to 15 grams in a salad serving) and slowly digestible carbohydrates, beans reduce bad LDL cholesterol and have a cardioprotective effect.
With the demands of modern life, finding time for meal prep can be a challenge. But what if you could throw together a healthy, hearty week’s worth of food without cooking a single ingredient?
That’s where the genius of the dense bean salad comes in.
Since influencer Violet Witchel started posting videos of Mediterranean-inspired salad recipes last year, her self-branded “dense bean salad”—or DBS—has exploded in popularity. True to their name, dense bean salads are simple, legume-forward, and filled with an assortment of vegetables and other raw ingredients like olives, chopped vegetables, and cheese—all marinated in a fresh vinaigrette.
Quick, customizable, healthy, and easy to make it bulk, it’s a trend that has excited foodies and nutritionists alike. “Anything that gets people to eat more beans is fantastic because beans are very healthy,” says Cyril Kendall is a senior research associate in the University of Toronto Department of Nutritional Sciences.
From its humble TikTok beginnings, the dense bean salad may have earned a spot in the weekly meal-prep rotation. Nutrition experts discuss the merits of this salad and what to include—or exclude—in yours.
No such thing as too many beans
Historically overlooked in North American cuisine, beans might be having a welcome comeback thanks to the latest meal-prep trend.
“North Americans are notorious for not eating beans,” Kendall says. “We’ve moved away from that healthy food source, and it’s something we should be consuming more of.”
From chickpeas to edamame, beans are high in plant-based protein and an easy way to add more healthy heft to a meal, with about 15 grams of protein per cup. Beans are also packed with important vitamins and minerals—such as B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium, according to Andrea Glenn, a registered dietician and assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University. And because of their high-fiber content (12 to 15 grams in a salad serving) and slowly digestible carbohydrates, beans reduce bad LDL cholesterol and have a cardioprotective effect.
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