Cooking with Beans, Grains, Pulses and Legumes: 150 Healthy, Wholesome and Delicious Low-fat Recipes for Every Day, from Breakfast to Lunch to Special Occasion Dishes

"This book is great! I've have recently started eating a more bean and grain based diet, and it's been a a bit of a struggle to find inspirational cookbooks. So many are aimed only at vegetarians, with icky 70's style "health food" cooking that involves waaay too many casseroles, or at meat-eaters, with beans and grains as an afterthought. This book is a breath of fresh air. It starts out with good basic information on almost all bean and grain varieties and then presents a wide range of recipes, both veggie and non-veggie. Each recipe is accompanied by attractive photos of the preparation process and the finished dish; the ingredients lists and instructions are clear, nutritional content is provided (a rare plus!), and finally, the recipes are yummy. If you want to move away from meat and experiment with a broader cuisine (for dietary reasons or to reduce your carbon footprint, etc), this book is a great buy. "
~ Written on 2007-09-03

"I've been looking to move over to a predominantly 'beans/grains/pulses/legumes' diet for a while and struggled to find any decent cookbooks with a comprehensive range of recipes. Since this book arrived on my doorstep 2 months ago we have eaten from it every single day for both lunch and dinner. Each recipe tried so far has become a new favourite and I wouldn't hesitate to cook any of the meals for friends/family or indeed recommend the book. Once you've stocked your cupboards with the appropriate spices and grown up your herb garden you're pretty much covered for all the recipes, save for the 'main' ingredient. Although meat eaters, we now mostly eat a vegetarian diet. Every meal cooked has looked just like the picture. Recipes are easy to follow (the Tuna Nicoise is fairly involved - but so worth it!!!). Nutritional values are there - just very small at the bottom of each page - but really, you don't need to know this - as pretty much every meal is low fat and healthy (ok the polenta chips not quite so, but again, delicious!!). Only a few of things to note, don't get caught out by forgetting to soak your beans (so always keep a few tins in stock), and don't overlook some of the cooking times - if cooking with the beans. Also, just take a look at the ingredients to decide if you'll like the meal, not just the name/picture; on first glance I could have turned my nose up at a number of them, but on closer inspection, have tried many more than I thought I would. If I don't like a particular ingredient I just omit it (if appropriate) or replace with a likeable alternative. We have in excess of 40 cookbooks, and this is the absolute all time favourite. Thank you Ms Graimes!!!"
~ Written on 2007-05-04