Legumes to bulk up hamburger?

[Jo-Anne]

I have these dried colourful legumes (like orange, green and yellow peas-ish looking things). To be honest I don't even know what legumes come from?? I usually use them in soup. I was wondering if I can use them in ground hamburger to bulk it up? How would I go about doing so, if I can? And what the heck are they??
Jo-Anne

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Are you talking about after they are cooked? I don't see why not. PPl use oatmeal, cereal, onions, and other things to do the very same thing. However, I have never used them myself, but that does sound like an excellant idea. I wonder if anyone has used them in hamburger?

[cat lover]

Here's a description of legume:

The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part). Thus, "legume" can be:

The common name for plant species in the Family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae);
The name of a type of fruit, characteristic of leguminous plants:
A legume is a simple dry fruit which develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a "pod", although pod is also applied to a few other fruit types. Well-known plants that bear legume fruits include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lupins and peanuts. A peanut is not a nut in the botanical sense; a peanut is an indehiscent legume, that is, one whose pod is not split along a seam.

Here is a link to a site with much more info for you on legumes
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/legumes/NU00260

When I used regular ground beef many years ago, I always put dry oatmeal in my beef patties. Made them go further and a good way to get oatmeal in someone who doesn't like it. Sometimes I added an egg to help it bind. It works better if you prepare them and freeze the patties and just cook them frozen.

Now I use ground round and even that rarely. But I have put ground flax seed, oatmeal, wheat or oat bran as well as chopped onions, jalapenos. you really can use whatever you desire; just experiment with things your family likes and you can even sneak some other good things they don't like in it and they'll never know. The dried peas you are talking about would work I suppose, but you would have to cook them first!

Let us know what you decide and how it turns out for your family.

[Coll]

I was going to say that peanuts are legumes. But so are beans.
I don't see why you couldn't cook and grind them up and put them in ground beef.

[ewriggs]

Hi -

Legumes are just your basic dried bean / pea category. Black-eyed peas, chickpeas, lentils, black beans, crowder peas, split peas, etc.

Any legume "paste" will work to make ground meat go farther. You can use refried black beans (mexican cuisine), or mash up cooked lentils (middle eastern cuisine), or mash up pinto beans (southwestern cuisine), or mash up great northerns (northern mid-western cuisine), etc.

If anyone is allergic to peanuts or soy, don't use them!

However, grains work better than legumes as a meat extender. Cooked rice, cooked wheat, oatmeal flakes, bread crumbs, etc. If you use grains, however, do add an egg for binding - otherwise the meat will be crumbly and fall apart. (sad experience here)

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

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~*~ "Cooking is an act of love, a gift, a way of sharing with others the little secrets -- 'piccoli segreti' -- that are simmering on the burners." ~*~
~*~ Sophia Loren ~*~
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[katharina]

I have these dried colourful legumes (like orange, green and yellow peas-ish looking things). To be honest I don't even know what legumes come from?? I usually use them in soup. I was wondering if I can use them in ground hamburger to bulk it up? How would I go about doing so, if I can? And what the heck are they??


I think that as long as they're cooked first, there shouldn't be a problem with using them for filler. It would be quite healthy. I might consider using leftovers for that, but they should soak a while and then they take pretty long to cook soft, so I probably wouldn't go through the trouble of making some specifically for ground meat filler.