Legumes & Nuts Category

These appear in the summer months, and they're so sweet that it's well worth the trouble to shell them. Freshness is crucial, so look for brightly colored pods that are crisp enough to snap. Petits pois are a small and tender variety.

These nuts date back some 150 million years, and are believe to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Asian cooks like to use them in desserts and stir-fries. They're available in Asian markets either fresh (in the fall), canned, or dried. To prepare fresh nuts, crack open their shells and then pour boiling water over the nutmeats. Let them soak for about ten minutes until their skins are loose. Peel off the skins, then put the nutmeats in a pot full of boiling water, let it simmer for about thirty minutes, then drain. Canned nuts have already been shelled, skinned and boiled, but they're mealier than fresh nuts. Rinse them before using.

These mild white beans are often used in cassoulets and stews.

These are meant to be cooked and eaten, pods and all. They're best if they're steamed or stir-fried just until they're tender but still crisp. Select bright green beans that snap when broken in half. Their peak season is in the summer.

It's best to buy them split, since split peas don't need to be soaked and cook fairly quickly. They're commonly used to make soups.

This is a very thin variety of green bean that's crisp, tender, and expensive. Don't confuse this with the haricot bean, which is a dry bean.

This is a very strong, salty version of miso that's made with soybeans and aged for up to three years. It's reddish-brown, somewhat chunky, and often used to flavor hearty soups.

Hazelnuts have a crunchy texture and an appealing flavor that goes especially well with chocolate. Unshelled nuts show up in the produce department of larger supermarkets in the fall and winter. Shelled nuts are available year-round near the baking supplies. Before you use them, toast shelled hazelnuts in a 325° oven for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. As soon a you take them from the oven, rub the nuts vigorously with a towel to remove their bitter brown skins.

This is similar to peanut butter, only it's made with roasted hazelnuts.

This is ground from the cake that remains after the oil is pressed from hazelnuts. This is hard to find, but you can order it from Baker's Find (1-800-966-BAKE) or online from from King Arthur Flour.

This is used to make cookies and other desserts.

This is used as a filling in candies and baked goods. Look for it in specialty shops or Middle Eastern markets.

These are delicious, but they aren't grown commercially because the shells are so hard. Pecans are a very close relative.

A staple of many Indian farm families, horse gram has an assertive, earthy flavor.

These green or yellow beans are like ordinary green beans, but they're flatter. Select small, brightly colored beans that snap when you break them in half.

This is a good choice for soups.

This is a family of sweet kidney-shaped beans that comes in different sizes and colors. Varieties include cannellini beans, flageolets, and red kidney beans.

These bitter nuts are loaded with caffeine, and Africans like to chew on them throughout the day. One downside is that they turn your teeth orange.

These beans can be brown, reddish-brown, or cream colored, and they're easily identified by a white seed scar which runs along one edge. They have a pleasant nutty flavor, but they need to soaked and peeled before cooking. Skinned and split lablab beans, called val dal in Hindu, are more convenient to use. Both whole and split beans are available in Indian markets.

Legumes are plants that have pods with tidy rows of seeds inside. This category includes beans, peas, lentils, and peanuts.

Like other legumes, lentils are low in fat and high in protein and fiber, but they have the added advantage of cooking quickly. Lentils have a mild, often earthy flavor, and they're best if cooked with assertive flavorings. The best, most delicate lentils are the peppery French green lentils. These hold their shape well, but take longer to cook than other lentils. The milder brown lentils also hold their shape after cooking, but can easily turn mushy if overcooked. Indian markets also carry a wide variety of split lentils, called dal. Before cooking, always rinse lentils and pick out stones and other debris. Unlike dried beans and peas, there's no need to soak them. Lentils cook more slowly if they're combined with salt or acidic ingredients, so add these last. Bigger or older lentils take longer to cook. Store dried lentils for up to a year in a cool, dry place.

With their buttery flavor, lima beans are great in soups or stews, or on their own as a side dish. The most popular varieties are the small baby lima bean = sieva bean and the larger Fordhooks. You can get limas fresh in their pods in the summer, but many people prefer to use dried lima beans. Shelled frozen limas are a good substitute for fresh, but canned limas aren't nearly as good. The biggest downside is that lima beans are harder to digest than other beans.

The French use these for their cassoulets.

These large Italian beans resemble fava beans, only they're slightly bitter. They're often marinated and served in salads.

These rich and creamy nuts hail from Hawaii and Australia, where they're eaten as snacks, or incorporated into cookies or other desserts. They're hard to crack open and tricky to roast, so they're almost always sold shelled and roasted in vacuum-pack containers. After you open these containers, you should store any uneaten nuts in the freezer or refrigerator, since they're high in fat and therefore prone to rancidity. If you want to roast your own macadamia nuts, put them in 275° oven for about 15 minutes.

These large white beans are said to taste like bacon. They're great pureed in soups.

Marzipan is made from ground almonds and sugar, and it's used to make colorful and edible decorations and confections. Look for tubes or cans of it among the baking supplies in your supermarket.

When whole, this bean is greenish-brown, but recipes often call for the skinned and split masoor, which is called masoor dal.

These are skinned and split masoor lentils. They're salmon-colored, cook quickly, and turn golden and mushy when cooked.

This is a thick paste made from soybeans and grains that has been fermented and then aged for up to three years. It's a staple in Japan, where it's used to flavor soups, dipping sauces, meats, and dressings. There are hundreds of varieties of miso, and the Japanese match them to dishes with the same care that Americans match wines to meals. The darker kinds are saltier and more pungent, the lighter are sweeter and milder. Always add miso to soups and stews at the end, since boiling it destroys beneficial bacteria and causes it to curdle. Look for tubs of miso in the refrigerated section of Japanese food markets, health foods stores, or large supermarkets. It will keep in your refrigerator for many months. Powdered miso is also available, as are powdered soup mixes made with miso and dashi.

These small brown beans are often sprouted.

These are mung beans that have been skinned and split, so that they're flat, yellow, and quick-cooking. They're relatively easy to digest.

These beans have a rich, creamy consistency that works well in soups and casseroles.

Whole mung beans are small and green, and they're often sprouted to make bean sprouts. When skinned and split, the beans are flat and yellow, and called moong dal.

Made with fermented soybeans, natto is pungent, sticky, and highly nutritious. The Japanese like to serve it on rice or put it in sushi or miso soups. It's available in Japanese markets or health food stores either frozen, freeze-dried, or fresh in straw bundles.

These small white beans are commonly used to make baked beans, but they're also good in soups, salads, and chili. They're relatively difficult to digest.

If you mix roasted nuts, vegetable oil, salt, and maybe some sugar in a blender or food processor for awhile, you'll get a smooth, spreadable paste called nut butter. Nut butters can be spread on bread or crackers, blended into savory sauces, or teamed up with chocolate to make desserts.