In the kitchen with Kelley: Spicy, cheesy black beans

I am 47 years old, 5-foot-5.5-inches tall and 156 pounds. According to the adult body mass index for a woman my age, I am overweight. According to my significant other, I am curvy. According to my mother, I am plump. According to my children, I am just right (aww, thanks, guys!). According to my doctor, I could stand to lose just a few pounds because it might help lower my blood pressure and my risk for disease. I’ve decided to take my doctor’s advice.

I already watch what I eat, but I don’t exercise regularly. (Note to self: Must exercise regularly; you’re worth the effort.) And I must confess that I sometimes turn to fattening, unhealthy comfort food when I’ve had a bad day, or to celebrate an accomplishment, or because I work hard and I deserve something Southern-fried and it just smells so good, doggone it! In other words, I don’t always make good choices.

Part of the problem, too, is that I’ll cook a healthy meal and then eat too much of it.
But with age comes wisdom (or at least self-knowledge), and I know myself well enough to know that I will eat right if I simplify access to healthy foods as part of my daily routine. I already follow a meal plan with breakfast and lunch at work, and now I’m working on doing that at home to cover evenings and weekends.

My recipe for Spicy, Cheesy Black Beans is on my meal plan. I like to eat this for lunch at work. I can keep canned beans in my desk drawer and salsa verde and shredded cheese in our office refrigerator. I can fix this in about three minutes and thanks to the high fiber content of the black beans (28 grams in one cup!), this tasty meal leaves me feeling full for the entire afternoon.

Fiber is your friend in more ways than one. High fiber foods help protect against digestive diseases and are helpful when dieting or trying to maintain a healthy weight. My friend, Margaret Cantwell, wrote about a study in which researchers found that fiber-rich foods and bacteria in the gut produce a natural appetite suppressant. And I’m all for that.

The green ingredient in salsa verde is the tart, spicy tomatillo. Tomatillos have very few calories and low levels of fat, and they are also a very good source of niacin, potassium and manganese. They also contain antioxidant vitamins, including vitamins A, C and E. That’s why I like to use salsa verde to add flavor to various dishes.