Product Description

The New Whole Grains Cookbook: Terrific Recipes Using Farro, Quinoa, Brown Rice, Barley, and Many Other Delicious and Nutritious Grains By Robin Asbell Photographs by Caren Alpert"From whole wheat, oats, and rice to farro, barley, and quinoa, no grain is

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27211 in Books
• Brand: Chronicle Books
• Published on: 2007-08-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From the Author
The New Whole Grains Cookbook is about where the rubber meets the road, when it comes to getting healthy whole grains into your lifestyle. I wanted all the essential information in one place, so the grain guides and cooking chart make it easy to quickly get answers. The recipes are collected from many years of cooking whole grains both at home and professionally. I hope that my love of the grains shines through. The hearty, earthy flavors of some grains are balanced with strong, exciting flavors, while other, sweeter grains play a different role in the recipes. In the baking recipes, only 100% whole grain flours are used, although beginners are advised that using part unbleached flour would be a gentle transition. I believe that once you become accustomed to the real flavors and textures of whole grain breads and baked goods, you will find fluffy white bread unsatisfying. Adding whole grains to your diet can be a delicious adventure, whether you are new to them, or a seasoned pro. Give these recipes a try, and make them your own.

About the Author
Chef, food writer, and cooking teacher Robin Asbell specializes in natural foods and has written articles for Vegetarian Times.

Caren Alpert is a San Francisco-based photographer.

Customer Reviews

Liked this, but...
I borrowed this cookbook from my local library to try it out before buying it. I was impressed by the layout, the history of the grains presented, and the variety of recipes. There are a couple of caveats:

1) Aside from the whole grains (which I expected to have to search for), some of the ingredients are a little hard to find in the small town where I live. Fresh ginger root? Check. Miso? Er, what's that???? And, of the ingredients that are more common, some are rather expensive. Maple syrup, for instance. Why maple and not, say, molasses or honey or even brown sugar?

2) For the number of recipes presented, there's no reason why each recipe shouldn't have a picture of the finished product.

3) Some of the more common grains that I can find weren't presented at all, i.e. wheat berries. I actually have some that I would like to cook (rather than grind into flour) but can't find good recipes. It's why I picked up this book!

Those things being said (along with the cautions other reviewers have noted), overall I did like this cookbook and will most likely purchase it down the road.

Woo hoo! Finally I have something to do with my whole grains!
The reasons in a nutshell to love this book:
1. I can generally find the ingredients in small town Iowa.
2. The recipes taste good, are simply created, and are pretty darned healthy.
3. The pictures are great, and the text is easy to read and informative.
4. I am no chef. I cook for three little girls and a husband, and all recipes I've tried from Robin's cookbook have definite positive approval ratings. (It's hard to please all the kids all at the same time.)
5. Lots of substitution suggestions help me out greatly as I generally fly by the seat of my pantry.

I had some whole grains (quinoa, barley, and wheat berries, I believe) hanging around that only were used once in a blue moon whenever I thought, hey, maybe I can soak them, cook them, and what the hey, throw them in some soup or something. I had these in my pantry because I love to collect food items at the nearest Mennonite bulk food store, which is precisely where I procured these whole grains, but that is where the relationship between me and my grains ended unless they met my soup. When I have tried finding recipes for whole grains in the past, I was usually faced with some critical seasonings or ingredients that just did not exist around here in the town in Iowa I live in, you know, all 2000 of us in this dinky town. We just don't have things like fish paste or even not-so-exotic items that I've run into in my other cookbooks that mention whole grains. Alas, my adventure with cooking with whole grains stopped before it ever started.

I received this cookbook in my hot little hands and my eyes popped wide open. The recipes are good, varied, and simple enough for me to use. Finally, something besides soup to throw my whole grains in! I've tried a new recipe about each week since receiving the book with my favorite thus far probably being the premade biscuit mix (after the biscuits are made, of course). There are also handy tips on how to prepare the grains along with the recipes, a feature I appreciated.

The book's recipes pass my family's taste test, which is a great thing. I am always trying to encourage healthy eating and lots of fiber. Thank you for this wonderful cookbook, Robin!

Recipes good but overly complicated, layout of book poor
I got this book the day it came out and I've probably used it twice. I'm of the feeling that you can't have enough recipes which make use of whole grains, especially the less common ones like quinoa, amaranth and farro. Yet when I feel like cooking whole grains, I find myself reaching for Rebecca Wood's "The Splendid Grain," which has, to my taste, better info and recipes and a much better layout. Don't get me wrong, I've liked what I've cooked from this book, but don't find it all that inspiring. As an example, the quinoa paella is quite good, but the recipe calls for fresh artichokes, which makes this dish affordable only during the very short artichoke season. No mention of whether you can substitute canned artichokes successfully. For the record, I did, and they tasted, well, canned, of course. I would have liked an alternative. In general, the recipes are rather complicated for the results, whereas in the Splendid Grain, they are far simpler and more varied. Also, this book is small and impossible to keep open during cooking, plus the recipes are on multiple pages. It's clear that cost was an issue and someone (publisher?) decided that pictures were more important than an easy-to-use layout. I'm happy to have this in my kitchen, but it feels like someone rushed this out and cut corners. I wanted to like it more than I actually do. Recommended, but not as a first choice for whole grain cooking.