Legumes have historically been part of meals throughout the world. There is abundant evidence that the peanut and lima bean have been used for centuries in South America. Soybeans and mung beans, among others, have been a key part of Asian dishes throughout history. The Middle East is the origin of broad beans, chickpeas, and lentils. Because of this, cooking with legumes can provide an education and an introduction to international cuisine.
Most legumes are annual plants that can grow as vines or bushes. The shape, size, and color of the stems, leaves, and flowers differ according to species. After fertilization of the flowers, pods develop. These contain seeds of varying sizes, shapes, and colors.
The plants of the legume family share two main features. First, they produce single-chambered, flattened seedpods with seeds inside. Either the pod or the seeds inside (or both) are eaten.
A second common feature is that legumes are capable of an important biological process called nitrogen fixation, which actually enriches or naturally fertilizes the soil in which the plants grow. Accordingly, legumes (such as soybeans and alfalfa) are grown in rotation with other crops (such as corn) that only take nutrients from the soil.
Legumes are sold in many forms. They are available as whole fresh pods, such as green beans, and in dried pods, such as the tamarind. Lima beans are examples of legumes available as fresh seeds, and dried seeds include black-eyed peas. There are also seed sprouts, such as alfalfa sprouts and soybean sprouts. Although technically considered legumes, tamarind and jicama are treated as a fruit and vegetable, respectively.
Legumes are generally easy to prepare and can be either the main entree or the side dish. Generally, dried legumes are rehy-drated before cooking, which is done by soaking them in water for about 6 to 8 hours. An alternative and shorter method is to put them in a pressure cooker or to simmer them in a pan where they can soften in less than an hour. Soaking shortens cooking time by 30 minutes to up to an hour. It also has the advantage of reducing flatulence (intestinal gas) by making them more digestible.
Legumes that are sold as "quick-cooking" have been presoaked and redried before packaging and thus do not need to be soaked.
When several types of legumes are required for a dish, it is best to cook each type separately because it is difficult to cook them uniformly together.
Nutrition
Legumes are great sources of nutrition because they carry the embryonic necessities for starting a new plant. They are high in protein, folic acid, potassium, iron, magnesium, and phytochemicals.Legumes are not complete proteins like meats (soybeans are an exception), but they can be paired with complementary foods, such as grains, to ensure a meal provides a complete source of amino acids for building proteins. And unlike meat, they are low in fat, high in fiber, and inexpensive.
Because of their low cost, legumes were once considered "poor man’s meat." But with the increased popularity of ethnic cuisines (such as Mexican, Chinese, and Mediterranean), the growing popularity of vegetarianism, and the recognized health benefits of legumes, they have shed this outdated perception.
Selection
There are expensive "designer beans," but most legumes are widely available at grocery stores and are an inexpensive addition to meals. Look for a uniform appearance to the product you are buying. Legumes should also have a deep, almost glossy color. Avoid buying products that are cracked, broken, dry-looking, or faded. These are most likely to have been on the shelf for a while.
Storage
Dried legumes are easily stored. Putting them in a covered container or closed plastic bag can help maintain their freshness and extend their shelf life.
Legumes that are commonly used are described on the following pages.
Alfalfa
Also known as lucerne, alfalfa is the common name of a legume that once was thought of only as animal feed. The plant is believed to have originated in southwestern Asia around the area of Asia Minor and the Caucasus Mountains. Spanish explorers brought the plant to the Americas, where, in the United States, it was first established as a crop in California in the 1850s.
Alfalfa grows up to 5 feet in height and bears spiral-shaped pods containing six to eight small brown or yellow seeds. Because the roots are capable of extending as much as 30 feet into the soil, the alfalfa plant can reach stores of water and nutrients that allow it to survive periods of extreme drought.
Alfalfa became part of the human diet on a wide scale in the 1970s, when many people began to enjoy alfalfa sprouts. Today, alfalfa sprouts are sold in most grocery stores.
