Cheddar Bean Dip

This simple to make hot bean-and-cheese dip is great with tortilla chips or crispy wedges of pita bread and is sure to be a hit.

Ingredients:
• ½ cup (115 g) mayonnaise
• 2 cups (342 g) cooked pinto beans, drained and mashed
• 1 cup (115 g) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces (115 g) chopped green chiles
• ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Preparation:
Stir all ingredients until well mixed. Spoon into a small ovenproof dish. Bake at 350°F (180°C, gas mark 4) for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield: 12 servings

Each with: 32 g water; 153 calories (64% from fat, 14% from protein, 22% from carb); 5 g protein; 11 g total fat; 3 g saturated fat; 3 g monounsaturated fat; 4 g polyunsaturated fat; 8 g carb; 3 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 102 mg phosphorus; 97 mg calcium; 1 mg iron; 159 mg sodium; 149 mg potassium; 149 IU vitamin A; 36 mg vitamin E; 3 mg vitamin C; 15 mg cholesterol

This Appetizers, Snacks and Legumes Recipes was published in '500 HIGH-FIBER RECIPES by "DICK LOGUE" - p35'

Other Fiber Sources

There are several other rather surprising sources of fiber. These aren’t where you’ll get the majority of your fiber, but if you can pick up a few grams while indulging in something you like, why not?

• Coffee—Coffee contains between 1 gram per serving for filtered coffee and up to almost 2 grams for instant coffee.
• Chocolate—An ounce of chocolate candy contains almost 2 grams of fiber.
• Spices—A teaspoon of spice may contain up to a gram of fiber. In addition, some spices like fennel, cayenne, cumin, and turmeric have been shown to improve digestion and reduce gas and bloating.

This Tip was published in '500 HIGH-FIBER RECIPES by "DICK LOGUE" - p31'

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds provide a surprising amount of fiber in a small serving. You should plan on several servings a week.

Here are some suggestions for including more nuts and seeds in your diet:

• Use them as snacks. Unlike snack items like chips, nuts provide a significant nutritional benefit. We’ve included a number of recipes for snack mixes and other ways to incorporate more nuts into your diet.
• Use them as toppings and additions. Nuts and seeds can be added to salads, used to top baked goods, and sprinkled over vegetables and casseroles.

The following shows the amount of fiber in an ounce of various nuts and seeds.
• Almonds—3 grams
• Pistachios—3 grams
• Peanut butter, chunky, 3 tablespoons—2 grams
• Sunflower seeds—2 grams
• Peanuts—2 grams
• Sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon—1 gram

This Tip was published in '500 HIGH-FIBER RECIPES by "DICK LOGUE" - p30'

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables offer a number of health benefits, and increased fiber is just one of them. The five-serving-a-day goal has been well established and publicized. That may seem like a lot, but when you start counting, you’ll find that it is not really that difficult to reach. They are a great food value when you are trying to lose weight, since they provide needed bulk while generally being low in calories.

In order to get the most fiber benefit from your fruits and vegetables, here are a few tips:

• Eat whole fruits and vegetables as much as possible. The skin contains many nutrients, as well as fiber. And the seeds in items like fresh tomatoes add fiber that’s missing in many processed tomato products.

• Choose fresh fruits and vegetables over frozen or canned if necessary, choose and frozen over canned. The more an item is processed, the more likely it is to have had the healthful nutrients and fiber removed and undesirable things like salt added.

• Don’t just think of salads. True, salads are a low-calorie, healthy addition to your diet. But they may not pack the fiber punch that other vegetable servings do. Lettuce, for example, is not one of the better sources of fiber, generally containing less than 1 gram per serving.

The following is the amount of fiber in a 1-cup serving of some common fruits and vegetables:
• Prunes—12 grams
• Avocado—10 grams
• Green peas—9 grams
• Raspberries—8 grams
• Pumpkin and winter squash—6 or 7 grams
• Collard greens—5 grams
• Potato, medium—5 grams
• Pear, medium—5 grams
• Apple, large—5 grams
• Corn—4 grams
• Green beans—4 grams
• Asparagus—4 grams
• Bell pepper—3 grams
• Strawberries—3 grams
• Banana—3 grams
• Cabbage—3 grams
• Eggplant—2 grams
• Broccoli—2 grams
• Peaches—2 grams
• Pineapple—2 grams

This Tip was published in '500 HIGH-FIBER RECIPES by "DICK LOGUE" - p28 To p29'

Whole Grains

Whole grains are a great source of fiber and one that’s easy to include in your diet. You should eat two or three servings of whole grains a day. Whole grains contribute to that full feeling that keeps you from overeating and have been shown to slow the absorption of sugar into the blood. They also contain many other minerals and nutrients that are removed from processed grains.

Here are some ways to increase the amount of whole grains in your diet:

• Use whole grain bread instead of white bread. This is a simple choice to make and an easy one. Today’s grocery stores offer an incredible variety of whole grain breads to choose from.

• Choose whole grain pastas and rice. This is a change that we’ve made in our diet fairly recently. I never really paid much attention to whole grain pasta, but now I find that I much prefer the flavor to the bland regular pasta. And I generally avoided brown rice because it took longer to cook, even though I preferred the flavor of it also. But now there are quick-cooking and microwaveable varieties of brown rice that make it as easy as white rice.

• Choose high-fiber cereals. A number of studies show that starting the day with a bowl of high-fiber cereal is one of the things that is most positively linked with weight loss.

• Consider alternative grains. Rather than just pasta or rice or potatoes, think about main dishes and side dishes that contain barley, bulgur, kasha, and other grains. You’ll find a number of recipes in this book that contain them.

Here is the amount of fiber in a cup of several kinds of whole grains:
• Whole wheat flour—18 grams
• Barley—13 grams
• Whole grain pasta—4 grams or more, depending on the brand
• Oats—4 grams
• Brown rice—3 grams

This Tip was published in '500 HIGH-FIBER RECIPES by "DICK LOGUE" - p26 To p27'