Sharon has created an award-winning profession based on combining her two great loves–food and writing. As a registered dietitian with 16 years of health care experience, she channels her nutrition experience into writing features covering health, wellness, nutrition, and cuisine. Sharon is also a passionate writer about food and environmental issues, having published a number of features on plant-based diets, hunger, agriculture, local and organic foods, eco-friendly culinary practices, sustainability, food safety, and food security. Over 850 of Sharon’s features have been published in a variety of publications, including Better Homes & Gardens, Prevention, Oxygen, LA Times, Cooking Smart, and CULINOLOGY. Her books include The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for Achieving Optimal Health Beginning Today and Plant-Powered for Life: Eat Your Way to Lasting Health with 52 Simple Steps & 125 Delicious Recipes. Sharon is the editor of the acclaimed health newsletter, Environmental Nutrition and nutrition editor for Today’s Dietitian. She writes every day for her popular Plant-Powered Blog. In addition, Sharon is a nutrition advisor for the Oldways Vegetarian Network and will serve as a returning judge for the 2015 James Beard Journalism awards. She was the proud recipient of the Loma Linda University Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2013.
Living in the chaparral hills overlooking Los Angeles with her husband and two sons, Sharon enjoys visiting the local farmers market every week and cooking for friends and family.
Questions:
Why do you encourage patients to incorporate dry beans into their diet?
I recommend consuming one serving of beans (legumes) each day in the diet for optimal health and sustainability. It’s a huge part of my message.
What is your personal favorite bean to eat and why?
I like them all, but I love lentils, black beans, garbanzos, and heirloom beans,
Here are Sharon’s top 3 reasons why you should incorporate beans into your diet.
- They are a great source of plant-based protein, which is a healthy option for replacing meat on the plate more often.
- Beans are a much more sustainable protein choice than animal proteins.
- Beans are a traditional food that has served as a cornerstone of diets around the world.
Sharon has a lot of favorite bean dishes and here is one of her favorites, a Southwester Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Salad. There are more to be found on her website.
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This recipe is from Sharon’s book from The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for
Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning Today.
photo courtesy of Sharon Palmer The Plant Powered Dietitian
Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Salad
Recipe courtesy of Sharon Palmer-The Plant Powered Dietitian
The jewel-like black beans shine in this crunchy, zesty salad. Serve it
with corn tortillas and vegetable soup for an easy, refreshing meal.
Ingredients:
1 – 15 oz can black beans, no salt added, rinsed, drained
1 cup cooked quinoa (according to package directions)
1 cup frozen corn
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh mango
¼ cup chopped red onion
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (or 2 tsp dried if not available)
1 small fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely diced
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric
Instructions:
- Mix beans, quinoa, corn, pepper, mango, onion, cilantro and jalapeno together in a mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili
powder and turmeric together. - Toss into salad mixture and chill until
serving time.
Makes 6 servings (about 1 cup each)
Nutrition Information per Serving:
Calories: 201
Fat: 5 g
Sat Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 9 mg
Carbohydrate: 36 g
Fiber: 8 g
Protein: 8 g
Recipe from The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for
Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning Today, copyright © Sharon Palmer,
2012. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment.
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