Beth Naylor is a registered dietitian and teacher at Lane Community College, where she has taught nutrition classes for more than 30 years. Beth relishes the exploration of food – its history, culture and science, as well as cooking and nutrition – and she savors every opportunity to share her knowledge with others.

To mark the opening of the Corvallis Market of Choice, I decided to make Black Bean & Corn Salsa with the addition of orange peppers. Okay, living in Eugene, I couldn’t resist the green and yellow additions!

It was delicious, but the photo doesn’t pay enough homage to Corvallis’ love of black or orange. Those pigments come from different families of phytochemicals that serve necessary functions in plants and may also have health-giving properties for you and me.

Black pigments found in the beans fall into the flavonoid family, while the orange pigments in the peppers are called carotenoids.

If you go to OSU's Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center, you’ll find pages of information on phytochemicals studies that show there’s no conclusive evidence to support the idea that higher intakes of flavonoid- and carotenoid-rich foods reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. But it makes sense to me that they would do good things for us since they play a role in vital antioxidant and cell-signaling functions in plants.

I’m one of those people who loves, loves, LOVES cilantro. I call it a 2Kwonder- it has good amounts of both the mineral potassium (chemical abbreviation K) and vitamin K, which is very important for bone health. I used to have a bunch of fresh cilantro get slimy before I learned the trick of sticking it in a cup of water, covering it loosely with a plastic bag and refrigerating it (some say this will keep it usable up to two weeks).

I also like corn chips, in moderation. The amount used for my lunch was equal to what the label said was one serving. If a person ate the entire snack bag of these chips, they’d take in 640 calories!

Whether you’re a Ducks fan or a Beaver fan, you will all enjoy this tasty salsa on game day. May the best team win on December 4!