EASY Bean, based on a farm in South Somerset, has launched a new “bean” inspired, gluten-free range this autumn.

Company founder Christina Baskerville has added the new Chickpea Crispbreads to her pioneering range of one-pot meals which she launched six years ago.

The Easy Bean mission is to produce tasty, healthy and convenient food that champions the bean – the one pot meals reflect culinary traditions across the world, and the new Chickpea Crispbreads also draw on inspiration from different cuisines.

The crispbreads are a UK first. Handmade at the newly installed bakery in Somerset and made using chickpea flour rather than wheat flour, they are naturally gluten-free, wheat-free, high in fibre and suitable for vegetarians.

Crisp, crumbly and irresistibly moreish; they use nutty-tasting chickpea flour and buttermilk from local farms, they are carefully seasoned and generously topped with toasted seeds for extra crunch.

There are three varieties, sold in packs of five – Moroccan Spice; Seeds & Black Pepper; Mung Bean & Chive. Already with a string of awards including two Gold Great Taste Awards 2013, they are available from a selection of stockists in Somerset and Dorset including The Pear Tree at Sherborne, Oates & Musson at Castle Cary, Ceres at Yeovil, Goose Slade Farm Shop at East Coker, Washingpool Farm Shop at Bridport, Hazlegrove Spar Shop and Somerset Local Food Direct.

Christina describes the crispbread as multi-taskers, “perfect for snacking, lunching, dipping and sharing … particularly good served with a bowl of soup at lunch time.”

Chickpea flour is also known as gram flour and is used widely in Indian cuisine, for example, to make pakoras, poppadoms and onion bhajias. Easy Bean’s chickpea flour is milled from imported channa dhal at a gluten-free mill.

Christina – who is affectionately known as the Queen of Beans – is keen to promote consumption of beans in their various forms. She says, they are nature’s healthiest food, “packed with protein, virtually fat free and with more fibre than many wholegrains. What’s more the world enjoys them in their favourite dishes – from spicy chilli and dhal to creamy hummus.”

Three of the Easy Bean one-pot meal range of six world cuisine recipes carry the Fairtrade Mark (the only Fairtrade ready meals in the UK).

Christina Baskerville is talking at the Screen Bites Food Film Festival evening at North Cadbury village hall on Saturday 26th October. The film is Woman On Top, starring Penelope Cruz, and the doors open at 7pm for the food market, followed by the talk and film.

www.easybean.co.uk

www.screenbites.co.uk