Preparation Tips
Alfalfa sprouts should be washed thoroughly before they are eaten. Buy sprouts that look healthy and green. Avoid those that are off-color, smell moldy, or look soggy. They can be kept for about a week in the refrigerator (see sidebar: Is It Safe to Eat Raw Sprouts? this page).
Serving Suggestions
Usually used raw, alfalfa sprouts can be added to salads, sandwiches, omelets, tacos, and hors d’oeuvres. They also can be used to garnish soups and stews. In parts of China and Russia, the plant’s tender, young leaves are eaten as a vegetable.
Broad Beans (Fava Beans)
Commonly called fava beans in the United States, broad beans are also known as haba, English, Windsor, tick, cold, horse, or field beans. Broad beans get their name from the seeds, which are large and flat and look like very large lima beans. The seeds range in length from about a half inch to 2 inches. They can also vary in color from white, green, buff, brown, and purple to black.
Broad beans are an excellent source of nutrition. They are rich in fiber, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, and thiamin, to name just a few nutrients.
Preparation Tips
Broad beans are commonly available dried or precooked in cans, although they can sometimes be found fresh in the pod. The beans have a very tough skin that can be removed by blanching (plunging the beans into boiling water briefly, then running them under cold water). This process loosens the skin, which can then be easily removed. Buying beans that are split and dried will help the beans cook faster and eliminate the need to get rid of the tough outer skin.
Is It Safe to Eat Raw Sprouts?
All plant sprouts that are eaten raw may pose a health risk. The reason, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is that they could be contaminated with food-borne pathogens such as the Salmonella bacterium or another harmful bacterium, Escherichia (E.) coli. Pregnant women, children, the elderly, and persons with compromised immune systems (such as people with cancer) may be harmed by ingesting sprouts.
If you are one of the people in these groups, avoiding sprouts when eating out is advised. However, even the seeds that are used for sprouts that are grown at home can be contaminated.
Serving Suggestions
Broad beans are starchy and strong-flavored and are great pureed or mashed and in salads. In Italy, broad beans are combined with other strong-flavored ingredients, and in France they are considered a good cocktail food.
A simple but elegant serving suggestion is to add a little butter to the cooked beans and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste and then serve topped with chopped parsley.
Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)
Botanical and archeological evidence reveals that chickpea plants were first domesticated in the Middle East in ancient times. Today, however, India supplies 80 to 90 percent of the world’s supply of chickpeas.
The many names that chickpeas go by are a nod to the many regions of the world where they are now grown and eaten. In India, they are referred to as Bengal gram. In Spanish-speaking countries, they are gar-banzo. The Arab world refers to them as hamaz (or hummus), and in Ethiopia they are called shimbra.
The plants grow in tropical to temperate regions and reach about 2 feet in height. Plants bear inflated inch-long pods enclosing one or two irregularly shaped seeds.
The seeds are about one-quarter to one-half an inch in diameter and can be buff-colored, yellow, brown, black, or green. The plant’s young, green pods and sprouts can also be eaten.
Like many legumes, chickpeas are an excellent source of fiber. In addition, they are a good source of magnesium.
Preparation Tips
Chickpeas are available at most grocery stores both canned and dried. They can be eaten fresh, fried, roasted, or boiled. Generally, chickpeas should be soaked overnight before cooking, which is usually done by boiling them. Dried chickpeas may take as long as 2 hours before they are soft and ready to eat. A pressure cooker is also an option and can reduce cooking time by half.
Serving Suggestions
Chickpeas have a mild, slightly nutty flavor and a firm texture. They can be used in appetizers, salads, soups, or main dishes. Flour made from ground chickpeas can be made into breads or used as batter for deep-fat frying. They also can be combined with pasta or simply served by themselves. Sometimes they are served roasted and salted like peanuts. They are part of cuisine worldwide. In the
Middle East, they are mashed and used as the main ingredient in hummus, a thick sauce made with lemon juice, olive oil, and sesame seed paste. Hummus is becoming a popular dish in the United States. Falafel, a Middle Eastern croquette, is another dish that draws on the chickpea as its main ingredient. In the Mediterranean region, chickpeas are added to Spanish stews and Italian minestrone soups.
