366 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains

Comment: What a surprise this cookbook turned out to be! It is jammed-packed with wonderful, delicious recipes that are so doable, so easy and fun to create. I bought additional copies for my mother and my daughter and they are in love with this invaluable book, as well.

Comment: For anyone that has a desire to cook using more grains in their meals this is a wonderful cookbook. I bought it primarily because I was getting a new rice cooker and wanted to have some new recipes to use with it. Great buy, well written, yummy!!

Comment: The book gives nutritional analysis for each recipe - which does NOT contain the CARBOHYDRATE content! Are they serious? Whether you just want to know the major nutritional information about what you are eating, or (like me) you have medical concerns (diabetes), you need the carbohydrate count! This is a ridiculous oversight, and a serious one. Shame on her, her editors, and her publisher.

Comment: Read the recipe before heading out to the grocery store. In fact, read the recipe's before you buy this book! This book is not great.

We moved from the Southwest to the DC Metro area. Once I received the book and started comparing what I have in my pantry to what is in the recipe's - couldn't do it - could not even try the recipe's that sounded appealing. And I keep Quinua & Basmati on hand!

Fresh cilantro, healthy chili's, heck even fresh beans, much less a variety of them, are just not available at my local grocery stores. Consider myself lucky when I find canned Jalapeno's or green chili's that are NOT pickled. Perhaps if I made a special trip 40 miles to Wegmans I could find them....

Comment: I have had 366 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grain about a year and have tried many of the recipes. Quite a few of them have been disappointing (some of them are SO bland), though there have been some keepers as well. Most of the recipes aren't too complicated, and many of them can be made with ingredients that are easy to find. For some of the recipes you might have to make a trip to a health store (for quinoa, amaranth, wheat berries, cranberry beans, etc). Having an herb garden is a plus if you buy this cookbook, as a fair number of the recipes call for fresh herbs.

The first chapter has useful information on choosing, storing, and cooking just about every kind of rice, bean, and grain out there. The second chapter is on Dips, Spreads, Starters, and Snacks and includes recipes for hummus, bean dips, etc. The third chapter is on soups (barley/vegetable soups, bean soups, lentil soups, stocks, etc.). The fourth chapter is on salads that tend to feature just beans or beans with grains. The fifth chapter is Risottos, Rice Pilafs, and More. The sixth chapter is Beans, Beans, Beans, and the seventh chapter is Pasta e Fagioli (pasta with beans). The eighth chapter is Great Grains, and the ninth chapter is The Marriage of Rice and Beans, Beans and Grains. The tenth chapter is on breakfast (funky pancake recipes, porridges, granola, etc.). The eleventh chapter is on muffins, biscuits, and breads, and the final chapter is on dessert. Here's what I've tried and what I thought:

Didn't like:
Herbed White Bean Spread (for vegetables, crackers, bread, mayo substitute, etc.)
Roasted Garlic, Red Pepper, and White Bean Spread (for crackers, bread, vegetables)
Black Bean Soup with Indian Spices
Curried Red Lentil Soup
Mediterranean White Bean and Vegetable Soup with Fennel
Southwestern Rice and Bean Salad
Black Bean Salad with Goat Cheese
French Lentil Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette
Spanakorizzo
Black Bean--Sweet Potato Cakes (these were a disaster)
Curried Spinach with Chickpeas (this supposedly "rich-tasting" curry is horribly bland)
French Country White Beans
Lebanese Navy Beans with Tomatoes and Onion
Chili Mac
Quick Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
Basic Bean Burgers

Tasted okay, but not good enough to make again:
Black Bean Roll-Ups (black beans, chipotle en adobo, salsa, tortillas, cilantro)
Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
Smoky Black Bean and Tomato Soup
Butternut Squash Soup with Black Beans and Cilantro
Spinach-Bean Soup
Gingered Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes
Tabouli (I generally am a fan of tabouli but was not a big fan of her recipe)
Summertime Black-eyed Pea Salad
White Bean Salad with Sun-dried Tomatoes
Refried Black Beans
Curried Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Tomato
Falafel (I like other falafel recipes much better than hers)
Syrian Lentils in a Spicy Tomato Sauce
Mexican Vegetable Saute with Pink Beans
Cowboy Frijoles
15-Minute Barbecued Beans
Couscous and Roasted Vegetables (I substituted quinoa for the couscous)
Slow-Cooked Louisiana Red Beans and Rice

Liked quite a bit:
Fresh Tomato-Rice Soup
Split Pea Soup
Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Soup
Couscous and Black Bean Salad (I substituted quinoa for the couscous)
Lemony Couscous Salad with Chickpeas and Feta (I substituted quinoa for the couscous)
Quinoa Tabouli
Black Bean Salad with Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette
Tropical Bean Salad
Mexican Black Beans
Kidney Bean and Sweet Potato Stew
Spicy Slow-Cooked Barbecued Beans
Refried Pinto Beans
Pinto or Black Bean Chili-Cheese Burritos
Quick Cannelini and Broccoli Ragout
Black Beans and White Rice
Garlic-roasted Soy Nuts
Breakfast Black Bean and Egg Burritos