Pump Up Your Meal With Pulses - CulinArt Group

Eat Well Blog

Pump Up Your Meal With Pulses

Pulses are a member of the legume family and include foods like dry peas, dry beans, chickpeas, and lentils. To be exact, pulses are legumes that are harvested for their seeds, which are dry when they are removed from the plant. Pulses have been making a huge comeback in the nutrition world and here’s why…

These little dry seeds naturally high in fiber and plant based protein and are low in fat – making them a great heart healthy addition to your diet. Powerful pulses are complex carbohydrates, meaning they take longer to break down in the body, which provides us with longer lasting and sustained energy. Pulses also contain resistant starch, which is a type of carbohydrate that acts like fiber. Their high fiber content helps to improve gut health and keep blood sugar levels consistent.  Although pulses contain a good amount of protein, they are not complete proteins because they lack certain amino acids. Pulses and grains are a perfect pair because together, they make a complete protein. Pulses actually count as a vegetable and a protein, so you get two food groups for the price of one!

You can find pulses in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Lentils can be green, red, brown, or black. Look for whole and split peas that are either green or yellow. Beans can be white, black, red, or brown. In addition to adding a variety of color to your meals, pulses are also environmentally friendly. They are known as nitrogen-fixing crops, which means they can take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a nutrient that plants can utilize, which helps reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizers.

Here are some ways to incorporate pulses into your everyday meals to benefit your heart and the environment:

  • Keep canned beans and dried lentils in the pantry to add to soups, stews, and salads
  • Beans and lentils can be used as the base for veggie burgers or veggie meatballs
  • Blend chickpeas into falafel or hummus
  • Add beans or lentils to tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and Huevos Rancheros
  • Grind chickpeas into chickpea flour and use in baked goods
  • Use lentils to make porridge
  • Make split pea soup
  • Roast chickpeas with your favorite seasonings for a crunchy snack
  • Puree black beans and use them in brownies for an extra boost of protein and fiber
  • Try a new variety of pasta made with lentils or black beans

Just by adding ½ cup of pulses to your diet, you can reap all of the heart healthy benefits!

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  • February 13, 2019

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What our clients are saying

“What a wonderful dinner we had tonight for our international families. The food was delicious and well presented as well.”

“Thank you for including me today in the food waste demonstration/[chef competition] and flattering me with the role of “judge.” I will proudly don the [Stop Food Waste Day] apron the next time I plan an “event” in our own kitchen. I think this is a very worthwhile cause and the statistics you read off are staggering. They, alone, can intimidate a home chef, let alone be the “driver’ for a professional one.”

“Thank you and your staff for all the care and thought you give CSW adults and students. You approach events with such care and elegance- I don’t know how you do it! Especially day after day. Please thank all your staff for their wonderful work and kind manner with all of us. Here is to a great year!”

“Many, and I do mean many, thanks for a great Parents Weekend.  I heard from so many happy parents and you all work very hard to make it happen.  In gratitude and kindness…”

“We are so thankful and so impressed by your immediate attention to our power outage. It was such a relief to see all the equipment and workers coming in within a few hours of the outage. Thank you for serving dinner to all [the] students in a very difficult circumstance. Please extend our thanks to your workers who braved cold weather to grill hamburgers and hotdogs.”

“With all the prep work from Winterim ramping up and classes continuing as usual, it's a busy time to be a Forman teacher. Imagine my delight, tired as I was, when I delved into the upscale-restaurant-quality chicken parmesan our dining hall served last night. Forman is all about support, and providing our students with a dinner of that quality is just as important a measure of support as anything that happens in a classroom.”

“I can’t thank your entire team enough for the outstanding service, food, displays, everything!  You are a master at detail, and because of that Adam and I were able to focus on the parents.  I know what a sacrifice pulling off a weekend like this means, we are so appreciative and grateful to you all for your talent and generosity.”

“I ALWAYS feel spoiled by the meal offerings at CSW (The Cambridge School of Weston) and am entirely grateful for it. As I eat today's delicious and lavish lunch (and think about yesterday's as well), I can't tell you how much I feel so well cared for here, both with the food and by the dining hall staff. CSW cares for us in so many ways, both big and small.”

“Thank You! Chef Budd [and team], you overcame a new online ordering system (and hundreds of labels daily!), provided creative and healthy menus, continued to connect with local farmers to incorporate locally sourced ingredients, and worked tirelessly to serve the school community on three campuses.  While it feels like you are all a little like the Wizard of Oz right now, working behind a curtain in a kitchen far away, we sense your smiles and your passion to deliver the best possible service during these trying times. We are all so grateful!”

“I will say that CulinArt has always been a very collaborative partner to T. Rowe Price, listening to our current needs and future goals and suggesting realistic and achievable strategies to meet those goals.  2020 was obviously no exception.  CulinArt also altered other areas of our OCS and pantry programs to create safer environments for all our associates. We can only thank you for your continued flexibility and innovative ideas through these difficult times.”

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