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Pulses
Organic Pulses
At Naturally Good Food we sell a great range of organic pulses. For the traditional vegetarian, pulses are a mainstay, while for non-vegetarians, pulses offer a great way to a more healthy and a cheaper diet.
We are pleased to offer a full range of organic pulses, most of which are to Soil Association organic standard. We pack many of the organic pulses ourselves, and can offer various size combinations, with a standard 10% case discount on all purchases.
Included in our range of organic pulses are:
| Aduki beans | Haricot beans | |
| Black-eyed beans | Mung beans | |
| Butter beans | Red kidney beans | |
| Chickpeas | Soya beans | |
| Flagolet beans |
Our range of organic lentils can be seen in our specific Lentil and split pea section, while the full list of other organic pulses can be viewed below. For a quick result, you can also try our range of tinned beans.
What are Pulses?
Pulses are nutritious, tasty and an important part of your diet! They include peas, beans and lentils, all plants belonging to the 'Leguminosae' plant group, which gets its name from the pod, or legume, that protects the seed. There are some 13,000 species in this plant group. Pulses or legumes generally prefer warmer climates, but there are varieties that are grown in temperate regions.
As organic farming was the norm until relatively recently, man has been eating organic pulses for many thousands of years. Indeed, lentils were one of the first plants ever to be domesticated by man.
Why Organic Pulses?
There are a number of good reasons to choose organic pulses. These include the following:
- With soya beans and other legumes now such an important crop, and with much of the world's production now based on GM technology, it is vital to keep a non-GM pool of plants in production.
- For beans and legumes eaten with their shell on, it is important to avoid the chemicals that are sprayed on, which will be concentrated in the skins.
Why are Organic Pulses Good For You?
Organic pulses are a valuable part of your diet, as they have a higher protein content than most other plants. For the full benefits, see the guide below to individual pulses.
Sprouting Organic Pulses
Many whole pulses, such as aduki beans, chickpeas, whole lentils, mung and soya beans, can be sprouted, increasing their nutritional value.
Organic Pulses Guide
We sell a wide range of organic pulses, including:
Aduki Beans (Adzuki Beans): a great little bean, renowned for its health properties. Aduki beans are small, reddish-brown beans, rounded in shape, with a point at one end. Our organic Aduki beans have a strong, nutty, sweet flavour. Aduki beans are a good addition to your store-cupboard, as they are smaller than many beans and so have a shorter cooking time.
These beans are similar to most beans in that they are high in soluble fibre, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, copper and B vitamins. Aduki beans are a good source of protein and have been seen as a 'weight loss' bean by some nutritionists, being low in calories and fat, but high in nutrition. Our Crazy Jack organic Aduki beans come from the USA.
Black-eyed beans: black-eyed beans (or black-eyed peas) have a smooth texture and a pea-like flavour. They are good mixed with other vegetables. Our organic black-eyed beans are a great source of soluble fibre, and contain many essential minerals, including potassium, copper, phosphorous and manganese.
Black-eyed beans are not only low in fat, but, when combined with grains, supply high-quality protein that provides a healthy alternative to meat or other animal protein.
Butter beans: a flat white bean, our organic butter beans are a good store-cupboard line, working well in numerous dishes. Butter beans have a high soluble fibre content, which is associated with lower cholesterol levels.
Butter beans are also known as Lima beans.
Butter beans are a very good source of the trace mineral manganese, and boost the enzymes important for energy production and antioxidant defense. Butter beans also contain the trace mineral molybdenum. As with all beans, you should not eat them raw.
Chickpeas: chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans, Indian peas, ceci beans and Bengal gram) are among the earliest cultivated vegetable; man has eaten organic chickpeas for some 7,500 years. Organic chickpeas are a very versatile vegetable: not only are they the basis for hummus, but they can be eaten as a simple accompaniment or as the basis of a high-protein curry.
Chickpeas are a rich source of iron and, as with other pulses, of soluble fibre. They are also low in fat, and a fine source of tryptophan, which converts to the 'feel good' neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain.
Flageolet beans: flageolet beans are rightly popular in France. A small, kidney-shaped bean with an attractive light green colour and a creamy texture, these are a great source of fibre, protein and carbohydrate. Flageolet beans are a very versatile bean, going well with lamb, fish and chicken.
Haricot beans: our organic haricot beans are oval shaped and flattened, with a pure white skin. Haricot beans are relatively mild in flavour, but can add to and enrich many dishes. As with all beans, they make an excellent addition to a healthy diet. Haricot beans have many other names, including Boston beans, navy beans and pearl beans. In common with other beans, they are not only good for you, but good for the soil, as they fix nitrogen into the earth and enrich it.
