Magic Beans: 150 Delicious Recipes Featuring Nature's Low-Fat Nutrient-Rich, Disease-Fighting Powerhouse (Paperback)

by Patti Bazel Geil (Author) "I pound of soaked beans..." (more)
Key Phrases: cup canned black beans, calories from, cup chopped green bell pepper, Monterey Jack, Great Northern, Middle Eastern (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This collection of 150 recipes using more than 20 types of beans and lentils maximizes the health benefits while offering creative and sumptuous dishes even the toughest bean skeptics will enjoy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 6, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471347477
• ISBN-13: 978-0471347477
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #314,588 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Expected, February 13, 2005

By	zfam (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

I ordered this book because I really like to cook and love legumes and my pressure cooker. Perhaps I should have looked elsewhere.

The recipes in here are nicely put together with the nutrition information and there is quite a bit of information on legumes. However, I found that there were too many Southwestern Chili type recipes for my taste. If you like to make chili and lots of Mexican and Southwestern inspired dishes this might be the cookbook for you. That is not to say that there aren't some Mediterranean and Caribbean inspired recipes but it just seems that the Tex-Mex and Southwestern flavors beat out the others.

Also, I happen to loathe margarine and avoid it at all costs. I love to cook and would much rather use less butter or a combination of canola oil and butter or olive oil or even an olive oil spray -- anything but margarine. Not only does this cookbook call for margarine specifically, but diet margarine. In the same vein I understand that the author is an M.S., R.D. but I really don't think there is a need to use Fat-Free Dressing for everything. I also didn't like that one of the recipes called for onion soup mix. I have never purchased onion soup mix and try my best not to purchase lots of processed foods. Thus, I get very uneasy when a cookbook uses these types of ingredients.

One more irksome tidbit was the fact that there weren't any recipes or mention of other beans such as the anasazi, adzuki, flageolet, cranberry to name a few.

This cookbook might not be the best cookbook for someone looking for a wider repertoire of legume recipes than your Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook can offer.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beans Without the Farts, August 6, 2005

By	Anthony J. D'alessio (Cranston, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found this book very useful and informative on preparing dishes with beans. It covers preparation for all beans you would find in your local supermarket.
One subject the book covers is gas. A lot of people find beans very tasty and filling but find the gas too embarassing if not repulsing to the point where they will never eat beans again. This book covers the topic and even tells you what to add to any bean recipe to alviate the problem without changing taste. I personnaly knew this could be done but wasn't totally sure until I bought the book. Although everybody's body is different, it worked for me.
The only reaon this book gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because although it talks about all beans and how to soak them, most of the recipes call for "canned beans," rather than cups of soaked beans that you would have prepared. This I found confusing at first. With a little common sense and reading however, you would know that 1 15oz can of kidney beans is the same as kidney beans you soaked and cooked.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beans are interesting!, March 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Magic Beans (Hardcover)

Chef Dave (http://users.mwci.net/~lapoz/Bean.html) Says: This book contains all sorts of historical information scattered about, in bits and pieces, throughout the book. It's a very interesting read! For instance, did you know that the prominent families of ancient Rome were all named after beans! The recipes are listed next to nutrition guidelines which are easy to read and good to know. There is a reference guide in the back, and I wish they would have included some references for buying gourmet beans. The recipes themselves are simple to follow and don't require much juggling of pans