150 Vegan Favorites by Jay Solomon

20 minutes–just as fast as rice. Remember to rinse uncooked quinoa thoroughly to wash away the natural, bitter-tasting resin (saponin) that coats the grains. Quinoa is one of the best sources of plant proteins.
    Spelt sounds like a fad-of-the-month grain, but like amaranth and quinoa, it has been cultivated for centuries. Spelt is a lesser-known cousin of wheat and is processed into baking flour, cereals, and an assortment of pastas. Spelt pasta has a dark color and grainy flavor and cooks just like regular semolina pasta.
All About Legumes
    Legumes include the diverse family of dried beans, split peas, and lentils. Legumes are good sources of dietary fiber, protein, iron, calcium, and complex carbohydrates. In addition, legumes are naturally low in fat, calories, and sodium. Versatile and economical, legumes add substance, texture, and flavors to almost any meal, from hearty soups, salads, and grain dishes to breakfastfare and vegetable dips. Legumes also take a long time to digest and provide a full, satisfied feeling after a meal.
A Glossary of Legumes
    Legumes come in multiple shapes, sizes, and colors. Here is a description of some popular legumes that can be found in the healthy pantry.
    Adzuki beans , also called azuki beans, are small, burgundy-red beans with a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. Popular in Asian cuisine, adzuki beans are often combined with rice for a dish called red rice. Adzuki are also cooked, mashed, and sweetened and used as a filling for Asian pastries, breads, and turnovers.
    Anasazi beans are ancient heirloom beans grown in Colorado and the American Southwest. Anasazi beans have a slight kidney shape and reddish-purple skin with creamy mottled streaks. The beans can be added to chili, soups, and hearty stews.
    Black beans are oval, pea-shaped beans with an earthy, woodsy flavor. Popular in Latin American, Caribbean, and Mexican cuisine, black beans inspire hearty soups, salads, dips, chilies, and rice dishes. Brazilian feijoada, Cuban beans and rice, and Mexican black bean soup (sopa feijoa negro) are some classic black bean dishes.
    Black-eyed peas are round, creamy white beans with a distinctive dark “eye” on its ridges. They have an earthy, mealy flavor and firm texture. Black-eyed peas are prevalent in the American South, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. The Southern dish called Hoppin’ John is made with black-eyed peas.
    Chick-peas , also called garbanzo beans or ceci beans, are shaped like tiny tan-colored acorns. Popular in Mediterranean, Indian, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern cooking, chick-peas have a chewy texture and nutty nuance. The versatile beans are used in hummus, pasta dishes, vegetable soups, pilafs, and multibean salads.
    Cranberry beans , also called Roman beans, are oval beans with a speckled, beige-and-cranberry skin. Similar to pinto beans in flavor, cranberry beans are common in Italian, Native American, and South American stews and soups.
    Lentils come in brown, green, red, orange, black, and yellow colors. The elliptical, disc-shaped lentils cook faster than most legumes and are also easy to digest. Lentils are a mainstay of Indian, Middle Eastern, North African, and European cooking and are commonly used in Indian dal, vegetable curries, hearty soups, and grain salads.
    Pigeon peas , also called gungo peas, are small, pea-shaped tannish-yellow beans with a tiny eye and faint freckle marks. The pea-shaped beans are a favored legume in Caribbean soups, stews, and grain dishes such as peas and rice.
    Pinto beans are mottled, pinkish-brown beans with a mealy bean flavor. When cooked, the pinto markings (named after the horse) fade to pink. Pintos are a staple of Mexican, Tex-Mex, Southwestern, and Native American fare (refried beans are made with pinto beans).
    Red kidney beans are, as their name implies, kidney-shaped beans with a rich, meaty flavor and chewy texture. Common varieties include dark red, light red, and white beans. Kidney beans are used Latin