Mung beans: our organic mung beans are small, cylindrical beans with a bright green skin. Mung beans are often sprouted, tasting like young peas, and are great in stir fries - just take care not to over-cook these delicate beans! Mung beans are very low in calories, so are ideal if you want to lose weight.
Pinto beans: pinto beans are part of the red kidney family and make an excellent replacement for kidney beans in a chilli. Our organic pinto beans are beige with light brown streaks, but when cooked, will turn a uniform brown. Pinto beans are often used to make refried beans.
Red kidney beans: as you would expect from their name, these are kidney-shaped beans and are perhaps best known as an ingredient in chilli. They are also great in numerous simmering dishes, where their ability to absorb flavours and keep their shape is valued. Our organic red kidney beans provide an good source of folate, dietary fibre, manganese, protein, thiamin (vitamin B1), phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, potassium and vitamin K. As Crazy Jack point out on their site, dried red kidney beans MUST be cooked properly before eating. It is simple to do, but takes a little time – soak the beans in cold water for five to eight hours, then discard the water and rinse the beans in fresh water. Cover again in water and bring to the boil. Boil for ten minutes then continue to simmer for 45-60 minutes. The beans will then be cooked and ready to eat! Our organic red kidney beans come from Crazy Jack.
Soya beans: we sell Crazy Jack organic soya beans from the USA. Soya beans are small and white, and are very popular and versatile. They absorb flavours well and can be added to any dishes with strong sauces or flavour to provide texture and added protein. Soya beans must be cooked thoroughly before eating. Soak the beans in cold water for 12 hours, then discard the water and rinse the beans in fresh water. Cover again in water and bring to the boil. Boil for one hour, then continue to simmer for two to three hours.
Dried or Canned Pulses
We offer both dried organic pulses and organic pulses in tins. Each have their place and each have their advantages and disadvantages:
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Canning does not affect the protein content of the pulses.
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Fresh pulses contain vitamin C; this falls after harvesting, and is almost all lost in dried pulses. Canned pulses can retain about half of their vitamin C.
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Tinned pulses are ready to eat - you just need to open the tin.
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Dried pulses are much cheaper, but they need soaking, often overnight, and can take a much longer time to cook.
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Dried pulses can have a lower environmental footprint, as there are no cans to recycle and less weight to transport.
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Some pulses are canned in salt water; if you want to avoid this, use your own dried pulses.
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Dried pulses will last very well if stored properly.
Our full range of tinned organic pulses can be seen in our tinned bean range.
Don't forget that pulses are gluten-free, so if you are gluten-intolerant, eating pulses is not a problem.
Organic Pulses: Hints and Tips
Here is a list of tips and hints on pulses that we have picked up over the years. With the help of some of these tips, you can use organic pulses at not a great price premium over conventional pulses.
- Reducing flatulance: changing the cooking water during the cooking of dried pulses is said to reduce the effects of flatulence. (This may not be the sort of hint to be passed on, as one of joys of pulses is the wind impact.)
- Pulses tend to have very similar nutritional value, so try experimenting with inter-changing them in recipes.
- When using different beans in a recipe, that require different cooking times, try pre-cooking those that need a longer process.
- Add a handful of aduki beans to your rice: they will turn the rice a light pink, as well as providing added texture and sweetness.
- Haricot beans are very good at absorbing flavours, so are great added to any savoury dish with a rich sauce.
- Haricot beans make a great addition to a stew, and help bulk it out so that you don’t need to serve rice or potatoes.
- Check your beans for even size: for example, our chickpeas are especially graded to ensure that they are a uniform size, meaning that they will cook evenly. Some suppliers allow a large degree of variation in size, which can result in an uneven 'grainy' finish to the chickpeas, which can be unpalatable.
- When cooking lentils, replace the water with a stock of your choice. You can also add bay leaves, thyme, garlic or chopped onion to the pan while cooking, for extra flavour. Fry the lentils with a dollop of butter or good olive oil. Delicious.
- Combine cooked kidney beans with black beans and white beans to make a colourful three bean salad. Mix with tomatoes and spring onions and dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper.
- In a food processor or blender, combine cooked kidney beans with garlic, cumin and chilli peppers for a delicious spread that can be used as a crudité dip or sandwich filling.
- Make tacos with a vegetarian twist by using organic kidney beans in place of minced meat.
- To increase the protein content of home-made vegetable soup, add a handful of lentils. Our organic red lentils will cook the quickest and break down more, while the brown lentils will keep their shape and still have body. In combination, they can add great variety to a dish.
- Next time you have a barbeque, make a bean or chickpea salad and just watch it disappear.
- Red lentils are a fast food: there is no need to pre-soak them, just use!
- Try buying a pressure cooker: if you eat lots of beans, it does cut down the cooking time and saves fuel.
