Pulses: good for our pockets, good for our health

Pulses are dried peas, beans, and lentils; full of protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, and flavour! When bought in their dried form they are cheap, and higher in protein than wholegrains. Some of them can even be ground up and used as flour (such as ground chickpeas, known as gram flour, a staple in Indian cuisine.) For a bit more money and a lot more convenience you can buy them already cooked in tins, jars and pouches.

With the increase in our cost of living, and rising food prices, pulses are a great item to make your food shopping budget go a bit further.

Here are some of the ways to eat pulses:

• add a boost to breakfast with beans on toast

• add chickpeas, lentils or beans to salads, soups or casseroles

• make eating fresh vegetables fun by dipping in hummus

• enjoy a crunchy snack with roasted chickpeas

• use pulses, or add to a mince base, to make burgers, wraps, tacos or burritos

• incorporate pulse flours into baking for gluten-free treats

People across the world have been eating pulses for centuries, and now we can too. This great dried pantry staple can be stored for ages, batch cooked and frozen,pulses to be quickly added to soups, casseroles or dals.

More and more pulses are being grown in the UK now, using truly sustainable methods. Hodmedod's Wholefoods is a great online resource with lots of ideas and recipes for how to use pulses at home.

If you too are experiencing the pain of grocery prices, try adding pulses to your diet.