Romancing the Bean: Essentials for Creating Vegetarian Bean Dishes [Paperback]

Joanne Saltzman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 1993

In this companion book to Amazing Grains, Joanne Saltzman applies her unique approach to a wide variety of dried beans. Saltzman explores the fundamentals of dried-bean cooking, explains seasonings, soaking, different types of preparation, each bean's unique attributes and taste, and provides more than sixty kitchen-tested recipes that showcase them in a variety of dishes. Also included are recipes for tofu and tempeh, two processed forms of soybeans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A personal book, a generous book a teaching book. Documented here is a process of transmission, whereby the teacher doesn't just give you impersonal formulas, but a way of seeing, feeling, and understanding the ingredients and techniques." (Grace Krischenbaum, World of Cookbooks)

"One of Americas seven best-selling natural cookbooks." (New Age Sourcebook)

"This is a complete introduction to understanding and cooking all sorts of beans. In addition to specific and very yummy recipes, the author give us the basics of bean cookery so that we are enabled to create our own dishes.

Try the black bean burritos in green chili sauce, or the frijoles borrachos (drunken beans), black beans with garlic and cilantro, or lima beans with tomatoes and corn. There is also a good section on tofu and tempeh cookery.

The dishes I tried were unusual, delicious, and easy to prepare. This cookbook would make a good staple one in vegetarian and non-vegetarian kitchens alike. Many people don't utilize the nutritional goodness of beans because they don't have an understanding of how versatile they can be. Romancing the Bean changes all of that in a delightful way!" The New Times, January 1994)

"This lively little book certainly lives up to its name. Healthy, delicious bean cuisine is the name of the game these days, and anyone can play - from the novice cook to the seasoned gourmet. With a thorough read-through and some hands-on practice, you'll surely fall in love with bean cuisine (if you haven't already) and with Saltzman's recipes and techniques.

Unlike most cookbook authors, Saltzman gives you more than recipes. She outlines basic techniques that can be used again and again, with slight variation, to create an endless array of tasty bean dishes. I can't think of a better way to teach people to improve their cooking.

I read this book cover to cover, like a good novel and found it thoroughly enchanting. I felt as if Joanne had invited me into her kitchen, sat me down with a cup of tea and gave me a handful of private cooking classes, complete with tasty samples and words of wisdom. By the end of the book I was hooked, and ready to try some of her tasty recipes.

The layout is great; recipe ingredients are set off in bold-faced sidebar to make the recipe easy to read and shop for. Each recipe contains a brief description of the cooking method or the dishs origin. After the simple but thorough directions, you'll find notes about the cooking and seasoning process, serving suggestions and yields. She also includes notes about the type of bean, oil, salt seasoning, and herbs that are called for and suggests variations for each.

Even the timid chef will find ways to make friends with beans. Helpful hints, user-friendly charts, and a discussion of usual and unusual beans take the mystery out of bean cuisine.

She does, however, use a rather excessive amount of nuts, oil and ghee in some of the tofu and tempeh recipes. Cut the fat in these dishes in half when you make them; they'll be just as tasty and far healthier.

Pick up her companion book, Amazing Grains. It's as well written as Romancing the Bean, with lots of tips and techniques you and I'll be glad to learn." (Rachel Albert-Matesz, Veggie Life, 1994) -- Reviews

Here's a basic handbook beginners will relish, with instructions on everything from buying and storing beans to using pressure cookers and fryers to cook them. The vegetarian recipes go beyond listing methods and ingredients, probing how each dish was created and how it can be altered. -- The Bookwatch, November 1993

This charming companion book to Amazing Grains brings new light and understanding to one of the oldest foods available to humans - the bean! Saltzman grasps that cooking is more than following a recipe or simply throwing odds and ends in a pot and calling it dinner. Her appreciation of the creative process which brings your spirit to your creation is woven throughout the recipes. Bean lovers, rejoice. Skeptics, try again. Our body and the planet will both benefit. -- NAPRA ReVIEW, Winter/New Year 1994

From the Publisher

To our readers: The books we publish are our contribution to an emerging world based on cooperation rather than on competition, on affirmation of the human spirit rather than on self-doubt, and on the certainty that all humanity is connected. Our goal is to touch as many lives as possible with a message of hope for a better world. - Hal and Linda Kramer, Publishers

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: HJ Kramer (September 20, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915811480
• ISBN-13: 978-0915811489
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #857,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars vegetarian must have, November 18, 2002

By 

suzie Q "plunky" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Romancing the Bean: Essentials for Creating Vegetarian Bean Dishes (Paperback)

I bought this book several years ago and didn't like it, put it on the shelf and didn't look at it again until last month. I must have changed as a cook because what I thought was too complicated and bizarre before was now helpful and interesting. This book has changed the way I think about beans and my approach to creating new dishes. Anyone interested in improving their creative skills in the kitchen, understanding a cook's thought behind a recipe, as well as learning tasty ways to include healthy vegetarian bean dishes in the daily diet should treasure this book. It is really one of a kind.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The soul of a bean..., May 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Romancing the Bean: Essentials for Creating Vegetarian Bean Dishes (Paperback)

I love the author's approach to bean cookery...the elemental "feeling" that the attributes to various types of beans...the taste, textures and energetics both in the bean itself as well as the various cooking methods. She really takes beans to a (deserved) higher level! My only reason for four stars is that frequently the recipes call for slightly odd ingredients which one might not normally have on hand; sometimes I was ready to prepare a recipe only to find I had no garam marsala, (or plantain, white miso, etc.)on hand and that this item was supposedly critical to the final taste. Personally I find it better to experiment anyway, and this gives you the springboard to becoming more adventurous.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Romancing the Bean!!!, November 23, 2010

By 

ckelly - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Romancing the Bean: Essentials for Creating Vegetarian Bean Dishes (Paperback)

This is a great book. I learned so much about how to prepare the different beans - and the cooking time to reduce the "bad" effects.....I would recommend to anyone new to cooking beans and veg dishes!