Love Those Legumes

Quick Win

Nutritious, versatile beans, lentils and other legumes play a leading role in the Mediterranean diet. Incorporate them into your weekly menu with these simple tips.

Try This Today

• Soups and salads. Include beans, chickpeas or lentils in soups, like our Vegetable & Bean Soup. Add legumes to salads for protein, fiber and texture — or make them the main event, as in our Composed Bean Salad.
• Bowls. From grain bowls to noodle bowls, these trendy, nutritious dishes are everywhere — and legumes fit right it. Try our Rainbow Buddha Bowl, featuring lentils and an array of veggies, or our Mediterranean Chickpea & Quinoa Bowl. 
• Spreads. Mash or blend rinsed beans or lentils with a little olive oil and garlic to make a hummus-like spread — or combine with avocado for our Creamy Avocado & White Bean Wrap. 

Why

Legume-rich Mediterranean-style eating can increase levels of beneficial, anti-inflammatory bacteria in the gut. That, in turn, may help support healthy brain function, according to a systematic review of 20 studies published in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience in 2026. And people with a high intake of beans had a lower risk of dementia than those who ate the least in a study of 3,739 adults ages 40 to 64 published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2022.