Legumes or Not: Everything You Need to Know

If you're vegetarian, or just not a fan of all types of meat, you'll be glad to discover a rather successful alternative to the nutritional values obtained from meat. Yes, legumes are an excellent source of protein, calcium, iron, and dietary fiber. The instant generation tends to seek quick and easy food, which is why legumes have been neglected from the daily menu, as their cooking process usually takes time.

However, amid the speed characterizing our era, there is a noticeable pursuit of health, especially in food form. People are looking for diets, calmness, and maintaining quality of life, which leads them to invest in nutrition. Legumes are exactly the right choice for that. They are significant parts of cooking stews, soups, spreads, salads, and even snacks between meals.

Among the more well-known legumes are soybeans, beans of various colors and sizes, various types of fava beans, lentils of different colors, small and large chickpeas, barley, pearl barley, and more. Apart from lentils and peas, it is advisable to soak legumes in water before cooking. If planned in advance, 24 hours is perfect, but even an eight-hour soak will suffice, ensuring the legumes are completely covered in water. When you begin cooking the legumes, cover them with at least ten centimeters of water above large legumes, and at least three centimeters above small legumes. Adding salt at the start of cooking causes legumes to harden, contrary to what one might think. Add salt only at the end of cooking when they are already soft.

To use legumes in the most appropriate and efficient way, it is recommended to use a pressure cooker or cook a large quantity of legumes and freeze them. If you want the legumes for stews like cholent, it is best to freeze them after soaking only. If you freeze them after cooking, they will turn into puree within the stew.

Some people do not digest legumes well because intestinal bacteria gradually adapt to breaking them down. The longer the soak, the better the chance of good digestion, and replacing the cooking water after the first boil and removing the white foam that floats on top helps. Adding carminative spices, such as cumin, fennel, anise, and caraway, during cooking can also aid digestion.

Recommended cooking times for legumes:

Chickpeas, soybeans, and fava beans: about four to five hours.

Beans: between one to three hours, depending on the size.

Lentils: twenty-five minutes.

Peas: one hour of cooking.