'Bean

Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

 salad

Salad

Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...

', is a common salad dish, composed of various beans -- (green bean

Green bean

Green beans , also known as French beans , are the unripe fruit of any kind of bean, including the yardlong bean, the hyacinth bean, the winged bean, and especially the common bean , whose pods are also usually called string beans in the northeastern and western United States, but can also be...

s and/or yellow wax beans), cooked garbanzo beans, cooked kidney beans and typically onions, pepper

Pepper

- Plants and plant products :The genus Piper of the pepper family , including for example:* Black pepper, white and green pepper, Piper nigrum* Cubeb, Piper cubeba, also known as Java pepper* Long pepper, Piper longum...

s or other vegetables, in a vinaigrette

Vinaigrette

The word vinaigrette or vinegarette can refer to:*Vinaigrette, the salad dressing or sauce...

 broth

Broth

Broth is a liquid food preparation, typically consisting of either water or an already flavored stock, in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered. Broth is used as a basis for other edible liquids such as soup, gravy, or sauce. It can be eaten alone or with garnish...

, sometimes sweetened with sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

. Some bean salads contain barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

, pasta

Pasta

Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...

 noodles or rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 in them.

History

Salads of this type have commonly been used since at least the 19th century for picnics and outings, as they can be preserved with little refrigeration. It was a favorite dish of J. Edgar Hoover, and it is believed that bean salad was one of the final dishes he ate before his death.

Nutrition

Consuming beans adds significant amounts of fiber and soluble fiber to a diet, with one cup of cooked beans providing between nine to thirteen grams of fiber. Soluble fiber can help lower blood cholesterol

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...

. Beans are also high in protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

, complex carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates may refer to:*oligosaccharides, a saccharide polymer containing a small number of component sugars...

 and iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

. According to Canada's food guide, it is recommended that children have 1 serving of meat and alternatives. Adults are recommended to have two (female), and three (male) servings. 3/4 cup of cooked beans provide one serving.