Middle Eastern

Add a few of these moreish falafels to a pitta bread and load up with sliced lettuce or cabbage, cucumber, yoghurt and a dollop of hummus. Hard to beat for a quick, nutritious and satisfying lunch.

Rachel Steeds of plant-based kitchen Greenhouse has created this wonderful vegan twist on the Middle Eastern classic Kibbeh. Typically made with bulgur wheat and meat, Rachel's version combines pulses, smoked quinoa, carrots and spices for a flavour-packed dish.

It's liberating to realise that culinary classics like falafel can be made not just with chickpeas or fava beans, but in fact with most legumes. After all, most traditional dishes have come from a place of necessity and availability, making use of what’s around but applying culinary wisdom that can be found in other parts of the world too. Here, Julius Fiedler of Baking Hermann, brings falafel to the UK with this recipe using British-grown split green peas.

Another great recipe from Martin Hill. We've quite a collection of recipes for hummus and similar dips, using different pulses and spices, but we’ve never had a smoked hummus. Halen Mon’s smoked salt and smoked water combine with our superb British-grown chickpeas to give this moreish hummus a deep, comforting flavour.

Serving a salad with a warm “hummus” base makes all the flavours sing, and feels so much for comforting on colder days. The Carlin Pea hummus is also fabulous with a baked sweet potato and plenty of dark green steamed leaves.

Strictly speaking hummus means chickpea but similar dips can be made from any pulse, each with their own distinctive flavour and texture. We make this in large quantities and use liberally as more than just a dip. Like any other hummus this is delicious as a pasta sauce, added to roast potatoes, as an alternative to white sauce in lasagne or moussaka, to thicken soups, cooked in a pie and more!

We were blown away when we saw this amazing black hummus posted on Instagram by @hallefaraj and we're thrilled that she's happy for us to share it here.

When Helena Barlow posted this pink humumus recipe on instagram it certainly caught our attention! Made with our creamy, quick to cook Norfolk Chickpeas it tastes as amazing as it looks.

Food bloggers The Cook and Him created this wonderfully creamy ful nabed (just like hummus but made with ful or fava beans, not chickpeas) garnished with caramelised onion and accompanied with deliciously smoky quinoa and pea flour crackers.

Wonderfully quick and easy to cook but absolutely delicious served fresh from the pan and warm, these flatbreads are superb as a side to a light meal. Created by Niki Webster of Rebel Recipes, they pair perfectly with her Spiced Carrot and Quinoa Falafels with Slaw but also excellent with Fava Bean Hummus or Fava Bean Falafels.

Hodmedod’s friend Anna Colquhoun, the talented and inspiring culinary anthropologist, has sent us this recipe for Bakla, a traditional split fava bean and dill purée, from her travels in Turkey.

This recipe for a quick but delicious quinoa salad, from our friend Bintu Hardy’s blog Recipes from a Pantry, has become a regular favourite for our deliciously nutty and light British Quinoa.