- Try using bean-based flours in cooking.
- If you are using our organic beans and pulses in a stew, mash a couple of the beans to thicken the sauce and add body and flavour.
Benefits of Eating Pulses
There are many reasons for including beans as part of your regular diet:
- They taste great – food that has no taste is a waste! Beans have texture, colour and flavour, all of which can be exploited to make your food more interesting. With the great variety of beans available, you can always find the colour and texture you want.
- Beans are a good source of protein – this is particularly important for vegetarians. If you are on a tight budget and want to eat organic, then organic beans make a sensible choice.
- Beans are a high-fibre food. We all know that eating a high-fibre diet is good for you - in addition, a high-fibre diet makes you feel full, so maintaining a healthy body weight is easier.
- Beans use more calories to be digested. You can eat more calories if they are in bean form than in a readily absorbed form such as refined sugar. So don't forget, you can enjoy lots of organic beans and not worry!
- Beans are good for your blood sugar level, as the sugars in the food are released slowly and you don’t get that 'sugar high'.
- Beans are packed full of nutrients that your body needs, including B vitamins, calcium and potassium.
- Beans are cheap – even the most expensive beans are relatively cheap!
- Beans store really well; buy in bulk and you never need to run out.
For an all-round store-cupboard item, beans and pulses make the ideal choice. They can be used in soups, stews, casseroles and, of course, salads.
In a study of almost 10,000 men and women in the USA, those who ate pulses four or more times a week had a 22% lower risk of coronary heart disease and an 11% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those who ate pulses less than once a week. It appears that this health benefit was independent of other health habits, as adjustments of other important elements of cardiovascular disease resulted in minimal change in the risk estimates. (Source: Bazzano L. A., He J., Ogden L. G., Loria C., Vupputuri S., Myers L., Whelton P. K., 2001; Legume consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in US men and women; Arch Intern Med. 161: 2573-2578.)
Organic Pulses: Recipe Ideas
There are a huge number of recipes that use organic pulses:
Bean and vegetable stew - a good way to use up all those bits of veg in the fridge! Combined with pulses, this gives you a really hearty, healthy meal, at low cost. Read more...
Recipe for Red Dragon Pie - made with aduki (adzuki) beans from Naturally Good Food. Read more...
Make your own baked beans: a recipe for this iconic British food. Read more...
Here's a real store-cupboard favourite - a mixed bean salad, made with top-quality organic ingredients. Tasty and fast! Read more...
Cholent A classic Jewish dish, traditionally cooked overnight on a Friday and eaten for lunch on the Sabbath. Ingredients For the cholent: 170g/6oz butter beans 280g/10oz barley 2 tbsp goose fat or sunflower oil 1.5kg/3lb 5oz beef brisket, or braising steak, cut into cubes 1.8kg/4lb potatoes, preferably King Edward or Maris Piper, peeled and left [...] Read more...
We are all familiar with Hummus made with chick peas, but this recipe uses black beans so you get both a different colour and a different taste, try both the conventional Hummus and this balck bean variety. Read more...
An easy recipe to use up that left over brown rice in the fridge, as all the ingredients are dried this is a handy emergency dish. If you don’t have left over rice then you could substitute other grains. This dish is spicy, not hot so will go with a wide variety of dishes, or can be eaten on its own. Read more...
With this recipe you could use different lentils depending on the end result you like most, red lentils will mush down most, but green lentils will give a little added crunch. As brown rice and vegetables also feature in this recipe the burger is a meal in itself, but it is probably best served with [...] Read more...
This salad using organic millet will make a change from your normal salad options and with the addition of chickpeas you will get an added crunch. Read more...
This is a really colourful salad that will travel well to work or for a picnic, it also uses lots of summer vegetables so is just now coming into season. Read more...
This curry can be made in one pot and uses lots of healthy ingredients with lots of fibre and protein the addition at the end of some toasted cashew nuts adds an extra bite. Read more...
Organic Chickpeas can make a crunchy tasty snack that is low in fat, high in protein and easy to prepare. You could try this approach with other pulses and also vary the spices used. Read more...
An easy mackeral pate using organic chickpeas ready in 10 minutes, add different Fish4Ever products to vary the end result. Read more...
An easy Organic Rice and Beans dish using basic organic ingredients, vegan with bags of taste and goodness. Vary the beans used to get a different result Read more...
If you don’t have any Chickpea, or you would like a change then try making this White bean Hummus. The recipe is basically substituting tinned cannellini beans for chickpeas. The end result is a delicious creamy dip. The naturally sweet flavour of the beans works well the the subtle tang of the harissa paste. If you use hemp or flaxseed oil this will add valuable essential fatty acids while the tahini is a great source of B vitamins, calcium and magnesium. Ingredients Read more...
