Spilling The Beans: Cooking And Baking With Beans and Grains Everyday

I have ordered hundreds of items on Amazon, but rarely do I find myself writing a product review. I noticed this book only has one review and it deserves more. I purchased this book about a month ago and have made several tasty recipes including Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach, Charred Corn, Black Bean, & Toasted Barley Salad, Roasted Beet Hummus, Baked Penne with Sausage, Spinach, & Beans, and Curried Sweet Potato, Carrot, & Red Lentil Soup. What I love most about this book is that the beans and grains are not always on centerstage, but play a supporting role to dishes adding in fiber and health benefits without feeling like you are eating a plate of beans. I also appreciate the authors comments on each recipe as they suggest ingredients you can swap to add variation. For example, I used quinoa in place of the barley in the salad I mentioned and it was so good that I don't know if I'll ever try the toasted barley. And they have a recipe for a traditional hummus and then give you four variations, including the roasted beet hummus. There's a section called Baking with Beans and it includes desserts and breads, but I haven't tried any of those yet.I also like the simple format of this book. It has a clean look with the ingredients for each recipe listed in a colored box and the directions are below with comments to the side. Some of my cookbooks go a little overboard with fluff so I appreciate simplicity.Overall, this is a cookbook that I am very happy with and will continue working my way through it trying new recipes.

I would give this book 4.5 stars. I've tried 3 recipes so far and they've turned out pretty good. I especially like the section on bean and grain salads which have tasty combinations of bean, vegetables, fruits, and grains. I should state that I've been trying to reduce animal product (particularly animal flesh) from my diet which is why I turned to this book---to find various ways to eat beans to help meet daily protein needs. While this book isn't vegetarian, I would recommend this book to vegetarians and vegans that feel comfortable in the kitchen to be able to modify recipes to produce a vegetarian/vegan dish. I think the strength of the book is in offering more variety and creative recipes. And I like that the recipes, so far, have been more flavorful without overdoing spices than other vegetarian cookbooks. I think the only negative is that if you are vegetarian, you need to modify the recipes to add more beans to get more protein. Some of the recipes can be kind of "light" (in terms of protein heftiness) for vegetarian needs. If you're an omnivore, you shouldn't have any issues with this book.

I just got the book yesterday so have not made any of the recipes, but I’m super excited to do so. I am trying to incorporate more beans and grains into my diet and this book definitely will help me to do that. I’m especially excited to try the soups. I’m starting with the spinach, bean and pasta soup, though it was hard to choose since there were so many that sounded tasty. Couscous with roasted vegetables, feta annd chickpeas, Mexican fried rice, and curried quinoa salad were just some of the other dishes that sound tempting. Even the desserts - which looked delicious - are made with beans. The full-page color photos are stunning and are definitely motivating me to get started on some of the recipes soon. I’m going shopping tomorrow with that in mind.

This is the best bean book EVER! Everything about is great, the photos, book qualty, and most importantly the recipes. Buy it, read it, enjoy it. My best cookbook of the pandemic, and I bought many cookbooks over the past 2 years.

I love this cookbook! It has a variety of recipes that call for beans, lentils, and interesting grains. I thought the book would focus mostly on beans, but it has a mix of recipes.We have tried quite a few of the recipes since we got the cookbook and have loved most of them. The sections in the book are:IntroductionBeans for BreakfastAppies & SnacksBeany, Grainy SaladsSandwichesSoups & StewsOne-Dish MealsPastaBeany SidesBaking with BeansIndexI have mainly cooked from the Beany, Grainy Salads, Soups & Stews, One-Dish Meals, and Pasta sections. We have enjoyed the recipes from these sections. I love using more variety of grains and beans in my dinners. I'm looking forward to making more of these recipes and trying out baking with beans!

If you are looking to generally incorporate healthier foods into your diet and/or sneak nutrition into foods that usually have little, this book may be for you. If you are looking for a passionate love affair with the art, science, history, and cookery of beans, of highlighting and showcasing beans, it is not. I get really annoyed when a cookbook author wants me to add an ingredient for any reason other than to achieve the most flavorful exciting result. For example, from this book, if you're going to add bean puree to cinnamon rolls, do it because it's part of a technique to make world class cinnamon rolls (not the case here), not to try and make them healthier. I don't eat cinnamon rolls for my health.

This is one of the most comprehensive cookbooks available for people looking to increase their dietary intake of meat alternatives. We have tried most of the recipes in the book over the last three years and while we have our family favourites, this collection has become a regular item on our gift giving list.

I am very much in love with this cookbook !! Several of the recipes have become my go to recipes for nights when things are hectic. The soups are all wonderful, the black bean tacos and the falafel recipes are dynamite !! I have not made any of the bread recipes yet, but they are flagged. My book is only a year old but looks much older, it is on my cookbook rack as a permanent fixture. None of the ingredients are hard to find, and most are pantry items. Love that you can make breads and pizza dough with beans, and the deserts are good too !

I was hoping for recipes that would help me cook with beans as an alternative to meat, but there is a great deal of just adding beans to your current diet in here. It’s an older book and if I had seen the contents before I ordered it I would have put it back on the shelf

I've had this cookbook for about 2 weeks now and have made 6 or 7 recipes from it. Each one was a home run with virtually none of the modifications I usually make to recipes to suit them to my taste.Important note is this isn't a vegetarian cookbook. Not to say that the description of the book states that it is, but I guess I expected more vegetarian recipes. That being said, for most of the recipes that include meat one could simply omit it. For the others the dishes are more meat centric but thats OK too. For someone like myself who still loves meat but is trying to eat less of it, this is a perfect way to do so!All in all a fantastic book and have bought 2 more copies for friends and family. Would recommend to anybody!

I heard about this cookbook through a fave review in the Georgia Straight, our alternate newspaper. By the time my turn at a reserve copy came up at the Public Library, it was over a year since I'd read about it. The recipes were worth it, though! After trying a few, even my husband (who prefers blander, smoother, softer side dishes, accenting the meat, not the other way around) was sure we should buy it, too. Most recipes don't contain meat, and those that do, use it to accent the beans and grains--both are included in most recipes, and the ones I have tried so far are delicious and easy to prepare, although the preparation time estimates seem a little optimistic.My only criticisms would be the book's unwieldy size and binding--it's hard to keep open for reference as you cook, so I may follow advice I've heard for knitting books--have it rebound with a spiral binding.

Fantastic addition to our cookbook collection. A friend recommended it are we glad we acquired this fabulous cookbook. Informative, well laid out. One of our top five we routinely use!

The recipes in this book are easy to follow with ingredients that I knew and were easy to find. The kids ate all the pancakes before they realized there were beans in them. The waffles were very popular and filling. The other dishes I've made have come out nicely as well. The book itself is high quality and will hold up nicely in my busy kitchen environment. I'd recommend this book for everyone!