For The Children’s Sake, Have A Big Bowl Of Chili

Chili is usually made with beans (outside of Texas, anyway), and beans happen to be one of the richest sources of folate.

Should this be important to you? Yes, especially if you are a woman in childbearing years.

That bowl of red teeming with beans is also teeming with a nutrient that grabbed the FDA spotlight in February.

David Kessler, U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, announced plans for fortifying enriched flour with folic acid (the terms folate and folic acid are interchangeable).

That will increase the amount of folate in enriched flour to nearly four times that of whole-grain flour. Compliance is required by the beginning of 1998.

Folate deficiency was previously linked to a certain type of anemia, called megaloblastic anemia.

Now folate has been found to be an especially significant nutrient for the health of infants.

Some infants are born with neural tube defects (NTD’s), such as spinal bifida.

Studies have shown that pregnant women who bear children with NTD’s have both lower vitamin levels and lower blood levels of folate.

Pregnant women taking folate-containing supplements have reduced chances of NTD’s occuring and recurring.

If you follow the USDA Food Guide Pyramid recommendations and consume five servings of fruits and vegetables and six or more of grains on a daily basis, you are probably getting adequate folate.

Check with your physician or dietitian if you are in doubt about your diet or you are considering pregnancy.

It’s during the first trimester that folate is important.

The major contributors of folate in American diets are orange juice, white bread, rolls and crackers, and dried beans. Cold cereals, green, leafy vegetables, asparagus, broccoli and avocado also have high folate content.

So open up a can of beans, mix up a batch of chili, and eat your folate.

Ten-Minute Chili

Adapted from “Monday to Friday Cookbook” by Michelle Urvater (Workman Publishing, 1995).

1 can (16 ounces) pink or small red kidney beans

1/2 pound ground lean beef round

1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste 1/2 to 1 tablespoon ground cumin, or to taste

1/2 cup spaghetti sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Optional garnishes: sliced green onions and nonfat sour cream, plain nonfat yogurt, or shredded Cheddar cheese

Drain and rinse the beans. Crumble the meat in a nonstick skillet and saute over medium heat until the meat is brown, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute, then stir in the beans and spaghetti sauce.

Cover and simmer until heated through, 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the chili into bowls and top with green onions and a dollop of sour cream.

Yield: 4 servings.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

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