Common Beans
Beans provide a good source of dietary fiber. Beans or peas, eaten together or at separate meals, form a high-quality protein essentially equivalent to that from animal sources. (For more information on green beans, also known as snap or string beans, see page 257.)
Common beans originated in Central America, where archaeological remains of these beans, found in association with the remains of maize and squash, have been carbon dated to more than 7,000 years of existence. Columbus and subsequent Spanish and Portuguese explorers carried beans back to Europe and eventually introduced them throughout Asia and Africa.
A few of the most familiar beans are described here.
Black Beans
Many people have become acquainted with black beans after eating at Mexican restaurants, where they are served boiled or refried. Also known as turtle beans, black beans are a common part of the cuisine throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the southern United States. As their name indicates, they have a completely black skin. They have a mild, somewhat sweet taste.
Black beans are an excellent source of folate and a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and thiamin.
Preparation Tips
Presoak beans. Black beans are relatively thin-skinned and cook quickly (about 30 minutes) if you want to keep them somewhat firm. For soups and stews, they may need to be boiled for 1 1/2 hours or longer.
Serving Suggestions
Black beans are a delicious dish all by themselves, served with a dollop of low-fat sour cream and bits of diced avocado or guacamole. They are also often stewed, accompanied by rice. They are the key ingredient in frijoles, refritos, or refried beans (but go easy on the fat), and they are the star of black bean soup.
Cranberry Beans
Cranberry beans are about a half-inch long and are brownish with pink splotches that disappear when cooked. Cranberry beans have a nutty flavor. Their creamy, red-streaked flesh has a smooth texture.
Nutritionally speaking, cranberry beans are an excellent source of folate and a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and copper.
Preparation Tips
Presoak beans. Cranberry beans can be substituted in any recipe that calls for red beans or white beans, and they can be prepared like pinto beans (simmering in water, covered, for 50 to 60 minutes).
Serving Suggestions
Cranberry beans can be added to pasta dishes and salads. In Europe, they often are used in stews.
Kidney Beans
As their name suggests, kidney beans are kidney-shaped. They are available in an assortment of colors. Chili lovers will readily recognize the most common kidney.
Why Do Beans Cause Gassiness?
Beans do cause flatulence in many persons who eat them. The gassiness is the result of fermentation of the seeds’ complex sugars, or oligosaccharides, by bacteria in the large intestine. Persons who eat beans frequently find that they do not develop gas as much.
To reduce the flatulence effect, try these strategies:
• The flatulence-producing effect of beans can be further reduced by changing the water several times during soaking and during cooking and by simmering the beans slowly until they are tender.
• If a recipe calls for salt, lemon juice, vinegar, or tomatoes, these ingredients should be added near the end of cooking because acidic ingredients stop the process by which legumes absorb liquid and soften.
• Use commercially available products that can be added to dishes before serving. These products contain an enzyme that breaks down the complex sugars before they start causing problems.
Another type of kidney bean is the flageolet; its seeds are small, thin, and pale-green. Mainly available dried, canned, or frozen in the United States, flageolets are more popular in Europe. The cannellini bean is another type of kidney bean. It is large and white and has a more delicate flavor than the red kidney bean.
Kidney beans are an excellent source of folic acid and a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and thiamin.
Preparation Tips
Kidney beans commonly are canned. If you choose to use fresh beans instead of canned, prepare red kidney beans by pre-soaking and then simmering them in water, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. Flageolets and cannellini beans can be cooked with the same method for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Consider red kidney beans an all-purpose bean. They make good additions to chili and can be baked, pureed, or refried. Cannellini beans can be added to salads or soups. Flageolets are often served in a white sauce seasoned with shallots, thyme, bay leaf, and clove. In this way, they are said to be served "French style." In France, they also may be served with a roast leg of lamb.
