Increasing My Pulse

Chickpeas, also known as "garbanzo beans", are a member of the Pulse family; Delicious, nutritious & environmentally friendly.

March is flying by and I'm happy to say that giving up meat has steadily increased my pulse. No, not my heart rate (Zumba has done that!), but my intake of beans, lentils, and other legumes. The UN declared 2016 the international year of the pulse, stating that not only are pulses some of the most nutritious foods available, but also some of the most affordable, a combination not easily found. And this is to say nothing of the environmental friendly production methods used for harvesting pulses.

So naturally, when I gave up meat I found pulses to be worthy replacements. So far this month I have indulged in chick pea salad, hummus, (black & refried) bean tacos, and my favorite homemade soup, curried lentil (check out the recipe here!) Not to mention I absolutely adore quinoa with everything from fish to a veggie burger. The benefits of engaging in such a diet are many; first and foremost these healthy foods are delicious and bursting with flavor. My tastebuds have yet to be bored. Secondly, I feel great. After eating meat I would get that bloated, fatigued, overly full feeling, even if I didn't eat a lot. With pulses I feel energetic and light, never too full, and I'm still satiated for long periods of time.

Bean Tacos, as lovely as they are delicious

Pulses are also surprisingly economical; I purchase one bag of lentils at a whopping buck sixty (and that's the pricy option) and make enough soup to feed me and my boyfriend for most of the week. All I need to add are some spices, water/veggie stock, a dollop of olive oil and whatever veggies I have sitting around in my fridge. It's a great way to pack in your nutrition while not letting those wilting spinach leaves go to waste! So there it is, pulses pack big flavor and big nutrition in a small price tag, which for me has translated to saving money on groceries all month long!

If all this weren't enough I can feel good knowing that by eating more leguminous foods, and less meat (or no meat ideally) I'm not contributing to the environmentally destructive and inhumane practices of raising and slaughtering livestock. Eating pulses means supporting sustainable agriculture, which is something we all can stand to do more of.

So what exactly is a pulse? A pulse is the "name given to the dried seeds (matured on the plant) of legumes such as peas, beans, and lentils" according to the Oxford dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Additionally, the Global Pulse Confederation reports that they are "high in protein, fibre, and various vitamins, provide amino acids, and are hearty crops." So what makes pulses environmentally superior to other crops? One stand out reason is the amount of water needed to produce them; "It takes just 43 gallons of water to produce one pound of pulses, compared with 216 for soybeans and 368 for peanuts" (GPC). In a world where droughts and severe water shortages are threatening human life more and more, we must make the most efficient use of water possible, especially in production,  which is done on a global scale.


To learn more about pulses, head over to their website at http://iyp2016.org or http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/ and start discovering recipes, knowledge, and ways to get involved in this inspiring movement! But before you do, check out some of the pulses I've been enjoying so far this month (below):

Sauteeing veggies for curried lentil soup

Here come the lentils!

Would you like to eat this? If so check out the recipe in the TASTE section of this website

Bean Tacos!!!

               

A romantic dinner...

Quinoa, portobello mushroom, & kale

Très délicieux