Pulses - beans, lentils, chickpeas - good recipes/ideas?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

I grew up eating beans and lentils in my Mum's wonderful thick beef, vegetable and barley soup or lentil soup made with ham. We also often had baked beans. In adult life I've always enjoyed eating all sorts of pulses, there's always hummus in the fridge, and we are never without some tins and packets of lentils, beans and chickpeas in the cupboard.

I was listening to The Food Programme on Radio 4 yesterday and they were explaining how good pulses are for gut health. Also pointing out that a lot of the new, heavily promoted plant-based foods are actually very highly processed, so not a great idea to use as replacements for meat, fish or dairy. Pulses, however, are great cooked in fairly simple straightforward ways. Then there's the huge environmental benefit of growing pulses, which I remember learning about in History lessons about the Agricultural Revolution - because they are nitrogen-fixing plants, growing pulses in rotation with other crops improves soil fertility and reduces the need for fertilisers.

So, all in all, seems like a great idea to eat more of them. Any ideas? I already make vegetarian lasagne/chilli/bolognese, bean salads and soup, but it's always good to look at different recipes for new twists on old favourites. There is almost nothing I won't eat, and we have no allergies/intolerances to contend with, so I'll consider anything if it's not too time-consuming or eye-wateringly expensive. (We're not vegetarians, just trying to keep down consumption of meat, so pulse dishes with meat or fish are of interest too.)

Thanks in advance!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/gigantes-plaki

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chana-masala

Off to a good start! Thanks, @Frangiblepins88.

A chickpea curry of sorts is always a favourite in our house! Chickpea and cauliflower is great in the winter months and a tomato and spinach version for summer (if you want to keep things seasonal!)

This curry is delicious. I use any veg we’ve got…peppers, peas sweet corn etc. Butternut squash works well too.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/veggie_slow-cooker_curry_48226

Try Boston baked beans? This is the recipe I use (black treacle for the molasses, cannellini beans rather than navy). I make a large amount and divide into portions for the freezer, then use as you would tinned baked beans.

With summer not too far off, I like lentil salad, usually Puy lentils.
Add a herby vinaigrette dressing, and perhaps some other flavours like chopped sun-dried tomatoes or peppers, or capers or chopped olives.
This salad works best with quite robust flavours, smoked mackerel fillets, or chicken legs roasted with pesto for example.

Tagine
Enchiladas
Burgers

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Off to a good start! Thanks, *@Frangiblepins88*.

They are probably not the most authentic of recipes but I found them to be a good starting point.

Tinned flageolet bins with some rosemary and a little olive oil are good with tiny lamb chops, and of course pea puree is good with a lot of fish and sea food.

Found some more:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/13/pulses-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/17/yotam-ottolenghis-recipes-for-tinned-pulses

Moussaka
Gratin
Sausage casserole

veggiedesserts.com/red-lentil-dahl/
This dahl is delicious

Paprika paprika paprika!!

www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/2152242/roasted-cauliflower-with-chickpeas-spring

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/leek-and-lentil-gratin/

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/beetroot-chickpea-and-coconut-curry/

The above recipes are all from the Green Roasting Tin and I like all of them.

This one is from Round the World Roasting Tin:

cookbookreview.blog/2020/05/18/slow-roasted-peppers-with-chilli-lemon-and-garlic-beans-by-rukmini-iyer/amp/

Was going to suggest chana masala but see I've been beaten to it!

As well as hummus you can also make falafel with ground chickpeas. We also make a pâté with beans, usually cannellini - just add olive oil, lemon juice, a tooth of garlic, and possibly a roast red pepper or paprika, then blend.

Cachupa is a dish from Cape Verde based around the chickpea and can be made rica (rich) or pobre (poor) by varying the amount of meat added.

If you like salt cod - and I'm aware that this is something of an acquired taste in the UK - then bacalhau with chickpeas is an interesting dish. If it's served traditionally with boiled eggs that's a helluva lot of protein in one go.

Portuguese and Brazilian cuisine features a lot of beans - feijoada is probably the best known dish and there are as many recipes as there are people cooking it. Again, you can use a lot of meat, or a little.

In Brazil, especially, beans are almost ever-present. Soak then boil your dried beans with a couple of bay leaves, mash a few of the beans up to thicken the water towards the end, then spoon the result over rice to form the basis of your meal. Add salads and vegetable sides as desired, and top with meat or fish if desired.

When I was working there it would not be out of the ordinary to have rice and beans twice a day, five or six days of the week. They tend to go for black 'turtle' beans in Rio but these are somehow more than 50% more expensive than pinto beans in Tesco; pinto are normal in São Paulo.

Final suggestion if you can track down dried broad beans (Hodmedod's sell them, but at a frankly insultingly whopping price) - the arabic dish ful medames is worth a try.

cookieandkate.com/vegetarian-chili-recipe/

I love this veggie chilli recipe. Makes a big batch and I freeze some in portions.

Def chickpea curries! I usually make mine with sweet potato, spinach and coconut milk.

Love this chickpea salad cookieandkate.com/best-chickpea-salad-recipe/

Following for more ideas.

The confit chickpeas in this link. Yum.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/food/2020/jul/11/yotam-ottolenghi-chickpea-recipes-confit-tandoori-polenta-chips-parmesan-braise

Thanks, all! Lots of excellent ideas here. I foresee a trip round the various Turkish/Cypriot owned shops in our borough to see if I can find any fava beans.

this is a soup recipe a friend gave me, 2 leeks, a biggish sweet potato cubed and a can of chick peas and the chick pea water, add garlic, salt & pepper and more water to cover. I cook the sweet potato cubes first till they are soft. Whizz the soup a bit but leave a little lumpy. As a topping on the soup, fry cubes of Haloumi and add a handful of mixed seeds. Simple and really tasty.

I made this a couple of times and it was delicious. cookieandkate.com/greek-kale-salad-recipe/

Spanish lentil and chorizo stew. I make it all in a big pan or oven dish along with carrots, onion, potatoes, and smoky paprika seasoning. It's so warming in winter!

I love pulses and generally eat them once or twice daily.
I crush roast sweet potato with black beans and spring onion with fajita spices, spread thickly on a wholemeal wrap, pop another on top, quarter it, and toast for quesidillas.
Refried beans - pressure cook pinto beans, smash them up, fry and onion and garlic, deglaze pan with a glug of beer, then mix beans in, I add smoked chipotle .
Google Yottam Ottolenghi curried coconut and lentil soup - beautiful recipe as a soup or with rice/chapati.
Salads of mixed tinned pulses (kidney beans especially) with chopped red onion and mustardy French dressing.
Spag bol -replace meat with red lentils

I have Boston baked beans on the menu for this week. Similarly, butterbean soup with crispy bacon.

Dried chickpeas made into falafel. I use an old recipe from a Jewish good cook book by Marlena Spieler.

Leeks braised with butterbeans, mustard, white wine, parsley and chilli.

Mixed bean tacos/burritos/fajitas.

*food not good...although it is very good.