Beans and legumes have been gaining popularity as a healthy and sustainable protein source, and for chef Ali Honour, there’s nothing she can’t make with them. With three decades as a chef and a passion for homegrown legumes, Honour is involved with the campaign Beans is How. The campaign hopes to double the global consumption of beans, legumes, and other pulses by 2028. Honour’s grandparents and parents harvested and ate a lot of peas, runner beans, and broad beans from their garden, which instilled a love of legumes in her from a young age.
Pulses and legumes are beneficial for people’s health and the planet. They are an excellent plant-based protein source that is rich in fiber and nutritionally dense. Compared to other crops, they require less water to grow and enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers. Pulses are also cheaper, reducing the need for more expensive meat protein sources.
Honour is a culinary expert who strives to win over even the most challenging bean-skeptic with her delicious dishes. On World Pulses Day, she excitedly prepared a “beans takeover” at Google’s London headquarters for more than 3,500 employees. She hopes to set pulses racing with a fine dining dinner for around 20 people at Fortnum and Mason in London. Honour recently led a workshop at her daughter’s school to educate kids about the benefits of legumes while reading Jack and the Beanstalk to them, and they nibbled on sugar snap peas and mangetout.
When it comes to her favorite pulses, Honour declares that she loves them all. Lentils are a comforting staple for her, and she loves making a spicy dhal base with red lentils, coconut, and whatever vegetables she has on hand. Green and brown lentils come in handy when making cassoulets or mushroom rissoles. Butterbeans are meaty and delicious, and adding them to tomato sauce makes them creamy and wholesome. The giant ones also pack a high potassium content, and they pair perfectly with parmesan, feta, or vegan alternatives.
Honour enjoys combining speckled borlotti beans with roasted vegetables and drizzling a fresh green-herb dressing on top. She suggests that tinned borlotti beans can facilitate a quick weekday supper, or you can soak dried beans overnight. Soaking time can be reduced by adding a little sodium bicarbonate or kombu seaweed to the water. Savory or sweet, beans are a versatile ingredient, making it easy
Read the full article on Positive News here: Read More