Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (103 page)

BEANS, GREEN

In France our green or string beans are called
mange tous
and are considered inferior to the French beans or
haricots verts
. It is true that green beans are rather tough and unappetizing eaten whole. They are more tender when "French cut," which is quite easy with a food processor.

Cut each end from the bean with a knife, being careful to pull down at the same time so as to remove any strings. Break or cut the beans to fit sideways into your food processor. Fit the processor with the regular slicing blade and place the beans in sideways. When processed the result will be beautifully French-cut beans.

Place beans in a vegetable steamer and steam about 8 minutes until they have turned bright green and are just tender. Transfer to a heated bowl and toss with a generous pat of butter. May be kept in a warm oven for up to ½ hour before serving.

Green beans and French beans are a variety of legume; and, hence, the relative of peas, peanuts, lentils and the many varieties of dried beans. Their pods are edible because of selective breeding to make them flavorful at an early or immature stage of growth. Like their cousins, the dried beans, they are high in calcium, potassium and B-complex vitamins. They have a higher carotenoid content than the dried variety and are often more digestible. String beans were particularly recommended by the late physician Henry Bieler as a treatment for the pancreas and salivary glands because they are rich in alkaline-ash minerals. SWF

In movies with war themes, it is frequently the Marines who come to the rescue; in disease, it is just as frequently fresh and cooked vegetables which do the same thing. There is usually no need to rely on drugs. It must be remembered that all drugs are chemicals; the same chemicals in organic form are found in vegetables and other foodstuffs. Henry Bieler, MD
Food Is Your Best Medicine

Green Beans with Almonds
Serves 6

1½ pounds string beans, French cut

4 tablespoons butter

²
/
₃
cup crispy almond slivers (
Crispy Almonds
)

Steam beans as described above. Melt the butter in a frying pan, raise heat, add almonds and cook, stirring, until lightly browned. Be careful the almonds do not burn. Toss with the beans and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

In the 1880's the great majority of Americans ate at home: three family meals a day, homemade, from whole foods.

In the 1980's the great majority of Americans do
not
eat three family meals a day at home, meals are
not
normally homemade and the whole foods are
not
chosen to any great extent. Joseph D. Beasley, MD and Jerry J. Swift, MA
The Kellogg Report

Green Beans with Onions
Serves 6

1½ pounds string beans, French cut

4 tablespoons butter

½ cup dehydrated onions

Steam the beans as described above. Meanwhile, melt butter in a frying pan, add onions and saute, stirring, until lightly browned. Be careful the onions do not burn. Toss with beans and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Stir Fry Green Beans with Cashews
Serves 6

2 pounds string beans, French cut

1 cup
Crispy Cashews
, chopped

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or lard

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

¼ cup naturally fermented soy sauce

1 cup filtered water, orange juice or
chicken stock

2 tablespoons arrowroot mixed with 2 tablespoons filtered water

1 teaspoon raw honey

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed (optional)

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

Combine ginger, soy sauce, water or stock, honey, sesame oil, garlic and rosemary. Mix thoroughly with a wire whisk. Heat the oil or lard in a skillet or wok. Stir fry the beans until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add cashews and the sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Add the arrowroot mixture and simmer until sauce thickens and all the beans are well coated.

Go ahead and eat those veggies! They help prevent lung cancer, but it isn't just the betacarotene in them that protects you.

This is the finding of Loic Le Marchand, whose group recently finished a study at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii in Honolulu, reported in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Over and above beta carotene, not-so-well-known vegetable constituents, such as lutein, lycopene and indoles, could be virtually anonymous soldiers who battle to protect our lungs.

Le Marchand and associates discovered that crucifers, such a broccoli and cabbage, other green vegetables and tomatoes, reduce the risk of lung cancer as much as beta carotene-rich vegetables. Cabbage and broccoli have previously been linked with reducing the risk of colon cancer but not necessarily with lung cancer.

Indoles and related substances in vegetables have prevented various tumor formations in animals. In his human study, Le Marchand found that while a diet high in beta carotene reduced risk of lung cancer by three times in females and by two times in males, a diet of many different vegetables reduced the risk by seven times in females and by three times in males. Variety may be the spice of life, or, in the case of vegetables, it could be life itself. James F. Scheer
Health Freedom News

BEAN SPROUTS

Bean sprouts must be very fresh. Check that the little leaf is not shriveled, and cook them the day you buy them. Rinse in a colander and place in a vegetable steamer. Steam about one minute, or until just tender. Transfer to a heated serving bowl and toss with a little naturally fermented soy sauce.

Stir-Fry Bean Sprouts
Serves 6

4 cups bean sprouts

1 red pepper, seeded and cut into strips

3 carrots, peeled and cut into a julienne

¼ pound Chinese peas, ends removed

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or lard

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

¼ cup naturally fermented soy sauce

1 cup water or
chicken stock

1 tablespoon arrowroot mixed with 1 tablespoon filtered water

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Mix soy sauce, ginger and water or stock together and set aside. Heat olive oil or lard in a frying pan or wok. Stir-fry carrots a minute or two, add peppers and cook a minute more. Add Chinese peas and stir-fry another minute. Add liquid mixture to vegetables and bring to a boil. Add arrowroot mixture along with sprouts and sesame seeds and cook a minute more, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and vegetables become coated. Serve immediately.

The bean from which the bean sprout grows is the mung bean, a small green bean used extensively in Asia. Mung bean sprouts are excellent sources of carotenoids, B complex and vitamin C plus phosphorus, potassium, calcium and iron. Bean sprouts are exceptionally high in enzymes, and these magic substances will survive a very brief steaming. SWF

Among the many minerals contained in the beet one must cite first of all iron and copper, important trace minerals, and also calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. Under certain types of agriculture, the amount of sugar in the red beet can be more than 5 percent. These natural sugars and the minerals that the beet contains are in balanced proportions and make of the beet an especially precious food. Beets help re-establish numerous functions of the body and a diet based on beets has an incontestable curative effect. Beets are permitted to diabetics and are used in cancer therapies. Because of its dark red color, the beet has for a long time been considered a blood restorative and a food that strengthens the entire organism. The beet should appear often on our tables. Annelies Schoneck
Des Crudites Toute L'Annee