It’s a food that’s good for you, great for the planet, wildly affordable–and lets you eat more plant-based meals without sacrificing protein.
“Pulses” are the dry, edible seeds of plants in the legume family including chickpeas, lentils, dry peas, and dry beans. The name comes from a Latin word meaning “thick soup”, and it includes everything from chickpeas and black beans to split-peas and all varieties of lentils. (Fresh peas and fresh beans like green beans aren’t in this category.)
The newest Dietary Guidelines for Americans is recommending we eat more of them–2.5 cups of cooked pulses per week. Most adults and kids don’t eat nearly this much.
Why they’re so good for you:
Pulses are a great plant-based source of protein and iron. Yet unlike meat, they’re also rich in fiber, low in fat, and cholesterol-free.
A half-cup of pulses has more potassium than a banana, more iron than a serving of flank steak, and twice as much protein as quinoa. Some studies have found that a diet rich in pulses can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and may reduce the risk for some cancers too.
Pulses are also affordable–and because they typically come dried or canned, they’re less likely to be wasted too.
Bonus: They need very little water to grow and put nutrients back into the soil, so they’re considered a sustainable food crop with a low carbon footprint.
How to get more:
Buying canned, pre-cooked pulses saves time, and you can drain and rinse them to remove some of the added sodium. When cooking from dry, soak dry beans and whole peas first (lentils and split peas don’t need to be soaked), then toss the soaking water before cooking.
Here are 10 ideas from USA Pulses for including pulses in what you’re already eating:
- For grain bowls: Replace half of the rice with lentils.
- On sandwiches: Spread hummus on bread instead of mayo.
- In salads: Top with drained, rinsed chickpeas instead of grilled chicken.
- For tacos and spaghetti sauce: Mix one part ground beef with one part cooked lentils.
- In lasagna: Use pureed cannellini beans for half of the ricotta.
- In smoothies: Try adding a scoop of pea protein powder.
- For pasta: Trade your regular noodles for a pulse pasta (such as chickpea pasta)–or go half and half.
- In cookies: Swap half of the oil/butter called for in the recipe with pureed red lentils
- In muffins: Use chickpea flour for half of the all-purpose flour.
- In brownies: Use one 15-ounce can of pureed black beans for a cup of all-purpose flour.
Here are some recipes from the Plan to Eat blog that feature pulses:
