I’m a lover of legumes for all the nutrients they provide to us and the soil. Exploring plant-diversity is fun, fascinating and leads to new taste experiences. Look closely and you’ll discover the obscure beauty of different individual pulses, each more alien than the next – from vivid pink borlotti beans to variegated kidney beans and green speckled lentils. 

In partnership with LegumeChef, a campaign raising awareness of the benefits of pulses, it’s been brilliant to work on these recipes which promote healthy and sustainable eating. You can visit legumechef.com to find more recipes and top tips for preparing, cooking and storing pulses.

Cooking your own beans, pulses or grains from scratch is one of the easiest, rewarding, cost-effective, and nutritious things that you can do for yourself and for your diet. I soak and batch-cook several varieties on a lazy Sunday, creating a fridge full of ready-to-go ingredients that can be converted into meals in minutes. Setting them up to soak in the morning takes less than a minute and so does putting them on to cook in the evening. If you do cook your own pulses, I’d recommend buying a pressure cooker so you can halve cooking times.

Carrot top pesto boosts the flavour of this recipe whilst saving waste. Keep carrot tops fresh by removing them from the bunch of carrots and storing them upright in a jar of water like a bunch of flowers, or, in the fridge sealed in a container or wrapped in a plastic bag with a piece of paper or a cloth to absorb excess moisture. 

This dish makes a satiating yet simple meal served with bread, while also working perfectly as part of a grander offering.