Pinto Beans
Pinto means "painted" in Spanish. It is an apt word to describe this bean because they are pink or beige with reddish brown spots and streaks. Pinto beans are popular in the American Southwest and in Mexico, where they are an essential part of everyday cuisine.
From a nutrition perspective, pinto beans are an excellent source of folate and a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and thiamin.
Preparation Tips
Pinto beans usually are sold dried but are also available cooked and canned. Presoak dried beans and simmer them, covered, for 50 to 60 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Pinto beans are great served with rice, as refried beans, pureed, or in chili.
White Beans
White bean is a term given to varieties of beans that have light-colored seeds. There are several varieties of white beans:
Marrow beans — The largest and roundest of white beans, marrow beans are often grown in the eastern United States. They are creamy but firm after cooking and usually are available as a dried bean.
Great Northern beans — Great Northern beans are smaller than marrow beans and have a more delicate flavor. They are typically grown in the Midwest. They stand up well to baking.
Navy beans — Most people know these as the beans found in canned pork and bean products. Navy beans require lengthy, slow cooking, which makes them excellent additions to soups and baked dishes.
White beans are an excellent source of iron and folate and a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and copper.
Preparation Tips
Presoak beans. Cook them in water, covered for marrow beans, 35 to 45 minutes; for Great Northern, 1 to 1 1/2 hours; and for navy beans, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Serving Suggestions
Mild-flavored white beans can be pureed, baked, added to soups and stews, or combined with other vegetables and served with pasta. Navy bean soup is a hearty dish made from the navy bean. Baked beans, usually made of navy beans, are enjoyed cold or hot.
A Seafaring Bean?
Navy beans are so-named because they have been a common dish served to sailors in the U.S. Navy since the mid 1800s. Sometimes they are also referred to as "Yankee beans."
Dolichos Beans
Derived from the Greek word dolikhos, meaning long or elongated, the general term "dolichos beans" is used to refer to legumes of the genus Vigna and the lablab bean. Common beans considered dolichos beans include the adzuki bean, the black-eyed pea, the lablab bean, and the mung bean.
Adzuki Beans (Azuki Beans)
Adzuki beans have been cultivated and enjoyed for many centuries in Asia. The Chinese have attributed mystical power to these beans and believe that they bring good luck. This is one reason they are a part of many foods used at celebrations.
The bean has a rich, somewhat sweet flavor. It has a reddish color. The plant that bears adzuki beans has 5-inch-long cylindrical pods that contain 4 to 12 oblong seeds with flat ends. Adzuki beans are usually sold dried, but they also may be sold as young pods that are eaten like green beans.
Adzuki beans are an excellent source of folate and a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and copper.
Preparation Tips
Presoak dried beans. Simmer in water, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Adzuki beans have a mild, delicate flavor and grainy texture. Sometimes they are eaten with rice. However, they are often made into a flour or paste, which is used in desserts or candies. Combined with sugar, water, starch, plant gums, and other ingredients, adzuki beans are used as a filling for bread, steamed cakes, and dumplings. In addition, they can be puffed like corn or sprouted. Adzuki beans may be roasted to make a substitute for coffee.
Black-Eyed Peas
The black-eyed pea has many names, including the cowpea, callivance, cherry bean, frijol, China pea, and Indian pea. It gets its name from the circular black hilum, or "eye," on the seed’s inner curve, where it is attached to the pod. The hilum may also be brown, red, or yellow. The seeds can be wrinkled or smooth and range in shape from round to kidney-shaped. The plant that bears black-eyed peas is grown in warm regions of the world and can grow to 3 feet in height.
Black-eyed peas are an excellent source of folate and a good source of magnesium and potassium.
Preparation Tips
Because black-eyed peas have thin skins, presoaking is optional. Soaked or unsoaked versions of fresh and dried black-eyed peas cook in about 30 to 60 minutes, covered, over low heat. Black-eyed peas are also available frozen and canned.
Serving Suggestions
Black-eyed peas can be used to make soups, salads, fritters, and casseroles and are often served with meat. They are the key ingredient in the Southern dish called "Hoppin’ John," which consists of black-eyed peas cooked with salt pork and seasonings and served with rice. According to southern U.S. tradition, eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day brings good luck for the year.
