COOKING CLEVER WITH PULSES: imaginative, comforting, delicious & frugal

Not just a load of old lentils -- pulses are one of the most comforting, delicious and cheapest proteins 

Pulses help incorporate more vegetarian dishes into your diet without loss of essential proteins and/or extend the nutritional value of meat dishes.  

It's why last year, the UN declared a Year of the Pulses, to raise awareness of the tasty inexpensive low-fat protein.  The following questions and answers explains why.  

 Pulses & Lentils 

Why pulses?

They're cheap, low-fat, high in fibre (which reduces risk of heart disease & type 2 diabetes) and have high levels of the minerals iron, zinc, folate and B-vitamins.  More importantly in today's world - they make delicious, interesting dishes; in some recipes, you won't even miss the meat (scroll down to Aren't pulses a load of tasteless old cobblers?)

Environmentally, they play an important role by fixing nitrogen in soil and allowing more than one crop on the same patch of land.


What exactly is a pulse? 

Pulses include all beans, peas and lentils.  The most common are chickpeas, kidney beans, butter beans, haricot beans, cannellini, black-eyed beans, yellow lentils & black lentils. Runner beans, broad beans and peas are also pulses but tend to be eaten fresh and as a vegetable. Peas can be dried and used as a pulse.  

WARNING!

Raw kidney beans & soya beans contain nasty toxins; tinned beans are recommended for all kidney bean recipes.  67 only uses soya in tofu form (from Chinatowns, health food shops & some supermarkets).  

Where should I get my pulses?

All major supermarkets stock them, as do health food shops.  Stick to outlets with a high turnover; the older the pulse, the more difficult to cook. If the pulses you buy are consistently of poor quality, inform the Floor Manager; some buyers are not in a position to judge the quality of pulses. 

Tofu comes from Chinatowns as well as many supermarkets and health food shops.

Tinned or Dried?

If you're after speed, tinned are fine but nothing beats the taste and texture of reconstituted dried pulses.  Tinned beans are more expensive, softer and more bland.  Food lovers will almost always opt for reconstituted dried beans or, failing that, tinned organic.  Use dried pulses within 6-9 months.

Where do pulses come from?

Most are grown - and consumed - in India but other pulse producing countries include, in this order, Pakistan, Canada, Burma, Australia and the United States.  Canada, surprisingly, produces over a third of global pulse trade. 

Forms of Pulses

Whole, split, as flour or separated into protein, fibre or starch

Are Pulses okay to eat on their own?

Pulses have only some of the essential amino acids the body needs, therefore if it's your only source of protein that day, combine with:

• whole grains, eg good wholemeal bread or bread with seeds, rice (pref brown) 
• dairy products
• eggs 
• nuts & seeds 
• tofu 

(See How to...Balance Vegetarian Meals for Essential Amino Acids)

PREPARING PULSES

Tinned 
Rinse thoroughly and drain.  Served lightly dressed in a vinaigrette or yoghurt based dressing and/or with a garnish of chopped herbs and/or finely minced red or white onion: 

• chopped parsley goes well with kidney beans 
• chives go well with chickpeas 
• basil goes well with white beans and tomatoes
• fresh minced chilli or chilli flakes goes well with mashed haricot or butter beans, drizzled with good olive oil and splodged on fresh or toasted whole grain bread 

Pulses mix well with other proteins such as tinned tuna or tossed with salad ingredients and served with a well-flavoured dressing.

Dried

1. Start the night before by soaking a pound of pulses in water overnight.  Drain & rinse until the water runs clear.
2. Add 2 litres water; bring to a boil; simmer 2 mins; remove from heat, cover and rest 1 hour
3. Add an onion & carrot and 1 tsp tumeric (anecdotally anti-flatulence); bring to the boil again, skimming off any froth.  Then either cook (a) gently covered, on top of the stove, for 45 mins to an hour or (b) in a slow cooker on low for 5 hours (How to...Make the Most of Slow Cookers).
4. Drain and use as recipe requires in soups, stews, curries, salads, sweets and dips.
5. Leftovers freeze well

Note: Red lentils do not need soaking but should be washed and rinsed.  Green/black lentils benefit from the cooking method above.

How do I work out the amount of dried beans to tinned?

The equivalent of a 400gm(undrained) tin of pulses is a generous half cup of dried beans but it's not worth your while cooking such a small amount.  Cooked beans freeze well. (See below)

See also this guide. 


Once cooked, bow do I store pulses?

After cooking, leave to cool at least one hour, preferably spread out on a tray.  

Then: 
In the fridge: 2 days max
Freezer: Rest in fridge overnight and package up in small quantities.  Freeze 2-3 months max but 67goingon50 recommends no longer than 6 weeks.  The usual recommendation is to store in small quantities in firm-sided containers but 67 stores pulses in double sandwich bags without ill-effects.  DEFROST SLOWLY, ie overnight in the fridge.


What about Flatulence/Wind?

67 has been cooking and eating pulses for years and has no problem with 'windiness'.  However, the following steps are always taken:

• dried beans are soaked overnight & rinsed
• turmeric, onions and carrots are added to the cooking liquid (some also recommend a whole chilli)
• tinned beans are always rinsed thoroughly and drained   

Many of the pulses I've had are a load of tasteless boring old cobblers!

For a long time, chefs didn't know how to deal with pulses and were inclined to slap down a bowl of them without - horrors! - rinsing them or adding a sprinkling of herbs and/or minced onions. But in recent years, high-end restaurants and dining rooms have been offering vegetarian alternatives as a matter of course.   Things have changed!

67's recipes include Marvellous Meatless Moussaka which honestly could fool a carnivore.  Irresistable Nut Loaf. smothered in Vegetarian Gravy and Cranberry & Red Wine Sauce, might not convert a carnivore but s/he he wouldn't turn their noses up at it.  

One of the keys to success is to serve dishes that are appealing and appetising on their own merits and go all out with accompaniments.  Serve pulses because they taste good, not because they're good for you.  Use a little imagination. 

The Vegetarian and Frugal Sections of the Recipes page of this blog have lots of interesting recipes using pulses.  Also try Delia Online's recipes for pulses. 

What is the difference between a pulse and a legume? 

A legume is a plant containing fruit enclosed in a pod.  A pulse is the edible seed/fruit in the pod.  The Latin for pulse means soup or potage, a bit of a misnomer, since plenty of pulse dishes are neither soup nor potage.

Sources:
www.PulseCanada
NHS Choices: www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages
Wikipedia
BBC Good Food: www.bbc.co.uk/food/pulse
The Balance

Delia Online has several imaginative recipes some involving meat and fish. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/pulses/?page=3

                                     For Vegetarian Dishes, go to Nav Bar:Recipes II 

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This information has been researched & written by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.  B Lee/Bright Sun Enterprises accept no liability for the consequences of any action taken on the basis of the information provided