Finger on the PULSES

IN my kitchen in Wanaka, I have a big shelf of glass jars filled with all manner of grains and pulses. It looks so good, with the earthy hues of brown, green, orange, cream and ochre lined up, and lends a wholesome feel to my cooking space.

But there’s a lot more than window dressing at stake here. Pretty much every day, I am delving into one or another of these jars — a handful of quinoa to cook and toss through a roasted vegetable salad for extra protein, a big pour of dried split peas to slowly cook with a ham hock for a soothing soup, or to simmer with Indian spices and root vegetables for a simple curry. Several times a week there will be a pot of lentils on the go, simmered with garlic and onion and finished with parsley, good olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar as a partner for a confit duck leg, a fillet of fish or some roasted chicken.

Many years ago, when I attended a residential cooking course on nutrition at the Culinary Institute of America, just out of New York, the mandate was to create meals with 55% of calories coming from complex carbohydrates — whole grains (such as brown rice, barley and oats), pulses (such as dried beans and peas, lentils and chickpeas) and pseudo grains (such as quinoa, buckwheat and amaranth, which look and cook like grains but are actually seeds), plus starchy vegetables (such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and corn). These food sources, which are rich in fibre, minerals and vitamins, release their energy slowly, so you feel full and satisfied.

Building meals around these powerpacked foods has become an easy habit for me. They have a long shelflife and, with the exception of quinoa, they are really affordable. I like to cook up big batches so I can have them on hand, either in the fridge or frozen, ready to pop into a meal.

Dried grains, cereals and legumes vary considerably in age as well as size, so the soaking and cooking times can vary from the packet instructions.

Rice, lentils, dried peas, farro and quinoa need rinsing only before cooking, while chickpeas and dried beans must be soaked for 612 hours in cold water, then drained and rinsed before cooking in fresh water.

This week’s recipes demonstrate the versatility and deliciousness of some of my favourite pulses.