Vegetable Hash with Black Beans

Start your day with a mixture of vegetables and beans with this simple but satisfying potato hash.

This meal is a hearty and filling way to start your day. Even without the meat you might normally think of with a breakfast hash, this dish still has all the elements of your favorite breakfast meal.

Why Eat Potatoes For Breakfast?

Potatoes have gotten a bad rap thanks to preparations like deep fried french fries that drown them in hydrogenated and saturated fat, but potatoes are actually a great addition to a plant-based diet. Potatoes are a versatile root vegetable and a staple food in many households. Aside from being nutritious, potatoes are also incredibly filling. 

Potatoes are a good source of fiber, which can help you lose weight by keeping you full longer. Fiber can also help prevent heart disease by keeping cholesterol and blood glucose levels in check. Potatoes are also full of antioxidants that work to prevent diseases and vitamins that help your body function properly.

Why Are Potatoes Good for You?

Potatoes are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which make them very healthy. Studies have linked potatoes and their nutrients to a variety of impressive health benefits, including improved blood glucose control, reduced heart disease risk, and higher immunity. They may also improve digestive health and combat signs of aging. Great reasons they're staples on the Mastering Diabetes food chart.

Potatoes are also quite filling, which means they may help you lose weight by curbing hunger pains and cravings. And, something not many people realize is that one large baked russet potato has 8 grams of protein.

All in all, potatoes are a great addition to your diet in moderation. They are also naturally gluten-free, which means they can be enjoyed by almost everyone.

Don’t Forget About the Black Beans

The antioxidants, fiber, protein, and carbohydrates in black beans make them nutritionally powerful. A diet rich in beans can reduce your risk of several serious medical conditions and help your body to process calories more effectively. So when people ask, can diabetics eat beans, are beans good for diabetics, and are beans healthy for diabetics, our answer is YES! Absolutely!

Black beans are cost-effective, versatile, and full of vitamins and minerals, making this superfood a perfect addition to any healthy diet.

Although carbohydrate-rich, black beans generally do not significantly elevate your blood glucose. Studies have actually found the opposite. When people eat black beans with rice, their blood glucose levels tend to be lower than if they only ate rice. 

For people with diabetes, adding beans to a healthy diet can improve blood glucose control while reducing heart disease risk.

Why are Beans So Nutritious?

Black beans contain fiber, potassium, folate, vitamin B6, and phytonutrients to boost your health. Coupled with its lack of cholesterol, black beans are a great way to support your heart. The fiber also helps to lower the total amount of cholesterol in the blood and decrease the risk of heart disease. This is true of many other types of beans as well, like kidney beans, pinto beans, red beans, and many more (though likely not your can of baked beans)!

There's more! Antioxidants and fiber in black beans may support blood glucose control. Firstly, their anthocyanin content has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, meaning that they improve how your cells respond to the hormone insulin. This can lead to lower blood glucose levels after a meal.

Secondly, the fiber you get when eating beans may improve the glycemic index (GI) of a meal. The GI measures how fast a food increases your blood glucose levels. Black beans have a GI within the 29–38 range, so they are considered a low GI food. This means that they only cause a small and steady rise in your blood glucose.

Studies show that consuming meals containing as little as 1/2 cup (86 grams) of black beans may reduce the GI of the total meal, helping control blood glucose levels up to 120 minutes after eating.

Ingredient Buying Tips

When buying potatoes, choose ones that are firm, have smooth skins and are without any sprouts or blemishes. Avoid potatoes with wrinkled skins, sprouted eyes, cut surfaces, soft or dark spots, decayed areas, or sunken spots. If possible, purchase potatoes that are fairly clean but unwashed. Potatoes that have been washed will spoil quicker.

Avoid purchasing potatoes with a greenish tint or cast. This indicates that the potatoes have been exposed to light during storage, which can produce a bitter taste and may be toxic to some people. Choose potatoes that have a heavy feel and are uniform in size and shape. They will cook in about the same time and will be easier to peel.

How to Store Potatoes

Store potatoes in a well-ventilated cool, dry, dark area such as a cool closet or dry basement. When stored between 45°F to 50°F, potatoes will keep for several weeks. If stored at room temperature or in a warm place, potatoes will remain at top quality for only about 1 week. 

Do not store potatoes in the refrigerator. The starch will begin to change to glucose and alter the taste; the potatoes will also turn dark after cooking.

Tips for Buying Beans

When shopping for beans, you have two options: dried beans and canned beans. If you're looking to save money, dried beans are almost always cheaper than canned because one bag will last longer than a single can.

Canned beans are pre-cooked and stored in water, while dried beans are dehydrated and pre-cooked and therefore, they weigh less. After soaking or boiling your dried beans in water, they will weigh more, so in the end, you will get more from the bag of dried beans than a single can of beans.

Nutrition-wise, canned and cooked beans are relatively comparable, as dehydrated and cooked beans contain the same amount of protein, fat content, and mostly the same ingredients.

However, you should be wary while buying canned beans, as sometimes, they're stored in incredibly salty water, so be sure to read the ingredient list before grabbing that can. You can also rinse your beans, and doing so can cut the sodium content in half.