The website www.pulses.org has a total collection of 300 pulse recipes, including recipes from chefs, that can be shared on social media. The site also provides tips on how to cook with pulses at home, on the benefits of incorporating pulses in everyone’s diet, and has vast resources on sustainability benefits of growing and eating pulses. “We want to encourage people to be more curious about when and how they eat pulses, be versatile about their use and eventually be more innovative when developing new dishes containing pulses as core ingredients,” says Huseyin Arslan, President of the Global Pulse Confederation.

See how to make the United States Signature Series pulse dish, Roasted Cauliflower and Seasoned Lentil Tacos in both English and Spanish by clicking the links below.  Visit www.pulses.org for more pulse recipes from around the world, and make sure to take the Pulse Pledge at www.pulsepledge.com for more pulse information and delicious pulse recipes!

When I developed this recipe, we had been making gazpacho at the school restaurant Capstone Kitchen (at Wine Country Culinary Institute where I teach), and I had never seen a chilled lentil soup, so I thought it would be a new spin that would challenge my creativity, which is paramount when it comes to recipe development. Now you might say that making a soup with lentils is an obvious choice, but this one is different – it’s cold vs. hot and creamy vs. stew-like.

When I’m concocting a new recipe, I always start with the question “What sounds good to me right now?” For this particular soup, I asked myself that question when it was 103 degrees outside, so naturally I wanted something refreshing, satisfying and light, that wouldn’t have me sweating over the stovetop.

I then asked myself “What do I have lying around to use?” At the time, my garden was yielding tomatillos, chilies, lemon cucumbers and herbs (mint, Thai basil and cilantro) aplenty. I combined the fresh veggies with green onions, a knob of ginger that I always keep in my freezer and a can of coconut milk and created a Thai-inspired homerun!

The combination of heat from the chilies, refreshing lime, stimulating ginger and velvety coconut milk is out of this world. I hope you enjoy it!

Chilled Lentil Ginger Lime Soup

Cook time: 20 minutes, plus time to cool

Yield: 1 ½  quarts

Recipe contributed by Chef Robin Leventhal

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups                  Sunrise Lentils, soaked for 15 minutes in water

2 cups                  Water

1 can                    Coconut milk

2 tablespoons     Grapeseed or canola oil

½ cup                   Shallots, minced

1 cup                    Tomatillos, chopped

1 tablespoon      Ginger, grated

1 teaspoon          Lime zest

1/8 cup                  Lime Juice

2 teaspoons        Salt

2 tablespoons     Cilantro, chopped, plus sprigs for garnish

2 slivers               Serrano chile, plus garnish

Scallions              Slivered for garnish

Cucumber            Slivered for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a two-quart sauce pan on medium heat, add grapeseed oil and shallots and sauté until fragrant with the salt
2. Add ginger and toast until fragrant, about three minutes, then add water, coconut milk and lentils
3. Simmer for 10 minutes then add chopped tomatillos, cilantro and slivered serrano chilies
4. Cook 10 minutes more until lentils are tender and falling apart
5. Puree with an emulsion blender and add lime zest and juice, salt as needed
6. Serve soup chilled and garnish with cilantro sprigs, sliced cucumber, serrano chili, lime and a drizzle of coconut milk. Adjust spice, cilantro and lime to your own palate.

VARIATIONS:

-Add poached prawns

-Add shredded leftover roasted chicken

-Add crushed peanuts

-Garnish with bean sprouts or lentil sprouts

-Garnish with slivered apple, especially a tart varietal like granny smith

-Serve with cold bean thread noodles for an even more substantial meal

Chef, artist and teacher Robin Leventhal sat down with us to talk about what else? Pulses! Whether she’s in a professional kitchen or at home, Robin likes to incorporate pulses for a few reasons – namely, they’re easy, versatile and economical. “Pulses have integrity,” she says.  “I treat ingredients with respect, and honor them in my cooking. Ultimately, I have to be proud of what I put my name on.”

When it comes to her favorite ways to use pulses, Robin steps outside the soup pot. And supper isn’t her preferred time to enjoy them, either. She’s a pulses-for-breakfast kind of gal, forming chickpeas into cornmeal-crusted patties topped with a gooey egg, or throwing roasted lentils into homemade granola.

Eating pulses for breakfast packs powerful protein into the most important meal of the day, she says, and tides her over to lunch. When she’s craving a salty snack, she also pulls out the pulses. “Chickpeas make a great stand-in for salty snacks. They roast beautifully, are guilt-free and last for up to a week in an airtight container,” she says. “They are crunchy little nuggets of happiness.”

More than anything, Robin says, pulses are a blank canvas – and what could be better for a food artist? “They are a quick-cooking protein source that act as a sponge for whatever direction you want to take them!”

Pro Pulse tip:

When preparing lentils, Robin soaks them for 15 minutes to awaken their enzymes, add nutritional value, eliminate gases and accelerate their cooking time significantly.

