Chef proprietor Mark Hartstone of La Fosse at Cranborne, pictured, gives us his take on beans...

Most of us will have started New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of January, and many of those will have lapsed by now.

No chocolate, no glasses of wine in the evening, no cheese – but the likes of these are said to have health benefits if consumed in moderation.

Rather than simply cutting things out of your current diet, perhaps some moderation could be introduced, and some thoughts on how to make your diet healthier. One way of making your current diet a little healthier is to add more beans, peas and pulses. Playground humour may spring to mind when the likes of flageolets are mentioned but there are many more interesting varieties. Large butter beans are a real statement in a dish – looking very impressive, black eyed peas are not a reference to WILL.I.AM’s old pop group, but another bean!

Another delicious bean is the Borlotti – these are not too difficult to grow or to dry here in the UK, and they also look stunning in jars with their mottled colouring. You can either grow your own, or if you are lucky like us at La Fosse in Cranborne, we get ours from just two miles away, in the walled garden of a stunning stately Wimborne St Giles House.

Around the world there are many dishes that are based on these podded delights. They tend to have a minimal meat or fish content and use strong flavours, which results in a cheap and tasty meal that’s low in fat. Spiced sausages such as chorizo and smoked meats are a great pairing with beans and pulses.

Another example in this category must be the lentil.

There have been moments in my life when it has dawned on me just how tasty and versatile lentils can be.

This was particularly prevalent while I was training with Pierre Chevillard before I became his sous chef. He would enthusiastically thrust a small saucepan at me filled with grains, beans or pulses he had spent the morning tending, a delighted look on his face. This wasn’t my first run-in with the lentil, years earlier my flatmate Sue had her mum’s recipe for lentil curry which became a very cheap favourite staple during my student days in Cardiff.

Recently, whilst at a reunion, I was reminded about a tin of beans that cost 7p (supermarket price war) and took up at least two shelves in our student store cupboard – a staple component of our diets.

My, how my attitude to beans has changed.