My Legume Love Affair, MLLA #94

Hi Everybody, How have you all been?  I am back to blogging after a month-long gap, Life had been very busy past few months, had to submit my college work, as the dead line was in march!  ended up with a severe back and neck pain and my GP advised me not to sit in front of the computer for some time.

After finishing my work I really needed to take some time off  I  went away on a holiday and was unable to post it on the 1st of April.  I am very excited to announce one of my favourite food event in my blogging world.  Being a vegetarian Legumes are an integral part of my food in my veg fare.  I am delighted and honoured to host #94th My Legume Love Affair event this month.  I have participated many a times and bookmarked many of the recipes from this event as I keep track of this event from a very long time, this event used to be hosted by Susan who started in 2008 and she passed the baton to Lisa in early 2013 who has been successfully carrying on this event till date.

So, What is Legume?

A legume (/ˈlɛɡjuːm/ or /ˌləˈɡjuːm/) is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant (courtesy: wikipedia).  Legumes are a class of grains that include Beans, peas, and Lentils.

As Legumes are excellent source of proteins, Folate, Potassium, Iron and Magnesium.  It has a good source of fiber, contains Thiamin(B1), Riboflavin(B2), Niacin(B3). B5 and B6.  Rich in antioxidants and have low Glycemic Index.

Legumes are rich in both protein and fiber with 0% Cholesterol.  Legumes have an ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, Nitrogen is an essential component of amino acids the building blocks of proteins.  Nutrition value will increase when you use them after soaking them or sprouting them or use them using fermentation methods.

It is said that Raw Legumes contain substances ''anti-nutrients'', which may cause harm.  Proper methods get rid of these problems as indicated in the  previous paragraph.  Consumption of Legumes may improve blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, Lowers Heart disease risk and promote weight loss in the long term.  This is a part of a well balanced and a real food based diet.

Some simple rules of participation:

1. Only recipes where a legume is the star ingredient are to be sent, from any cuisine and any course.  As my website is a vegetarian I would love to see vegetarian or vegan recipes.  Use of the above MLLA logo is appreciated.

In French, a legumewik denotes any vegetable but here we are talking about legume in its widely accepted or known meaning as in beans, lentils or pulses. Just to give you an idea of what should be considered as legumes for this event - lentils, any fresh or dried beans, soy beans and their derivatives like tofu, garbanzo beans / chickpeas and their derivatives like besan, tamarind, fenugreek, carob and peanuts etc.

2. Entries must be vegetarian (eggs and dairy products are allowed). Only 1 entry will be accepted per blogger/participant.

3. You may submit any recipe featuring lentils provided you have posted it on your blog between the 1st and the 31st April 2016 (both dates included). You can re-post old posts provided you re-post that recipe this month and update it to include the necessary links to qualify for participation.

4. Your MLLA post should mention the phrase "My Legume Love Affair" and contain links to this announcement post, Lisa's page and to Susan’s page (original creator of MLLA). Linking their blogs is one small way to show our appreciation to these lovely ladies who are tirelessly working towards continuity of this amazing event. 🙂

5. Add your blog URL to the Linky too at the end of this post. I will post a roundup featuring each recipe in the first week of May 2016.

6. Non-bloggers can also participate by sending their recipe details to jayasri(dot)myvegfare@gmail(dot)com. I will include them in the final roundup post.

Would love to see your entries, see you soon with my next post

until then take care