Stay tuned for a follow-up post featuring pulse recipes straight from Robin’s kitchen.

About Robin:

While studying for her master’s degree in Fine Arts, Robin took a job in the university’s catering department and fell in love with food. She went on to compete in the sixth season of Top Chef and then own and operate Crave, a popular Seattle bistro serving comfort food on Capitol Hill. With a commitment to community, Robin sits on the Slow Food Seattle board raising awareness of the value of food and knowing its origins.

For more information on Chef Robin Leventhal, visit her site www.cravefood.com.

To break down the barriers to gluten-free baking at home, we spoke with Chef Richard Coppedge Jr., a distinguished baker, author and professor at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) specializing in gluten-free baking. Here’s what we learned:

USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council: When and why did you first start incorporating pulses and pulse flours into your recipes and lessons?

Richard Coppedge Jr.: About 14 years ago, I was charged with teaching a class on baking bread alternatives for people with specialty diets. In learning about gluten-free baking methods, I became interested in how we could improve upon the alternatives that were around at the time.

USADPLC: As a professor working with the next generation of great chefs, you have an inside look at what’s next in culinary and nutrition trends. Do you feel like the use of pulses in baking and cooking is a growing trend?

RC: Definitely. Over the past three years, gluten-free food options have flourished, appearing everywhere from culinary schools to cookbooks to retail products. And as the gluten-free movement and product selection continues to grow, we’re seeing pulses and pulse flours pop up in new places.

USADPLC: Can you give any preparation or baking tips for using pulses or pulse flours?

RC: Keep in mind that flours will maintain some of the characteristics of the pulse they come from, including color, flavor and texture. For example, if you use green pea flour in a sugar cookie recipe, don’t be surprised when your cookies come out a shade of green. Black bean or lentil flour, on the other hand, makes a great wheat flour alternative for gluten-free brownies.

Also, different flours will measure and settle differently, so for best results, invest in a kitchen scale, and use it to replace wheat flour with gluten-free blends by weight. For example, one cup of all-purpose wheat flour weighs about 140 grams. So, to replace ½ cup of the wheat flour in a recipe, you would measure out 70 grams of your alternative flour or gluten-free blend on the scale and use that amount (regardless of where it sits in a measuring cup).

USADPLC: What’s your favorite thing about working with pulses?

RC: I appreciate their versatility, but also their benefits. A lot of gluten-free baking recipes default to soy flour, but if you’re looking for gluten-, dairy- and soy-free protein, pulse products like flours or pea protein concentrates can offer that. Pulses also provide fiber and nutrients where gluten flours or other gluten-free substitutes are lacking.

USADPLC: On that note, do you have any favorite ways to use pulses or pulse flours?

RC: I love a good burger with a pulse flour bun – it’s an easy way to bring up the fiber and nutrient content in an old favorite.

Additional FAQs for Baking with Pulse Flours

1. Where can I buy pulse flours?

You can buy pulse flours from dozens of providers around the U.S. Take a look at a list of providers, or check the bulk bins at your local grocery store!

2. What are the rules for pulse flour substitutions, specifically? Can I simply swap wheat flour for pulse flours 1:1 in any recipe, or do I need to mix pulse flours with something else?

If replacing only a portion of the wheat flour in a recipe with pulse flours (to boost the nutrient content rather than make an entirely gluten-free version), you can simply swap pulse flours 1:1 for up to half of the wheat flour (remember- 1:1 by weight in grams). For an entirely gluten-free substitution, we recommend mixing even parts pulse flour, white rice flour and tapioca starch to make your gluten-free blend. Then you would replace the wheat flour called for in the recipe 1:1 (by weight) with this gluten-free blend.

3. Does baking with pulse flours take longer?

No special treatment is required in recipes where you combine pulse flour with wheat flour, but when baking with an entirely gluten-free flour blend, leave at least 30 minutes of extra prep time to ensure workability of the dough.

Chef Richard Coppedge Jr., Certified Master Baker (CMB), is a professor at the CIA, where he teaches students about nutritional and experimental baking concepts, specializing in gluten-free baking. He is also the author of Gluten-Free Baking with the Culinary Institute of America, and has won numerous awards for his culinary contributions.

This is where pulses come in, offering a variety of flour alternatives that can be used to recreate gluten-free (and more nutritious) versions of your favorite meals, breads and other baked goods.

Whether you’re gluten-sensitive, health-conscious or just plain curious, pulse flours can be easily substituted into nearly any recipe to boost the fiber, protein and nutrient content of the dish.

Not sure how to substitute pulse flours for other common flours? Stay tuned! Next week, we’ll sit down with Richard Coppedge Jr., a Certified Master Baker (CMB), author and professor at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Richard specializes in gluten-free baking and instruction, and he’ll share some expert insights and preparation tips for baking with pulse flours.

Big news: 2016 has been declared International Year of Pulses by the United Nations! With past international year observances ranging from quinoa to the ocean to “youth,” what makes pulses a topic of international interest?

