[swan]

can anyone explain to me the difference between vegetables and legumes? I read it today on the 'accidental hedonist' and am currently reading a book on food by Gillian mcKeith in which she also speaks about the two as if they were different. I only know the word 'legumes'as french for vegetables....?

[madameshawshank]

Swan, the hyperdicitonary gives this definition:

[n] the seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas or beans or lentils)
[n] an erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae
[n] the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a two-valved case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attached to one edge of the valves

plus a list of legumes..ready set go!

adsuki bean, adzuki bean, Arachis hypogaea, asparagus bean, bean, bean, bean plant, black-eyed pea, black-eyed pea, chickpea, chickpea, chickpea plant, Cicer arietinum, cluster bean, corkscrew flower, cowpea, cowpea, cowpea plant, crazy weed, crazyweed, Cyamopsis psoraloides, Cyamopsis tetragonolobus, Dolichos biflorus, edible bean, Egyptian pea, Fabaceae, family Fabaceae, family Leguminosae, field pea, garbanzo, garbanzo, Glycine max, golden gram, green gram, guar, herb, herbaceous plant, horse grain, horse gram, legume, legume family, Leguminosae, Lens culinaris, lentil, lentil, lentil plant, locoweed, Macrotyloma uniflorum, moth bean, mung, mung bean, pea, pea, pea family, pea plant, peanut, peanut vine, Phaseolus aconitifolius, Phaseolus angularis, Phaseolus aureus, Phaseolus caracalla, pod, poor man's pulse, protein, pulse, seedpod, sesbania, snail bean, snail flower, snailflower, soja, soja bean, soy, soya, soya bean, soybean, soybean plant, vegetable, veggie, vetch, Vigna aconitifolia, Vigna angularis, Vigna caracalla, Vigna radiata, Vigna sesquipedalis, Vigna sinensis, Vigna unguiculata, Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis, wild pea, yard-long bean
_________________
"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

[swan]

thank you , madame, that does clear things up. Now I still have to find out whan on earth a 'mungbean'is, since it seems to be sóóóóóó good for you!

Food riddles and language playgrounds....

[madameshawshank]

well swan..happy to clear things up! thought you might enjoy this recipe from epicurious.com...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/107628

and there isn't ONE person who has tasted the creme brulee french toast (still from epicurious.com) who hasn't asked for seconds...it is truly scrumptious. even the non-sweet teethers like it!...

happy mung beaning..and a 2005 full of discoveries..and joy
_________________
"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

[brighidsdaughter]

Swan, mung beans, fresh mung bean sprouts, and mung bean noodles are common in Asian cooking. Is there an Asian market near where you live? I like to make Indian dal with mung beans rather than the more usual lentils. They are good in soup, too. The sprouts are good tossed into a stir-fry at the very end of cooking, or raw as part of a salad. The noodles are thin,vermicelli-type noodle, called "bean thread" or "cellophane" noodles and are good for soup or stir fry.

Here are some pictures I found, courtesy of Google:

beans:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.usda.gov/gipsa/reference-library/graingallery/MungBean.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.usda.gov/gipsa/reference-library/graingallery/beangallery.htm&h=263&w=350&sz=46&tbnid=JEYozj6FND0J:&tbnh=87&tbnw=115&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522mung%2Bbean%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

sprouts:
http://hk.geocities.com/fun_cooking/image/bean_sprout.jpg

noodles:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.asiafoods.com/asiaf/images/CellophaneNood267.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.asiafoods.com/asi/showdetl.cfm%3F%26DID%3D7%26Product_ID%3D440%26CATID%3D15&h=267&w=200&sz=9&tbnid=nJqbAMZXRRYJ:&tbnh=106&tbnw=80&start=72&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522mung%2Bbean%2522%26start%3D60%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

[brighidsdaughter]

I forgot to add that making your own sprouts is easy, and is the best way to get truly fresh ones. They are very perishable. Here in the US, tinned sprouts are available, but I'd leave them out of a recipe rather than use tinned. Yukky and metallic tasting.

Hope this helps!

[swan]

thank you so much!! I do recognize the sprouts (is it the same as what we call 'taugé' or would that be just another sprout?), now I can start looking. Thanks!

[swan]

I'm moving up in the world of healthy foods: I found a little shop where they sell mungbeans! They are cute and tiny and green, now I have to think of a recipe. Google showed me some where you need the peeled, split, yellow ones, but I think this is my opportunity to be creative. Something soupy with crispy bacon bits goed through my mind....