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We seem to be looking ahead to  second lovely Bank Holiday Weekend! There is even talk of BBQs!  Here are three top tips for outdoor chefs.

1.      Steaks are probably one of the top foods to throw on the BBQ! And if you don’t coat the meat in sugary sauces or throw on too much butter/oil, then barbecuing is one of the more healthy ways to cook red meat. Unfortunately, cooking red meat on sizzling hot open flames creates heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), compounds linked with some cancers. A recent study showed that marinating your meat in wine for two hours reduces potentially dangerous hydrocarbons as the antioxidants in the marinade block their formation. Rubbing rosemary onto the meat has a similar effect - and gives a lovely flavour. Even better, grill the meat for longer and at a lower temperature.

2. Know your onions. No vegetable changes more than the onion when it hits the grill. Suddenly the pungent flavour becomes sweet and rich. Onions are also packed with some pretty amazing health benefits. They are loaded with polyphenols and flavonoids - antioxidant compounds that help to fight against several diseases including cancer and heart disease. Pile them on.

3. Choose aubergines. They are one of the healthiest foods around. An excellent source of fibre, studies have found that eggplant can help reduce the risk of colon cancer. And the vast amounts of fibre found in the vegetable helps weight loss – be beach body ready!

Enjoy the long weekend everybody.

Chinese Dragon Boats on the lake, archery, music and dance  -  it’s all there at this year’s annual Sherborne Castle Country Fair and Rare Breeds Show which will take place on the next Bank Holiday (May 28).
The Food Hall will be offering local gourmet delights for every taste from a range of artisan food producers - including Easy Bean! There will be cookery demonstrations throughout the day by a line-up of local chefs and stalls with tasty locally-produced food from Dorset Farmers’ Market producers.
Sherborne is a lovely little market town in north west Dorset on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, just a stone’s throw from Easy Bean’s headquarters in next-door Somerset. It’s easy to get to - six miles east of Yeovil on the A30 or by rail on the main London-Exeter line. So if you can make it, drop in and say “Hi!” and treat yourself to delicious Easy Bean products!
* Sherborne Castle Country Fair and Rare Breeds Show, 28 May - Bank Holiday Monday - 10am-6pm. www.sherbornecountryfair.com

Many people are firm believers in the health benefits of a vegan diet  - and a recently published study is adding fuel to the plant-based fire by reporting that vegan protein is healthier than meat for the heart.

Researchers in America and France found that people who consumed significant amounts of meat had an increased risk of heart disease while the opposite was true for those who consumed the majority of their protein from plant-based sources, such as nuts and seeds.

After collecting data from more than 81,000 people, the researchers concluded that, on average, those who ate more meat experienced a 60 per cent increase in risk for heart disease whereas those who ate mostly vegan protein benefited from a 40 per cent reduced risk.

You can read the study here https://academic.oup.com/ije/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ije/dyy030/4924399?redirectedFrom=fulltext

While munching on our delicious and vegan Edamame Bean Curry we hope! A delicious edamame beans and broccoli Thai curry simmered in a creamy yellow sauce….

We truly believe that our products taste delicious - and when we get out and about ourselves we are delighted to find that people agree with us!

This spring and summer we will have stalls at several fairs and festivals and we are looking forward to meeting you. As well as shoppers we’d love to chat with small business owners, perhaps deli or cafe bosses, who are looking for new lines.

Come and say hello,  here’s where we will be over the next few months - http://www.easybean.co.uk/festivals-and-fairs.html

We love the combination of deli and cafe of the sort springing up around the country, with particular clusters in the big cities.

We popped into the The Deli at 80, a fairly recent addition to the growing Stroud Green/Finsbury Park cafe scene in trendy North London. The Deli at 80 is a cafe/deli, as the name suggests. They can be tricky to get right. Too much coffee and the deli becomes little more than sandwich counter. Too much deli and the cafe is pushed to a couple of stools by the window. The Deli at 80 gets the balance just right - and they stock our Chickpea Crispbreads to boot!

It is a deli, first and foremost but, importantly, the cafe section is not an afterthought with a pretty decent seating area by the window and seating outside so customers can watch the world go by.

What’s your favourite cafe / deli?

https://www.facebook.com/TheDeliAt80/

@TheDeliat80

Thank you to the Bristol Coeliac local group for a great day this weekend selling our gluten-free Chickpea Crispbreads at their food fair.

It can be easy to get lost in the many varieties - and names - of pulses. Different spellings are used, depending on whether the recipe uses English or Hindi names or even Latin ones.

It’s worth getting on top of  pulse types though, they are so rewarding as an ingredient and such a useful source of protein.

Here’s quick guide to some of the key pulses / dals:

Chickpea (also garbanzo bean) - a pulse of the species Cicer aretinum with two principal varieties, the large and light kabuli and the small and dark desi or black chickpea
Chana dal - split black chickpeas (cicer aretinum). Split yellow peas, which are very similar in appearance, can be often substituted in dishes
Masoor dal - split brown / red lentils (lens culinaris)
Mung dal (also moong dal) - Split mung beans (vigna radiata)
Rajma - whole red kidney beans (phaseolus vulgaris)
Sabut masoor - whole brown lentils (lens culinaris)
Split green peas - split green or blue varieties of common pea (pisum sativum), grown in the UK
Toor dal (also toovar dal) - split pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan).

We wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Enjoy your treats, we hope the weather is good enough to get out into the garden or to enjoy a walk - whatever takes your fancy.

The British Dal Festival celebrates the magic of dal and pulse dishes from around the world, culminating in a Grand Dal Festival in Bristol on Saturday, March 25 – and we will be there!

As well as the chance to share and celebrate recipes, the festival will also feature a dal trail around the city as the organisers set about spreading the love for an affordable, healthy, sustainable and, above all, delicious set of dishes.

As Jenny Chandler,  UN European Pulse Ambassador in 2016, put it: “Cooking dal is magical; a couple of handfuls of pulses cooked up with nothing more than water and a few spices delivers one of the most comforting, nutritious and economical dishes on earth.”

We agree and so do our customers - our Sambar Dal is a perennial good seller for us, especially this month as we are kept waiting for spring…

Find out more about the Festival here - https://britishdalfestival.com/