5 ways to use and cook with pulses
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From tiny lentils to black eyed beans, tinned pulses are an essential store cupboard ingredient. Not only are they healthy, a great source of protein, complex (healthy) carbohydrates and full of vitamins, tinned and jarred pulses are a great base for many a quick and budget friendly dish.
They are cheap and readily available in supermarkets; I also like to seek them out in jars from middle eastern groceries too. Dried are also a good option but do require longer preparation usually overnight soaking.
*Top Tip: always rinse and drain plain pulses before using as their liquid is not pleasant.
1. Salads
You know my love for tonno e fagioli (tuna and beans), ready in minutes but better if left for an hour to let the flavours blend. For an alternative why not try, the Turkish dish Piyaz - made with haricot beans, boiled egg, tomato and olives.
2. Stews, ragú’s & curries
Pulses provide bulk to stews – the bigger the better, butter beans are a good bet to add to stews. Try a Spanish influenced, chicken, chorizo and butter bean stew. Equally delicious a cannellini, kale and pancetta stew.
Adding a tin of lentils to a beef or mushroom ragú is a great way to stretch ingredients further and add more nutrition to a lasagna or ragú sauce.
Chickpeas are great carriers of flavour and work wonderfully in curries and let’s not forget about delicious dahls with lentils or split peas.
3. Tacos, falafels, and bean burgers
Black bean and mushroom taco’s, a budget and family friendly dinner option, kid love the self-assembly nature of tacos. Chickpea falafels great to batch cook and keep for speedy lunches with salads or wraps. Bean burgers for meat free alternatives they pair well with grated beetroot and are bang on trend.
4. Soups
Endless possibilities for soups. Minestrone is a constant in my house during the cooler months and I recently got addicted to Rachel Roddy’s ‘ Potato, Courgette, Chickpea & Rosemary Soup’ just divine (from Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome)
5. Dips and sides
Little beans (haricot) make the perfect partner for lamb. Chickpea hummus, if you are hummus lover it’s well worth spending a little time whipping up a batch from scratch. Cannellini beans blended with garlic, lemon and rosemary, olive oil makes for a great hummus alternative.
Here are some recipe links for you to try: