3 ways to add beans to your meals for protein, fiber, and flavor, according to a private chef-turned bean company CEO

"If you're looking for an easy, cheap, and delicious way to add protein and fiber to your diet, the answer is simple: beans. "Everyone's talking about ultra-processed foods. Everyone's talking about gut health, fibre, and protein, and they've just been completely overlooked," Amelia Christie-Miller, the CEO of Bold Bean Co., a premium bean company, told Business Insider. Christie-Miller is on a mission "to make people fall in love with beans," and part of her strategy has been writing two cookbooks dedicated entirely to bean recipes. "They can fit into so many different cuisines and flavors and recipes," she said."

"Legumes, such as beans, chickpeas, and lentils, are excellent sources of both plant-based protein and fiber. Just one cup of black beans, for example, contains around 15 grams of both. As such, they're something of a cheat for boosting gut health. The fiber in beans is both soluble, which promotes regular bowel movements, and prebiotic, which feeds the "beneficial" bugs in the gut microbiome, the trillions of microbes that live in the colon lining and impact overall health."

"If you're making a pasta dish, consider adding beans or replacing some of the pasta. "You'll realize just how well they meld with the flavors," Christie-Miller said. You can add beans to any sauce you like, from marinara or meat sauce to pesto. Christie-Miller's go-to pasta sauce is puttanesca, a Neapolitan tomato-based sauce with olives, capers, pecorino cheese, and anchovies."

Beans offer an easy, inexpensive way to add plant-based protein and fiber to meals. A premium bean company produced two cookbooks focused on bean recipes to encourage greater bean consumption. Legumes such as beans, chickpeas, and lentils supply both protein and fiber; one cup of black beans contains roughly 15 grams of each. Bean fiber includes soluble and prebiotic types that promote regular bowel movements and nourish beneficial gut microbes. Simple swaps include adding beans to pasta (or replacing some pasta) and using crispy beans instead of croutons in soups to boost protein and fiber.

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