A vegan pasta sauce using organic red lentils and tinned tomatoes, both economic and tasty, you can use the sauce as a basic for other pasta sauces by adding additional ingredients. Read more...
Substituting organic brown lentils for lamb mince makes this a really healthy, low fat, tasty and economically alternative for this traditional Greek dish. Our organic brown lentils when cooked will keep their shape and offer texture in this vegetarian version of Moussaka. Ingredients • 1 large Aubergine • 375 g organic brown lentils • 4 medium tomatoes, peeled [...] Read more...
A simple classic combination of organic chickpeas and pasta, add your own variation such as olives or peppers, but keep it simple. The original Thunder and Lighting recipes used the bits of pasta left over at the end of the bag. Read more...
Like all pulses chickpeas are healthy, cheap and very filling. Although this recipe uses Organic Chickpeas you could experiment and use dried organic beans in a similar way. This will make a good dinner for during the week as it is quick to make if you use tinned beans or pre-cooked beans from the freezer. Read more...
For those on a vegetarian diet this Organic Brown Lentil curry is a good recipe to add protein to your diet, or if you want to cut down the amount of meat you eat or just want to save a few pennies this recipe offers a low cost organic meal to be shared. Organic Lentils are excellent value, store well and keep almost for ever. Read more...
A breath of North Africa all year around with this vegetarian Tagine Read more...
A spicy soup that goes well with crusty brown bread. Read more...
An easy supper recipe using tinned beans Read more...
Remarably tasty despite its simplicity, making a economical supper dish. This recipe freezes really well, so why not make twice as much and freeze a meal. Read more...
Red Lentil Dahl is the classic Indian dish and using Organic Red Lentils make this a great dish. Buying a large bag of lentils is not expensive. Read more...
A home made quick and easy Hummus using tinned chick peas Read more...
Home made bean salad make a substantial low cost high nutrition lunch, using dried beans makes them especially good value. Read more...
Festive dips using wholefood ingredients sesame seeds and lentils providing the basis for some good party food. Read more...
News on pulses from Naturally Good Food
‘It's spring fever. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!’ (Mark Twain) So what is it that we all want? Here are our top 10 spring ideas from Naturally Good Food. Read more...
Certain dried fruits can be a great source of iron, with the nutrients concentrated in the dehydration process. Naturally Good Food sells iron-rich dried fruit in sizes from 'snack packs' up to bulk bags. Read more...
It’s generally accepted that a lot of meltdowns and tantrums happen because children get hungry and don’t quite know how to express it. What you as parents need is something that’s going to keep their tummies happy and full for longer. Read more...
The NHS says that most adults and children in the UK eat too much sugar. If you want to cut down your intake, try these tips - and perhaps these alternatives. Read more...
Our classic tips for helping you eat ethically AND cheaply. Read more...
Recipe for Red Dragon Pie - made with aduki (adzuki) beans from Naturally Good Food. Read more...
In 2013, take the first of many small steps with Naturally Good Food. Try making just one of these changes (one a year if you like – or one a month – we’ve got 12 of them)! Read more...
A great range of tinned soup, beans, fish and fruit from Naturally Good Food. Read more...
Make your own baked beans: a recipe for this iconic British food. Read more...
Beans, beans, good for your heart. Beans, beans, here’s how to start! Some great ideas on cooking with pulses, for complete beginners. Read more...
Here's a real store-cupboard favourite - a mixed bean salad, made with top-quality organic ingredients. Tasty and fast! Read more...
It's not always easy to achieve your recommended 5-a-day on a budget. Time can also be a major factor that stops you achieving your goal. We have five tips to help you get there. Read more...
Organic brown lentils may look a bit boring on the shelf, but they are a highly versatile, high-protein ingredient that no kitchen should be without. Brown lentils are slightly stronger in flavour than green lentils, with a solid skin. Read more...
If you don't like soya mince, here is a healthy, cheap and easy recipe for a vegetarian mince. Read more...
a quick note on what is happening in the organic bean and pulses market. Read more...
We can supply the best organic wholefoods at lower prices if you buy in bulk and order ahead. Buy online and collect from the organic shop in Leicestershire, or come and visit us in the Stable Yard Read more...
With the National Trust publishing its top 10 picnic destinations we thought it might be a good idea to consider 10 top picnic ideas from Naturally Good Food, in this list we have some gluten free ideas and some ideas using the best in organic ingredients, including nuts, dried fruit, rice and pasta. Picnics are about having a good time and enjoying your food, so if it is a quick walk across the fields with the kids or a grander occasion it is to be enjoyed. Read more...
Autumn wholefood cooking is now with us, make the most of greats organic nuts, seeds and pulses that are now available. Read more...
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