The New Whole Grain Cookbook: Terrific Recipes Using Farro, Quinoa, Brown Rice, Barley, and Many Other Delicious and Nutritious Grains [Paperback]

Robin Asbell (Author), Caren Alpert (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2007

From whole wheat, oats, and rice to farro, barley, and quinoa, no grain is left unturned in this compendium of more than 75 healthful recipes. There's a tasty dish for every meal of the day: Quick Skillet Flatbreads made with millet or teff for breakfast, or a hearty dinner entre of lamb and rye berries braised in red wine. Even desserts get the whole-grain touch with such sweets as Chocolate-Chunk Buckwheat Cookies. A source list helps find the more unusual grains and a glossary describes each one in detail. The New Whole Grains Cookbook makes it easy to eat your grains and love them, too.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The New Whole Grains Cookbook features more than 75 recipes, including Caramel Walnut Chocolate Chunk Granola and Saffron Quinoa con Pollo. A handy glossary details each grain. Most are easy to find, though author and Taste for Life contributor Robin Asbell provides a source list for locating the more unusual grains. Whether you favor wheat and rice or barley and quinoa, this cookbook has the right recipe for you." Taste for Life, January 2008

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081185647X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811856478
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Whole Foods
  • #43 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Rice & Grains

More About the Author

Robin Asbell has been immersed in whole, real foods cooking for most of her life, and has made a vocation of crafting delicious, healthy recipes and writing about it.
Her latest book, Sweet and Easy Vegan, Treats Made with Whole Grains and Natural Sweeteners (Chronicle Books) is the culmination of many years of baking for vegans.
Her last book, Big Vegan, Over 350 Recipes, No Meat, No Dairy, All Delicious, is a celebration of just how satisfying and alluring plant based cuisine can be.Robin's second book, The New Vegetarian Cookbook, brims with her creative and fresh takes on meatless cuisine.
Her first book, The New Whole Grains Cookbook, is filled with flavorful, beautiful food that just happens to be whole grain.
Robin has been cooking and creating recipes in the Natural foods business since the mid 80's. What began as a side job in college turned out to be a lifelong career, when she realized that her true passion lay in healing the Earth and the people around her with healthy, organic food. After baking and cooking with whole foods in restaurants, delis and Coops for many years, she started working as a Private Chef in the mid-90's, creating fabulous food for the fabulous.
She also writes for magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, Real Food, Vegetarian Times, Experience Life, Taunton's Fine Cooking, Mother Earth News, The Mix, and others. She blogs at robinasbell.com/robinwrites, and also posts a weekly soundbite at http://www.amillioncooks.com/bio---robin.html. Robin also teaches popular cooking classes in Minnesota and around the country. www.robinasbell.com,her website, is the place to go to find out if she is coming to a place near you!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 129 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Recipes good but overly complicated, layout of book poor December 31, 2007

By J. Fuchs TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Woo hoo! Finally I have something to do with my whole grains! February 16, 2008

By K. Fairchild

Format:Paperback

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!

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Whole Grains: Not just for Ascetics any more? September 8, 2007

By LUTHER KRUEGER

Format:Paperback

The first experience I had with whole grain cooking was at a now long defunct restaurant on the West Bank of Minneapolis in the early 1980's. While the meals I ate there were very tasty, they were presented in a way that made you feel you had to be part of a radical political movement or obscure religious sect. It was about the only place in town to get such fare, so it was hard to imagine whole grains going mainstream.

This book imagines it, and makes it real. I'm not much more than an occasional cooker--not at all a chef--and I rely on the clarity of recipes when I cook. Not only are the recipes clear, they build on the fundamental aspects of the grains as they employ. The brief but thorough histories and natures of each grain in the front of the book took away any fears I had about not getting enough flavor out of them. The recipes cover such a wide variety of entrees, desserts, appetizers etc. that I think anyone new to whole grains will read this book and stock up on whole grains regularly.