Lablab (Hyacinth Bean)
Although grown in the United States mainly as an ornamental plant, the lablab is a popular food in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Seeds are less than a half-inch long. Their color ranges from white to brown, red, and black. The plant itself grows as a vine, with large broad leaves.
Lablab is an excellent source of iron and magnesium and a good source of phosphorus, zinc, copper, and thiamin.
Preparation Tips
Lablab pods can be eaten fresh. Dried beans can be prepared in the same way as other legumes.
Serving Suggestions
Lablab sprouts can be eaten. Often, however, lablab seeds are ground into flour and used to make bread or an oatmeal-like dish. In India, lablab seeds are dried, split, and then cooked.
Mung Bean
Although its name suggests Chinese or Asian cuisine, the mung bean has been grown in India for centuries. India is still one of the leading producers of this legume.
Mung beans are also grown in the United States, where they are sometimes referred to as a "chickasaw pea." Sometimes this bean is also known as green gram, golden gram, and chop suey bean (mung bean sprouts are an important ingredient in this dish).
Mung bean seeds can be green (the most common), yellow, brown, or mottled black. The seeds themselves are tiny — about one-eighth inch in diameter.
Nutritionally speaking, the mung bean seed is an excellent source of folic acid and a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, and thiamin.
Preparation Tips
Mung beans are available as dried beans or as sprouts. Wash sprouts thoroughly before use.
Beans do not need to be soaked before cooking. Whole beans cook in about an hour.
Serving Suggestions
Mung bean sprouts can be used fresh in salads or stir-fried with vegetables, noodles, and meat, poultry, seafood, or tofu.
Beans can be ground into flour to make noodles (called bean threads or cellophane noodles because of their thinness and transparent appearance) or candy. Pureed mung beans may be used to fill breads and pastries. They are also used to make moog dal, an Indian spread eaten with rice or bread.
Lentil
The lentil was probably one of the earliest legumes to be domesticated. Now cultivated in many parts of the world, the lentil is known as ads in Arabic, merimek in Turkey, messer in Ethiopia, heramame in Japan, and masoor, dal, or gram in India, which is now the leading producer.
This bushy plant reaches a maximum of 2 feet in height. The pods are short, flat, and oblong. Seeds can be red, orange, yellow, brown, or green. The seeds are classified as large (macrospermae) or small (microspermae), with each type containing dozens of varieties.
Lentils, like many legumes, are an excellent source of folate and a good source of potassium, iron, and phosphorus.
Preparation Tips
Lentils are available in a variety of forms. They can be purchased whole, husked, and split like peas. They cook quickly and, thus, dried lentils do not need to be soaked before preparation. Different varieties call for different cooking times — from 5 minutes for yellow lentils to 30 minutes for brown or green lentils. Lentils should always be washed before cooking to remove dirt, dust, and, possibly, tiny stones.
Serving Suggestions
Because lentils do not hold their shape well, they are popularly used to make soups and stews. They also can be added to salads or mixed with grains to make breads and cakes. Lentils are particularly popular in India, where they are frequently made into a spicy dish called dal. Dal is made with lentils, tomatoes, onions, and other seasonings. Dal also can be made from many other legumes.
Lima Beans
Lima beans were originally cultivated in South America, from where they were brought to Europe, Asia, and Africa by European explorers. In the southern United States, lima beans are called butter beans, and the mottled purple varieties are called calico or speckled butter beans. Lima beans also may be referred to as Madagascar beans.
Lima bean plants bear flat, oblong pods about 2 to 4 inches in length that contain two to four smooth, kidney-shaped seeds. There are numerous varieties of lima beans, and their seeds vary in size and color. The commonly sold seeds are pale green, but purple, red, brown, black, and mottled ones are also available. The two most common varieties are the Fordhook and the baby lima, which is smaller and milder.
