Legumes, Pulses, Beans, Peas and Lentils.

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I have been asked what the difference between a bean, a pea and a lentil is and I have to confess I didn't really know. I just knew that they were all different and that a lentil was not a pea, just as a pea is not a bean. It was even harder explaining the difference between a legume and a pulse!

I am going with the culinary definitions here, not the horticultural ones; otherwise life gets even more complicated.

Legumes
Well, starting with the big picture legumes seem to be all (so fresh and dried beans, fresh and dried peas and lentils combined, plus a few non-edible ones which I am ignoring for our point of view) of the concept from alfalfa, mesquite to what we all recognise as beans, peas and lentils. Other less well known legumes are mesquite, carob, peanuts and tamarind. (I have excluded lupins, clover and one or two others because I am trying to give edible examples here, rather than cover everything!)

What is a legume? It is a plant that (generally) has symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules. They are most notable for their ability to put nitrogen back into the soil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume

Pulses
The term "pulse" (aka "grain legume") appears to be reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed. Pulse: from the Latin puls means thick soup or potage; pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family. This excludes green beans and green peas, (considered vegetable crops), crops grown for oil extraction (oilseeds like soybeans and peanuts) and crops used exclusively for sowing/green manure (clovers, alfalfa). Pulses include dried beans, dried peas, lentils and a few others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_(legume)

Lentils
I'm starting with the smallest first, it just made life easier: Lentils are small lens shaped, dried and split legumes.
If you look at the latin name for a lentil, Lens culinaris, life becomes obvious; the direct translation is cooking lens.

Types include Brown/Spanish pardina, French green/puy lentils (dark speckled blue-green), Green, Black/beluga, Yellow/tan lentils (red inside), Red Chief (decorticated yellow lentils), Eston Green (Small green), Richlea (medium green), Laird (large green), Petite Golden (decorticated lentils), Masoor (brown-skinned lentils which are orange inside), Petite crimson/red (decorticated masoor lentils) and Macachiados (big Mexican yellow lentils).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentil

Peas
Peas come next in size. Peas tend to be small and round. Simple as that (almost).

Beans
Beans are last, larger and oval in shape, again as easy as that (and again, almost).

The term bean usually excludes crops used mainly for oil extraction (such as soy-beans and pea-nuts), as well as those used exclusively for green manure (such as clover and alfalfa).



Work in progress

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Some pictures...

Legumes


"Various legumes" by Keith Weller, Agricultural Research Service, USDA - http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/mar98/k6027-8.htm. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Various_legumes.jpg#/media/File:Various_legumes.jpg

Pulses



Lentils

"3 types of lentil". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3_types_of_lentil.jpg#/media/File:3_types_of_lentil.jpg


"Lentils red and brown" by Benjamint444 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...own.jpg#/media/File:Lentils_red_and_brown.jpg

Peas
Dried Peas


Fresh Peas


Beans
Dried beans


Fresh Beans

 

[Food4thought]

I know them all as protein vegetables which are an important part of vegan and vegetarian diets. It is interesting to know that peanuts are legumes. I know they are not really nuts and I generally associate them with peas, beans and lentils.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It is interesting to know that peanuts are legumes. I know they are not really nuts and I generally associate them with peas, beans and lentils.

But peas, beans and lentils all fall under the overall category heading of legumes... I'm trying to find a diagram that explains the overall picture... I may have to make one, but I was out for a bike ride this morning, so will continue looking this afternoon.

 

[Diane Lane]

Thanks for the information. It sure doesn't help that soybeans aren't actually beans, and peanuts aren't actually nuts. A diagram would be great, whenever you get around to it, if you do. I'm definitely a visual learner, and without pictures, information is sometimes simply a collection of words to me.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Hopefully this 'diagram' whilst not technically accurate from a botanical point of view will give a cookery point of view... Soybeans and chickpeas confuse matters, and some beans and peas can be eaten in both the fresh and the dried state, so appear on both sides.

 

[Morning Glory]

Peas come next in size. Peas tend to be small and round. Simple as that (almost).

I don't get it that black eyed peas are actually peas. They aren't really round....
Quick check on Wiki which says:
The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean, a legume, is a subspecies of the cowpea, grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. Hmm...

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I don't get it that black eyed peas are actually peas. They aren't really round....
Quick check on Wiki which says:
The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean, a legume, is a subspecies of the cowpea, grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. Hmm...

The American's know it as the Black eye pea. We in the UK know it as the black-eye bean. It is actually a bean which is a legume. I would guess that the 'pea' which is sold in the USA is smaller and rounder than what we get in the UK which is most definitely bean shaped (I have some in my kitchen).
Cowpea is the collective name for the whole subspecies which black-eyed beans fall under; others include southern pea, yardlong bean, catjang and Crowder Pea - all slightly different variations of the same Cowpea - indicating its original food source.

Cowpeas are grown mostly for their edible beans, although the leaves, fresh peas and fresh pea pods can also be consumed

This one sentence tells me what I needed to know. It is actually a bean when it is fully grown. BUT and this is the big but, when picked as a fresh 'bean', it HAS been considered to be a pea simply because of its size and shape at that stage of development. It can also be picked and eaten in its shell - which is generally regarded to be a feature of a pea, not a bean. BUT this group of beans are unusual in the fact that they grown in dry poor soils, something neither true peas or beans normally do.

 

[winterybella]

This is all very enlightening. I live and I learn. Legumes I am sure isn't in the vocab of most in these parts and.peas are just about everything.

 

[Elawin]

I'm more confused than ever.....

 

[Chief Longwind]

Lately, I've had a powerful desire to eat legumes, especially beans. To that end, I made baked beans, using great northern and navy bean Many are those that state that nothing can be added to the dried beans as they are cooking, or they will not soften. In fact, dried beans are better when the water is salted, as the salt helps keep the beans more firm, though still cooked through. Acid ingredients however, such as tomato, vinegar, onion, etc, will inhibit the softening of the cooking beans. Acidic ingredients can only be added after the beans are cooked until soft. A pressure cooker reduces the cooking time from dry to soft, from 2 to 3 hours, or 45 to 50 minutes.

There are so many recipes for making baked beans. They are usually sweetened with brown sugar, molasses, or maple syrup, or some combination of the three. I won't give measurements here, as I don't measure. But my recipe must include the following flavors - brown sugar, molasses, onion, smoke, pork, mustard, and chili powder. Teh mustard and chili powder is added in just sufficient quantity to alter the flavor of the beans, without being easily tasted. The onion flavor should be pronounced, but not overwhelming. The stars are the brown sugar, molasses, pork, and onion flavors that perfectly compliment the bean flavor. All flavors must accentuate each other, with none taking center stage, that is, the flavors must be balanced. These ingredients, when mastered, will give you exceptional baked beans that people will ask for again and again.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Morning Glory]

But my recipe must include the following flavors - brown sugar, molasses, onion, smoke, pork, mustard, and chili powder.

Now you are making me crave beans!

 

[Francesca]

@SatNavSaysStraightOn

Thank you for the exceptionally meriting post ..

Have a lovely day and hope that you are recovering speedily ..

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I picked up a couple pounds of crowder peas at the market yesterday:

I didn't think I'd find another reference to this on this forum, but I see that it was mentioned above. I understand there are similarities to black-eyed peas. They look like long beans, but I believe the casing (pretty though it is) needs to be discarded. Does anyone have any familiarity with this? I'm going to make something with it, but any guidance would be appreciated. @medtran49, @CraigC: don't let me down!