24 recipes for the Year of the Pulse

by Aimee

This new year I’m keeping my food resolutions relevant and attainable. In fact, I only have one: eat more pulses in 2016.

I’ve just returned from a quick trip to Toronto to celebrate Pulse Feast, the kick-off to the International Year of the Pulse (#IYP2016). United Nations has declared 2016 the year we sit up and take notice of this incredible crop, a harvest that is mainly grown here in Canada.

What is a “pulse”? That’s a good question and one that I am getting asked frequently. Chances are you already are familiar with beans, chickpeas, lentils and dried peas – yep, those are all pulses. They are good for your health, good for the environment, and mighty good to eat, as this recipe round-up demonstrates. Here is a list of some pulses you probably already use:

Beans:

Available canned or dry, in many varieties such as black, kidney, navy, pinto, fave, lima, black eyed peas and more.

Chickpeas:

Also known as garbanzo beans.  Available canned or dried. Kabuli (larger) and Desi (smaller). Chickpea flour. Hummus.

Lentils:

Green, Red, Brown, French Green/du Puy and Black/Beluga. May be dried or canned. Pre-cooked lentils can be found in the frozen of refrigerated section of most healthy grocers. Lentil flour.

Peas:

Split Green and Yellow, Whole Green and Yellow. Pea protein powders. Pea flours. Soup mixes.

At Pulse Feast last week, chefs, farmers, food writers and local media and I sampled over 20 dishes featuring the very versatile pulse. It was an inspiring evening, hosted by Chef Michael Smith, the Lentil Hunter himself.

That night I signed the Pulse Pledge, a commitment to eat pulses once a week for 10 weeks. Easy? Easy. In fact, I’m vowing to eat pulses once a week for all of 2016. And if you think that is wild, consider that I met a lady at Pulse Feast who has resolved to eat pulses every day this year. Now that is impressive.

Won’t you join me and sign the Pulse Pledge? Once a week, grab a handful of cumin roasted chickpeas or dip into a bowl of hummus. It’s that simple. It can also be a pot of chili or bowl of soup, a plate of salad or maybe a lentil dinner. In other words, eating pulses once a week is totally doable.

To me, it’s an obvious choice. Eating more pulses means eating local, eating for our heath, supporting farmers, and helping the planet out, too. Tell that to your kids when you serve up lentil tacos.

Stocking the Pulse Pantry

Before we get to the recipes, let’s talk quickly about stocking the pantry, because if we’re all going to eat more pulses this year, they need to be present on our kitchen shelves, reminding us of our pledge.

Fortunately, pulses are the pantry’s best friend because of their long shelf life. Whether you are stocking canned chickpeas, dried split peas, jars of lentils or canned beans, you never have to worry about them spoiling for all of 2016. (Experts recommend a shelf life of around one year for dried pulses. After that, cooking time increases and the quality decreases.)

Be sure to review a favourite post from the archives: How to Store Pantry Food for Maximum Shelf Life. You’ll see I choose to store my dried pulses in glass jars, so I can easily see what I have on hand and how much of each.

24 recipes for the Year of the Pulse: a Simple Bites round-up

Beans

A simple guide to cooking dried beans

Frijoles Rancheros (Mexican ranch-style beans)

Tangy Quinoa & Black Bean Salad Cups with Mango, Avocado & Radish

Sweet Potato Kale Salad with Black Beans (layered mason jar salad)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili (vegan)

Chocolate Chip Chili

Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Burritos (vegetarian)

Southwest Black Bean Salad

Creamy Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Layered Taco Bake

Black Bean Hummus with Lime and Cumin

Chickpeas

Cumin Roasted Chickpeas

Middle Eastern Taco Salad with Roasted Chickpeas

Roasted Rutabaga Hummus

Rustic Chickpea Stew with Apricots & Turnip {slow-cooker recipe}

Chickpea & Parsley Patties

Lentils

Egg-Topped Bacon, Lentil & Tomato (BLT) Salad

Simple French Lentil Soup

Garden Vegetable & Lentil Sloppy Joes (vegan)

Coconut Curried Green Lentil Soup

Beet Braised Lentils with Thyme and Apples

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie with Sweet Potato Mash

Peas

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham

More on the Year of the Pulse

For many more recipes, visit Pulses.org for a wide range using their recipe search. Also be sure to check out my Love Lentils board on Pinterest for dozens more ideas for cooking with my favourite pulse.

This post was sponsored by USAPulses and PulseCanada.

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