Lima beans are a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Preparation Tips
Fordhook and baby lima beans are sometimes available fresh in their pods. Immature lima beans can be eaten fresh with or without the pods. Although mature pods are too tough to be edible, the seeds are available year-round in frozen, canned, and dried forms that are usually labeled according to size rather than botanical variety. Presoak dried beans, then simmer in water, covered, for 60 to 90 minutes.
Unlike many other types of beans, lima beans can be easily overcooked; they quickly become mushy if cooked longer than necessary to make them soft.
Serving Suggestions
The taste of cooked lima beans is starchy but delicate. They can be boiled and served whole or mashed, or they can be added to soups and salads. In succotash, a traditional Southern dish that includes peppers, tomatoes, and corn, lima beans are the main ingredient.
Peanuts
Despite their name, peanuts are not nuts at all, but the seeds of a legume. They are commonly thought of as nuts because of how they are used and because of their nutlike shells. The "shells," however, are actually the fibrous seed pods of a legume, encasing one to three seeds wrapped in an edible, papery thin seed coat. These seed pods are easy to crack and range from less than an inch to about 2 inches long and have the same contours as the round seeds underneath.
Lima beans
Peanut plants are separated into either bunch or runner types. The bunch type bears seed pods close to the base of the plant, whereas the runner type has seed pods scattered along the branches. Runner types were introduced in the 1970s and are now more popular than bunch types, probably because runner peanuts are primarily used to make peanut butter, for which half of all peanuts are produced.
Spanish peanuts — a bunch-type peanut with small, round seeds covered by a reddish brown skin — are usually roasted, salted, and vacuum-packed. Virginia peanuts, which can be a runner or a bunch plant, are larger and more oval and are usually sold roasted in the shell.
Peanuts contain quite a bit of fat, but the fat in them is primarily monounsaturated fat. Peanuts are an excellent source of magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, niacin, and folate and a good source of iron.
George Washington Carver, an African-American botanist who worked in the late 19th century, is well known as the "Father of the Peanut Industry" for having ingeniously developed more than 300 uses for the peanut, including as an ingredient in shoe polish, soap, bleach, medicine, ink, paint, and ice cream. In 1890, an American physician invented what we now know as peanut butter to provide an easily digestible, nutritious food for his elderly patients. However, long before this, other cultures made similar edible paste from peanuts.
Preparation Tips
Peanuts are available in a variety of forms, including raw, dry-roasted or honey-roasted, salted or unsalted, shelled or unshelled, peeled or unpeeled, whole or chopped, and as peanut butter. The young pods, leaves, and plant tips can be cooked and eaten in the same manner as a green vegetable. Unshelled peanuts can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 6 months, and shelled peanuts for up to 3 months. Peanuts also can be cooked, a process that generally takes about 30 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Although peanuts are usually consumed as a snack, turned into peanut butter, or used to make candy or baked goods in the United States, they are frequently used as a vegetable in African, Indian, South American, and Asian cooking. Peanuts can be cooked with fish, meat, and poultry and used to flavor sauces, soups, salads, and desserts. Peanut soup, a southern U.S. favorite, is a creamy, spicy-hot dish.
Peas
Like peanuts, peas may not be immediately recognizable as a legume, because they are marketed and consumed as a vegetable. But appearances are deceiving because, like other legumes, peas are an excellent source of protein. A serving of peas (about 3/4 of a cup) contains as much protein as a tablespoon of peanut butter, but with far less fat.
The pea is an annual plant that grows from 1 to 5 feet high. It requires a cool, relatively humid climate. There are more than 1,000 different types of peas. Different plants produce smooth-seeded peas, wrinkled-seeded peas, field peas, snow peas, and sugar snap peas.
Smooth-seeded peas are commonly sold frozen, whereas wrinkled-seeded peas are used for canning because they are sweeter. Field peas are grown mainly for drying. Snow peas and sugar snap peas are grown for their edible crisp, sweet pods.
Peas are a good source of iron.
