The L-Plate Vegetarian

Beans and Lentils

There are lots of different types of beans: kidney; flageolet; borlotti; cannellini; haricot (that’s what baked beans are!); black eyed and butter beans. They come either in tins (definitely the easiest way as they are already cooked for you and just need to be heated through) or dried in packets (it’s really important you follow the instructions on the packet for cooking them as some beans can cause stomach upsets if not boiled hard for at least ten minutes). Lentils come in three main varieties: red, green and yellow.

There are some excellent ready made meals including:

• Cauldron Foods: Organic Spicy Blackbean Burgers.
• Goodlife: Mexican Burgers; Nut Burgers or Spicy Bean Bangers.
• Tesco: 1⁄4lb Mexican-style Bean Burgers.
  Serve all of the above as you would normally serve any burger/banger but they’re especially good with relishes such as Tomato or Chilli and in a toasted bun.

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• Tesco: Cheese & Bean Enchiladas (try serving with rice and top with spoonfuls of guacamole, salsa dip and soured cream – also a salad made with chopped tomatoes and onion).
• Cauldron Foods: Falafel (little mini burger shapes made from spicy chick peas. Serve with Tzaziki – a Greek yoghurt dip, plain yoghurt or chutneys and vegetables).

Tesco have a great range of tasty, tinned beans for all kinds of uses such as Mixed Bean Salad in Vinaigrette; Mixed Beans Italienne (with added tomato & herbs); Taco Mixed Beans (with added spicy tomato & red peppers) or Chilli Beans (kidney beans in chilli sauce).

Next Section: Soya/TVP Products