Legumes on a Budget

Discover the amazing benefits and creative applications of legumes as part of your meal plan, while staying super cost effective!

We are blessed with such a wide variety of legumes available. Once you start exploring each legume’s characteristics it becomes a fantastic creative process to implement and use each one for a different purpose.

For example: 

• Mung Beans together with Chick Peas make an awesome hummus – simply use a standard recipe and mix equal amounts of the two instead of the given amount of Chick Peas only.
• Speckled Beans (also called sugar beans) and Red Kidney Beans have gentle textures to make delicious stews and curries.
  Because of their texture these beans are also great flavour carriers. Boil these legumes in plain water for only half the required time and then add them to your stew or curry to continue softening in the actual gravy or liquid of the dish – they will absorb the flavours of stock, herbs and spices very gracefully!
• Black Beans and Black-eyed Peas both have a firm texture and are great for serving where a bit of rough handling is required such as in tacos or pita breads – think Mexican salsa.
• Use Lentils in any recipe that calls for ‘mince’.

Protein Value:

Although legumes don’t have complete proteins (meaning they don’t supply all of the 9 essential amino acids), doesn’t mean their protein values are not significant. In conjunction with other vegetables that supply a different set of amino acids this synergy may very well supply what would be required for an ultimate meal. In a vegan diet the variety of vegetables, legumes, seeds and grains on a plate of food is what would ultimately supply sufficient protein in combination.

Fibre Value:

All legumes supply very high fibre content. That is good news for diets that work at weight loss (and subsequent diabetes or its prevention), cardiovascular disease and digestive problems.

See the exercise and RECIPE of a delicious meal.

READ MORE about incorporating legumes on a tight budget.