Easy Peasy Tips for Using Pulses
These and other tips can be found in the Passion for Pulses cookbook.
Some easy ways to increase your use of pulses
- Baked beans on toast are an easy breakfast or last minute dinner. Sauté an onion, add the baked beans, sprinkle with grated cheese and enjoy!
- Use hommos as a spread on sandwiches instead of margarine or butter.
- Add pulses to soups, salads, casseroles, stews or curries.
- Add snowpeas to a stir fry.
- Frozen peas or beans can be prepared and added to a meal in minutes.
- Make a chickpea or bean salad for your next barbeque.
- Check out our quick and easy pulse recipes.
Keep pulses on hand in your pantry or freezer
- Dried, canned or frozen pulses are inexpensive and keep for long periods of time.
- Red lentils are the fast food of pulses and do not need to be soaked before cooking.
- Beans and peas are commonly available from supermarkets.
Dried pulses
Store dried pulses in air-tight containers in a cool, dry place. If kept in the dark, the seeds will keep their colours longer. Young, smooth pulses cook faster than old, wrinkled ones. It is best to use dried pulses within a year of purchase.
Because dried pulses sometimes contain stones or other foreign matter, it is best to rinse them before soaking or cooking and pick out any debris or misshapen seeds.
Generally the larger the seed, the longer the soaking time required. And the longer you soak the pulse, the less the time required for cooking. For chickpeas, beans and whole dried peas, 'overnight' soaking can actually be the hours in the day while you are out and about. Just start the soaking before you leave home in the morning and the pulses will be ready to cook when you get home.
Quick soak method
If you've forgotten to soak the beans and want a quicker soaking method, add three times the amount of water as pulse, bring to the boil for a few minutes, remove from the heat and let sit for an hour. Throw out the soaking water and cook as per recipe. Using this method allows the seeds to absorb water much more quickly then they do when cold.
Use canned pulses
Many pulses can be bought from grocery stores in cans. They are inexpensive and can be stored for long periods of time. Drain and rinse canned beans and add them directly to salads, soups or curries.
Freeze soaked, cooked pulses
If you are a purist and prefer to cook your own, prepare a large batch of beans or chickpeas at a time. Cooked pulses freeze well. Soak and cook a big batch of beans or chickpeas on days or nights when you can keep an eye on the back burner.
Divide the cooked pulse into convenient-size freezer bags. For example, if you are cooking for one, put one cup of cooked pulses into a freezer bag and take them out when you want to add them to a salad, soup or curry.
Pressure Cookers
Some pulse enthusiasts swear by pressure cookers. They reduce cooking time by more than half and minimize nutrient loss. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.
