I posted a recipe for bean salad. I have made the bean salad about three times since I posted it (including that post). One time I used red onion and green peppers. I like both red onion and green peppers but it just wasn’t the same. It lacked the POP. It made it more like the other bean salads I have had. The first time I made it I checked the labels on the cans of beans and decided on the ones with the least sodium. The second time I went to the same store so I didn’t have to check the labels. The third time I was at a different store with different brands and so I had to check the labels again.
I wasn’t thinking about posting about the sodium when I was in the store so I didn’t get the information off of those brands. I went to the internet to get some of the sodium information. For the red kidney beans I found three different amounts in 1/2 cup. One brand has 340 mg, another has 436 mg, and another touted as 50% lower sodium came in at 220 mg. Don’t get me wrong, I love salt, but I would rather add it myself.
As you can see I got lucky because the brand I bought only has 100 mg per 1/2 cup.
For the garbanzo beans I found that 1/2 cup has 380 mg for one brand, another brand has 500 mg, and another as 460 mg.
The brand I bought of the garbanzo beans only has 100 mg per 1/2 cup, also. Right on!
The point I am trying to get across is that canned beans seem to have a lot of sodium in them so check your cans. Find the ones with the lowest sodium so you don’t turn a healthy dish into something not so healthy.
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