Product Description

Instead of augmenting a diet with additives and supplements, today's food lovers want whole food--as fresh, unrefined and organically grown as possible. Whole Foods Companion is a complete guide to the amazing wealth of natural foods now found nearly everywhere. It includes detailed entries on hundreds of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, herbs and spices, nuts, seeds and oils. 100 illustrations. 360 nutritional tables.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #589837 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Amazon.com Review
You can do a lot of things to improve your health, but none is more important than good nutrition, and none will do much good without it. In the face of massive confusion over conflicting claims about the nutritional value of different foods currently on the market, this book is an invaluable and detailed guide to natural foods that answers a lot of questions for newcomers and old hats, too. It is a perfect companion to your cookbooks, and ought to be required reading for restaurant chefs everywhere. No mere collection of dry nutritional information, Whole Foods Companion also goes into the origins and naming of different foods and explains some of the legends and traditions with which they have been associated. Dianne Onstad explains in great depth the benefits of eating whole foods. After reading this book, you won't look at commercially canned vegetables without thinking of what you're missing by eating them instead of real food.

From Publishers Weekly
Dianne Onstad's The Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers & Lovers of Natural Food provides an encyclopedic guide to hundreds of natural foods. The book is arranged alphabetically within subject categories (fruits from "akee" to "wood apple"; vegetables from "arracacha" to "yautia"). There are also chapters on Grains; Legumes; Herbs and Spices; and Nuts, Seeds and Oils. Onstad explains how to find, fix store and preserve whole foods and describes health benefits, lore and legends. With 100 illustrations and 360 tables, this is a boon for health-directed foodies.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Did you know that cucumbers were once thought to ward off snakes? This is one interesting tidbit of information offered by Onstad, a member and librarian of the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to nutritional and environmental education. The book's mandate to educate and entertain is achieved with an interesting blend of botanical, culinary, and folk information. Organized into broad subject categories like Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains, the text then explores individual food items in detail. Entries open with botanical names and a description of the plant's properties followed by buying tips, culinary uses, and a nutritional/calorie chart for the food in its raw, cooked, or preserved state. The entries are visually interesting, with sidebar information highlighted in boxes reminiscent of Windows screens and botanical line drawings sprinkled throughout that give the feel of an herbal. Informative without being too technical, the text appears to be well researched. Geared to the general reader, this work is nonetheless encyclopedic in its design and content and would make a good addition to any reference collection?or kitchen. (Index and bibliography not seen.)?Elizabeth Braaksma, Thunder Bay P.L., Ontario
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

I absolutely love this book
This is an amazing book that should be in everydody's reference section. It makes it great fun to learn about the foods you are eating with old legends and historical tid-bits. It really motiveates me to continue to eat whole foods and is filled with great information of the nutritional and medicinal uses of each food. My background includes Physics, natural foods culinary school, nutrition and herbalism and I must say that this book never ceases to impress me in the breath and depth of the author's knowledge. If you must buy one book this year, buy this one and learn about why and how our food can keep us healthful. Happy eating.

Really great book!
This has it all - vegetables, grains, even herbs. It has lengends/lore, as well as the nutritional facts. I really love this book - very complete, not so dry that you hate picking it up. I find myself just browsing through for no real reason. Great book!

"MUST HAVE!" reference book!
No kitchen, personal or professional, should be without this book. One can easily find information. Each subject is dealt with in an easy to read fashion, and quite completely I should add. When you feel that you "want to know", this is the place to go. An excellent investment, and I have found it makes a great gift too!