Spiced Roasted Black Soy Beans

I thought life would slow down a bit after my fitness competition.

I was wrong.

It’s only gotten busier! I don’t even know where all my time goes- but it’s been so hard to find the time to blog!

My workout routine has changed a little bit- now I’m going to the gym everyday. There used to be days where I would be only doing cardio, so I didn’t need to go to the gym- but now actually I’m there everyday.

Even Sundays.

Sure two of my workout sessions are only 30 min ab circuits- but it still takes time to go, warm up, stretch, change, leave etc.

And therefore I have less time to devote to my blog.

But that’s okay. I’m not complaining. To be honest- I really look forward to my workouts. I’m lifting really heavy 5 days of the week- which I love. I’m still working with my same trainer, Noel from Maximum Fitness Consulting, and we are really trying to bring my upper body up- so 4 of those days are attacking my arms, shoulders, chest and back.. which means only one day is devoted to leg training. How sad. Legs are my favourite bodypart to train. But my legs have pretty good development, so we are really focusing on the upper. It’s funny how I say “we”. But that’s how you start to talk when you have a trainer directing you. It’s not just you out there on your own.

But on to the recipe post.

The food I’m sharing was actually an accident. I bought black soy beans by mistake. In Korea, there are these roadside vendors that have big bins of beans, rice, nuts etc- and that’s where I bought these black beans.

I thought they were the regular black beans that we get back home- I guess turtle beans they are called? Well these were definitely not the same. When I bought them though- they looked like this:

Dry soy beans

So you can see how I could be fooled. After soaking them, however, I saw these little green bits peaking out form under the black shells. Which led me to a google search of “black korean beans”.. which made me realize that they are actually soy beans! I don’t really eat soy products, but I’m not against soy. There is research both for and against them, so it depends on your view. I know paleo is super against soy, but hey I’m not paleo anymore so they are fair game for me. And really, one serving of soy products a day is not going to hurt me if they are bad. And if they are good, well one serving isn’t going to do much either. Anyways, the purpose of my blog is not to label foods good or bad, but simply give some recipe ideas.

Soaked and rinsed soy beans

This was my first time preparing soy beans, but the result was definitely delicious! I really like them! Most of the Korean methods of preparing them involve coating them in corn syrup, which I definitely do not like, so I just decided to roast them with some of my favourite seasonings- chili powder and cinnamon. They turned out a little bit crispy and a little bit chewy- good!

And actually when I compared the nutrient profile between soy beans and black beans, the soy beans are actually lower in carb, lower in calories and higher in protein. Black beans have more fiber and less fat. You could make this recipe with either. Both are whole foods either way, and much better for you to munch on then junk food! I’ve been throwing them on top of my homemade yogurt or kabocha puree for a yummy crunch, but you could also just eat them as is.

Spiced Roasted Black Soy Beans

Ingredients:

500 g black soy beans
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp chilli powder
1/2 tbsp natural sea salt
2 packets stevia (or sweetener of choice)
coconut oil (optional- I didn’t use it, but if you want a crispier result, I’d recommend tossing your beans with some kind of oil)

Method:

1. Rinse soy beans and soak overnight, changing the water a few times.
2. Combine seasonings and toss with rinsed beans. (If you are using oil, first toss beans with oil).
3. Bake in a single layer on parchment lined trays. I used 350 for 40 minutes, shaking once halfway. You may need to adjust your cooking time accordingly.