I first heard that 2016 was the International Year of Pulses through The Gate Restaurant, and then I saw more and more popping up on my Twitter feed. I had never heard of an international year of a certain food and when I reached out, a twitter friend pointed me in the direction of the UN website.

There have been international years of rice (2004), potatoes (2008) and quinoa (2013). I feel like I’ve been missing out!

Taken from the website –

The IYP 2016 aims to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefit of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition. The Year will create a unique opportunity to encourage connections throughout the food chain that would better utilize pulse-based proteins, further global production of pulses, better utilize crop rotations and address the challenges in the trade of pulses.

Being vegan, pulses are a large part of my diet. I use them in lentil curries, chilli, bean burgers, falafel, houmous and many other ways even if it’s just a jacket potato or beans on toast. You may only know pease pudding from a song but it is one of my faves to have with sausages! It is rare that more than two days go by where I haven’t eaten pulses in some form.

I wonder how many of my non-vegan friends regularly eat pulses? You can sign up to pulse pledge to commit to eating pulses once a week for 10 weeks and they provide a lot of great recipes. It is easy to add pulses to your meaty dishes and as they are lower in fat they’ll make it healthier too! Try replacing half the mince in your Bolognese with red lentils.

Pulses.org is a great resource site with recipes and videos about pulses around the world and the future of food. You can follow them on twitter @lovepulses and use the hashtag #lovepulses on FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter.

Aimee at simplebites.net has put together a list of pulses and how to stock your pulse pantry along with 24 recipes here.

Jasmine from Self Sufficient Cafe has also put together 30 recipes which look delicious. I’ll definitely be trying some of these out.

So there you have it! Now you have no excuses not to incorporate more pulses into your menu!

 Tag your food pictures with #iyop #yop #iyop2016 to share the love!

Plumes x

Here’s some examples of meals I’ve had featuring pulses.