Simple, versatile and delicious
How do you keep a family healthy for less? How can we reduce the impact of our food on climate change? Bang in some beans! Delicious, simple beans, lentils and pulses full of fibre and so easy straight from the tin.
Beans are the ultimate kitchen shortcut – tasty, affordable, and endlessly adaptable. From hearty family favourites to fresh new ideas, they’re the ingredient that makes everyday cooking easier and more exciting.
How can I make our meals go further?
There’s no need to follow new recipes you aren’t familiar with, just simple twists to your existing favourite meals can make meals healthier and go further! Learn how to bulk out your meals with beans and vegetables in small stress-free steps with Lauren Leyva.
How do I know what beans to use in a meal?
From creamy butter beans to speedy chickpeas, there’s a bean for almost every meal. Meet some of our favourite beans, find out how to use them and get inspired by our Bean Champions to put more beans on the family menu.
How can I get more fibre into family meals?
Fibre helps keep our bodies healthy, and getting more of it doesn’t have to mean changing the way your family eats. From beans and lentils to fruit, veg and wholegrains, discover easy ways to add more fibre to everyday family favourites with Prof. Giles Yeo, Rhiannon Lambert, Charlotte Stirling-Reed and Lauren Leyva!
Where can I hear about ways to #BangInSomeBeans?
Tune in to the Bang In Some Beans podcast, where Melissa Hemsley explores why beans are brilliant for our health, our planet and our budgets. With inspiring guests and a tasty bean recipe in every episode!
How can I get the kids excited about beans?
Make beans fun! Meet the bean-loving monsters of The Big Bean Boost and discover activities, sticker charts, recipes and other playful ideas to help children explore beans, lentils and pulses.
Family Food Made Easy: Family Favourites
Want to make family meals healthier without making them more complicated, or any less tasty? In Episode 1 of our podcast series with Netmums, host Louise Burke is joined by nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, who explains why fibre matters so much for growing children. Creator and cook Lauren Leyva then shows how small tweaks, like adding beans, can boost the meals your family already loves.
Family Food Made Easy: Snacking
Why do children stick to the same snacks, and how can parents add more fibre without the battles? In Episode 2, Louise Burke is joined by dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine and child eating behaviour expert Dr Clare Holley from Loughborough University, with simple ideas for making snack time a little easier.
Family Food Made Easy: School Food
Coming soon: What’s really on the school menu, and how can parents help it work harder for our children? In Episode 2, Louise Burke is joined by registered nutritionist Sophie Gastman, Caterlink’s Megan Waring on what’s changing in school food in England, and Catherine Lippe from Nursery Kitchen with practical ideas for fibre-rich lunchboxes.
> COMING SOON!
Bean Recipes
Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
Podcast Recipes
Carnaby Street’s Acaraje Street Balls
Participant in Liberty Kitchen
Irina’s Giant White Beans Baked with Carrots & Celery
Irini Tzortzoglou
Look out for new recipes on our Instagram
About the Beans project
Thanks to National Lottery players, The Food Foundation, alongside Veg Power and Kent University Students’ Union, will encourage people across the UK to eat sustainable food sources such as beans, lentils and pulses, as a way of helping them take achievable and affordable climate action.
The beans project has received almost £1.4m from The National Lottery Community Fund, the UK’s largest funder of community activity, and aims to reduce the impact of diets on greenhouse gas emissions, whilst creating a long-term shift towards healthier and more sustainable dietary habits. With the support of local and national food businesses, activities will include a digital campaign to engage the public.
This grant comes from the Climate Action Fund, a £100 million commitment over 10 years from The National Lottery Community Fund to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change and involve more people in climate action. This forms part of one of the funder’s four key missions in its 2030 strategy, ‘It starts with community’ – supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable.
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