Low Sodium Black Bean Cakes

My daughter isn’t exactly a picky eater. Quite the contrary—she’ll at least try pretty much anything we put in front of her. Lately she is very in to self-feeding, so we’ve been trying lots of fun new foods. However, at just shy of her first birthday, an adequate daily intake of sodium should be around 370 mg, nearly impossible on any sort of typical American diet (heck, adult RDA is around 2,000 mg and most people get double that in a day). With cheese, pasta and the veggie burgers we have started feeding her, she was probably getting way too much, possibly causing her to develop a “salt tooth” which could lead to heart problems later in life. Not wanting that on my conscience, I’m trying to be more aware of the sodium content in her foods. She loved the Morning Star Farms veggie and rice cakes, but they are loaded with salt, so today I created our own low-sodium version. They were a hit—probably tasty for bigger kids and grown-ups, too.


Jaimes’ Black Bean and Rice Cakes
¼ c. cooked brown rice (good way to use up leftovers!)
1 c. canned unseasoned black beans, rinsed
¼ c. cooked broccoli and cauliflower flowerettes
¼ c. whole wheat breadcrumbs
½ tbsp. minced garlic
1 egg white

Combine all ingredients in a food processor with metal blade and pulse until roughly chopped and sticking together. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high and spray with cooking spray. Patty up mixture (resembling small hamburgers) and cook a couple of minutes on each side until lightly browned. Leftovers would probably reheat best in a toaster oven.