The Bean Book

Since beans pop up so much in vegetarian cuisine, it's nice to have a resource handy for fancy things to do with them when company comes over. I've fed the toad-in-the-hole and the lentils over fennel to guests of all dietary stripes and never once had someone complain they missed meat at the meal. The informational section at the front is a must-read: Rose Elliot's bean-by-bean description of all the legumes out there, how to use them, how to cook them, and how to find them if they're hard to come by, will inspire many recipes beyond those contained between these pages. I haven't really tried the salads (I'm not a big fan of salad), but they do look like tasty good things to bring to potlucks if the mood ever strikes me. I first read about this book in "Voyaging on a Small Income" by Annie Hill--a low-cost sailing cruiser's must-read as well--and Annie Hill was right on the money for the usefulness of the recipes in this book. However, I've found that some (like the aforementioned toad-in-the-hole) have been difficult to adapt to pressure cooking, and many of these recipes do require time in a conventional oven or with access to AC power for a food processor, so if you're planning on using this cookbook for your cruising menus, keep that in mind. Otherwise enjoy! Go green--eat a bean!

This lady is a wonderful addition your your cook books if you have any allergies or like me - gluten free. Very nice recipes and interesting combinations of foods. Love it!!!!