Power to the ‘legume’!

They contain protein, fibre and contribute to a more sustainable world: legumes. What's the story? Three questions for Martijn van Vliet, Head Chef Culinary Community.

Why is Sodexo increasingly cooking with legumes?

‘At Sodexo, we provide services to 100 million consumers worldwide every day. By making responsible choices, we can make a real impact. One of our nine sustainable goals is to reduce CO2 emissions by 34% by 20251. We do this by properly handling logistics, raw materials and food, among other things. Legumes make an important contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.’

What's the story?

‘Legumes belong to the leguminous plant family. These plants loosen the soil with their roots and attract nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and then use the nitrogen for growth. The plants also absorb nitrogen

1 Compared to 2017 from fertiliser, for example. After harvesting, nitrogen remains in the soil. In fact, if you grow leguminous plants on depleted soil for two years, you can then use the soil for other crops for three years.’

Are legumes good for you?

‘Legumes are an excellent part of a balanced diet – they are rich in protein and contain many fibres. What’s more, some legumes contain vitamin B1 and iron. Legumes lower your LDL cholesterol and also make you feel satiated. Research shows that combining grains and legumes increases the protein quality of a meal. If you do not use meat in dishes, it is important to use a good substitute, such as legumes.’

Sharing International Knowledge

Late last year, along with seven other chefs and Sodexo’s local food team, Martijn provided all the meals at Sodexo’s International Management Meeting in Paris. The basic principle: to prepare surprising and largely plant-based dishes. ‘For example, we created a Flavours of the World gala dinner and shared a huge amount of knowledge and ideas. We are integrating these into the menu for our Dutch clients.’

From peanut to string bean

When you think of legumes, brown beans, kidney beans and lentils might immediately come to mind. But peanuts, green beans, soya beans and string beans are also part of the legume family.

A third of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions come from our food system. It’s not without reason that we are reducing our emissions in many ways at Sodexo: by making a third of our menus plant-based by 2025, reducing food waste by 50% and reducing our CO2 emissions by 34%. What if we could not only reduce emissions but even neutralise them in our company restaurants? That's what we are doing with Carbono Cero!

Quorn

Together with Quorn, we made eight CO2-neutral recipes with a focus on seasonality and locality; from Dirty Wing Burrito to Katsu with Zukkoku Grains or Ancho Chilli and Satay Wings. Quorn products are made from Quorn’s superprotein, mycoprotein: a high-protein, sustainable and nutritious food source that is full of fibre, low in saturated fats