In addition to being versatile nutritional powerhouses in your kitchen, pulses (which include lentils, chickpeas, dry peas and beans) have the power to provide significant health, economic and environmental benefits worldwide. Check out a few key benefits below:

Nutritious*:

Pulses are:

• Gluten-free, sodium-free and cholesterol-free.
• Excellent source of fiber and good source of protein; Lentils deliver double the protein of quinoa.
• High in antioxidants; Lentils have 2x the antioxidant content of blueberries, and 3x that of pomegranate juice.
• Iron-rich; Chickpeas contain more than twice as much iron as chicken.
• Good source of potassium; One serving of dry peas contains as much potassium as a banana.
• Excellent source of folate; Chickpeas contain 3x more folate than kale.

Sustainable:

• Pulse crops are drought-tolerant and frost-hardy, able to grow in harsh environments.
• Pulse crops are water-efficient, requiring little or no irrigation.
  • It takes 43 gallons of water to produce 1 lb. of pulses vs. 1,857 gallons of water to produce 1 lb. of beef.
• Pulses are natural fertilizers, pulling nitrogen from the air (where there is too much) and returning it to the soil, removing the need for nitrogen fertilizers.

Affordable and Accessible:

• Pulses are a staple food and primary source of protein for much of the world’s population.
• Pulse crops can serve as a food crop, cash crop, fodder crop and rotation crop.
• The cost per serving of lentils in the U.S. is $0.07, vs. $1.07 for beef, $0.71 for pork and $0.67 for chicken.

Versatile:

• It takes roughly the same time to prepare lentils and split peas as it takes to prepare pasta, quinoa or rice (15-30 minutes), and they can be used in an endless array of dishes and forms, including whole cooked pulses, pulse purees and pulse flours.
• In preparation for International Year of Pulses, we’re working with 10 amazing bloggers to create recipes showcasing pulses’ versatility and value – with one recipe ultimately being selected as the National Pulse Recipe of the U.S.! Head to our Facebook page to get some delicious new recipes and vote for your favorite, or explore more recipes here.

More information on IYOP can be found here.

*All nutrition information based on one serving of pulses (½ cup cooked)*

Still not convinced? Here are 5 reasons why plant protein is better than animal protein:

1. Meat is far more expensive than pulses. Chicken tends to be a cheaper option in purchasing meat, but is still 2X as expensive as chickpeas!
2. Consumption of animal protein is most often related to high levels of cholesterol, a compound that contributes to cardiovascular disease. Not to mention the recent studies verifying dangerous levels of carcinogens in processed red meat!
3. Pulses are quite versatile in acting as a meat replacement. Recipes like lasagna, burgers, enchiladas, and nachos can all be prepared with pulses, rather than meat! (And we have a recipe for each of these here on our blog!).
4. Pulses are packed full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Not to mention the minimal to absent levels of saturated fat and cholesterol!
5. Meat only keeps in the refrigerator and freezer for so long, while pulses can be stored for months in the pantry! That, and once they are cooked they can also be kept in the fridge for use later in the week!

The proof is in the pulses!

As one of the world’s healthiest foods, lentils lead the way in many categories including being low in sodium, high in dietary fiber, as well as containing 90% of our daily recommended intake of folate. These, among the many other benefits, allow lentils to have a little something to offer people of all ages, especially due to their easy digestion! When cooked, many grains add flavor and texture to meals, but no grain can compare nutritionally to the benefits found in lentils. Take a look at how just 1/2 cup of lentils takes the lead among just a few of the most popular grains consumed in the U.S.

Eating healthy and developing a regular exercise routine is important year round, but sometimes we need a little help to get back on track. Let us help you be kind to your body by adding some dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas to your diet! Here are some of the incredible health benefits you’ll sustain by adding pulses into your regular meal plan!

Well, here at the Dry Pea and Lentil Council, we share the First Lady’s passion for getting nutritious foods – like dry peas, lentils and chickpeas – into schools… but we’ve also got a sweet tooth! Luckily, we stay healthy with these five hacks for making healthier versions of all our favorite desserts:

1. Add lentils or lentil puree to cookies, cakes and pies for added protein, fiber and nutrients. Try this recipe for Chocolate Chip Lentil Cookies.
2. Add pea protein to your favorite smoothie or milkshake – find it in the supplements section of your grocery store, and just add a scoop to the mix with your other smoothie ingredients!
3. Use mashed chickpeas to make an extra-moist, delicious cake batter, like this Lemony Chickpea Cake.
4. Use No-Nut Butter to make a lower-sugar, low-allergen frosting base. The frosting from these Maple-Glazed Gingerbread Cupcakes can be used to top any of your favorite cake or cupcake recipes!
5. Add split pea puree to breads and cakes for a boost of iron, folate and antioxidants! Start with this recipe for the Best Ever Nut Bread.

What are your five healthy habits?