
I just just made a new food friend, the Mortgage Lifter Bean, which I picked up on a trip through New Mexico. The Mortgage Lifter’s charms go beyond its quirky name.

Cultivated by native Americans in the Southwest (1,2), one story says it was named the Mortgage Lifter Bean by a farmer who, just as he was about to lose his land, had an unusually good crop of these beans. The proceeds allowed him to save his property and “lift” his mortgage.
In the white bean family, the Mortgage Lifter is large and meaty yet creamy, like a cannellini, and makes a super-silky hummus. Use them or other white beans in your favorite hummus recipe or try mine below.

Skip the old hummus-as-dip routine and serve it in grilled portobello mushrooms topped with whole, herb-marinated beans. It makes an umami-rich meatless mini-meal, starter or veggie side. Sometimes I melt cheese in the cavities of the portobellos while on the grill, before adding the hummus.
Beans, lentils and dry peas are pulses, seeds of legumes. They offer great bang for your buck – great nutrition at a low cost. Many don’t appreciate their nutritional value. Eating pulses gives you (3,4,5,6):
- Protein. Pulses are 21% to 25% protein by weight, or 6-9 grams of protein per half cup cooked. That’s more than most other vegetable sources.
- A whopping 6-10 grams of dietary fiber per half cup cooked, also more than most plant foods. They have soluble and insoluble dietary fiber that nourish the good microbes in the gut and promote health.
- Cooking changes some of the carbs to resistant starches with prebiotic functions like dietary fiber. They resist digestion until they get to the large intestine where they also support gut microbes.
- Research links consumption of resistant starch with improved satiety, positive post-meal glycemic and insulin responses, reduced blood cholesterol and weight loss. How? Gut microbes digest resistant starch and produce health-promoting metabolites including short chain fatty acids such as butyrate, propionate and acetate that are super-stars in gut health. Among their health-boosting roles: Acetate lowers the PH of the gut and facilitates the absorption of minerals. Butyrate is anti-inflammatory, may protect against colon cancer and keep the gut epithelium (lining) intact. Propionate plays a role in lowering blood cholesterol levels.
- Minerals like magnesium, copper, and manganese, B vitamins such as folate, riboflavin, B6 and thiamin. Many pulses supply potassium which can help tamp down blood pressure.
- Phytonutrients such as polyphenols that work as antioxidants to squelch oxidative stress associated with disorders such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular diseases. And, they have phytosterols, plant sterols that help lower blood cholesterol levels.
Plus, pulses are considered low carbon footprint foods. They use soil bacteria to take nitrogen from the air which serves as a fertilizer for pulse crops. Many are adapted to dry climates, using half to one-tenth the water compared to the production of other proteins.
Want a consumption target? The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults consume 1 ½ cups of pulses each week, based on a 2000 calorie/day diet. Other countries suggest more (7). People eating less or no animal products often include more pulses in their diets.
To make this recipe, prep the portobellos for grilling by brushing them with garlic-infused olive oil mixed 1 to 1 with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let them marinate in the fridge until grilling time.
For the whole bean topping, marinate the beans in a 1 to 1 ratio of olive oil to lemon juice, white balsamic or sherry vinegar with salt, fresh oregano and sliced chives. Make it a few hours or a day ahead so the flavors can mingle. To serve, grill the portobellos, fill with hummus and top with marinated beans.

Put pulses in your routine and tap their culinary and nutrient benefits.
Creamy White Bean Hummus
Even though the beans are cooked, warming them before blending helps make the hummus very creamy. Keep the garlic raw if you like a sharper garlic bite. I include lemon zest, along with juice for lemonier flavor.
Makes about 3 cups.
2 ½ cup cooked white beans (or garbanzo beans)
¾ cup water
1-2 cloves garlic
¼ cup tahini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice, more to taste
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Cayenne pepper, to taste
- Combine beans, water and garlic in a microwave-safe container. Cover and cook for 5 minutes to soften beans. Cool to room temperature.
- In bowl of food processor, combine bean mixture (with water and garlic), tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, zest, salt, cumin and cayenne pepper. Whirl until smooth, stopping to scrape down side of bowl as needed.
- Taste and add more salt and other seasonings to your liking.
- Cover and chill until serving time.
References
- High Desert Seeds + Garden. https://highdesertseed.com/product/mortgage-lifter-bean-bush-snap/
- Mortgage Lifter Beans – Purcell Mountain Farms
- Prebiotic Potential of Dietary Beans and Pulses and Their Resistant Starch for Aging-Associated Gut and Metabolic Health. Nutrients. May, 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9100130/
- Beans & Nutrition – The Bean Institute
- Journal of Food Science and Technology. March 2017. Bioactive constituents in pulses and their health benefits – PMC (nih.gov)
- Pulses & Sustainable Food – Pulses
- Culinary Corner: Pumped for Pulses. Liz Weiss, MS, RDN. Today’s Dietitian. Vol. 26 No. 5 P. 50 May, 2024. Culinary Corner: Pumped for Pulses (todaysdietitian.com)
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