Preparation Tips
Peas are available fresh, canned, frozen, or dried. Dried peas, which can be yellow or green, are sold whole. Or, they may be split. Whole dried peas need to be soaked before cooking and may take up to 1 to 2 hours to become soft. Split dried peas do not need to be soaked; however, they do not hold their shape during cooking and so are generally used for sauces and soups. A familiar dish made of split peas is, of course, split pea soup. Snow peas and sugar snap peas are usually sold fresh. Before eating, rinse them off and then cut the top from a snow pea pod. Remove the string from both sides of a sugar snap pea’s seams by pulling the attached fibrous string upward from the bottom. Although they are delicious raw, pea pods also can be cooked in the same way as green beans. Many Asian dishes call for them as a key ingredient.
To shell fresh peas (usually green peas or English peas), use the same stringing technique on only one side of the pod, then use your thumb to push out the peas. Rinse thoroughly. When buying fresh peas, look for bright-green, smooth, uniform pods that are free of spots, dryness, or other blight.
Serving Suggestions
Peas can be added to meals in a variety of ways. They can be braised, boiled, steamed, or stir-fried and added to pasta dishes and casseroles. Pea pods can be substituted in any recipe that calls for green beans.
Raw, fresh peas, although difficult to find, are tasty additions to salads. So are snow peas and sugar snap peas. Fresh and frozen peas should be cooked only briefly to preserve their color and flavor.
Soybeans
If the only soy in your diet comes from the soy sauce you sprinkle on chow mein, you may be missing out on more than just a tasty and versatile food. Soy is an inexpensive way to add protein to your diet and may also help reduce fat when substituted for meat in traditional dishes.
Soy products come from the soybean, a legume native to northern China. The United States now produces much of the world’s soybeans. There are more than 1,000 varieties of soybeans. They range in size from a pea to a cherry. Colors include red, yellow, green, brown, and black. The protein in soy is a "complete" protein — the most complete you can get from vegetable sources — and just as good nutritionally as animal protein. In fact, there is more protein in 1 cup of soybeans than in 3 ounces of cooked meat. In addition, soy beans are an excellent source of a variety of nutrients, including iron, vitamin B6, and phosphorus, and a good source of potassium and calcium. Also, they are rich in the phytochemicals called isoflavones.
Soybeans are usually processed into other products. For example, soy oil is used to make ink for newspapers. Soybean products are added to a variety of foods during processing. Many foods, though, are made almost entirely from soy (see sidebar: "Soy" Many Products to Choose From, page 333).
For cultures in which soy is the main source of protein, rates of cardiovascular disease and some kinds of cancers are relatively low. Researchers are also looking into whether soy plays a role in preventing osteoporosis and easing hot flashes associated with menopause. Some studies suggest there may be a link.
Although it may be too early to make specific health claims for soy, there is evidence that adding soy to your diet makes good nutritional sense. And, you may just discover a whole new range of healthful food products to enjoy.
Preparation Tips
Generally, the soybeans now being incorporated into food are already processed, such as the soybean oil in margarines and salad dressings and the soy protein in baby formula and meat substitutes. Or, they may already be incorporated into food products, such as tofu. Dried soybeans are often available at health food stores. They need to be soaked before cooking to soften them. They are usually simmered, sometimes up to 9 hours, before they are softened enough to eat. Fresh and frozen soybeans are now appearing in markets. Many cooks recommend cooking soybeans with full-flavored items because they are rather flavorless by themselves.
Serving Suggestions
Although Americans generally eat soy as part of other products, soybeans can be eaten fresh, roasted, ground into flour, or pressed into oil. The Chinese first invented soy sauce, then the Japanese borrowed the process to make their own sweeter version. Dark and light varieties are available. Serve dark soy sauce with red meat and light soy sauce with chicken or seafood. Because of its high sodium level, it should be used sparingly if you are watching your salt intake.
Tofu, made from coagulating soy milk until it forms curds, is available in soft, firm, and extra-firm consistencies, depending on how much liquid was left in the pressed curds. Tofu can be used in salads, soups, and stir-fried dishes.
