I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
If you've ever wondered through the bulk section at the grocery store, thought about healthy living or dabbled with vegan or vegetarianism, this book will inspire you to try more of those items you are less familiar with. Grains, beans, corn, wheat and oats, etc. The bounty of the harvest is featured on these pages. Author of "Ruffage", Abra Berens takes out staples and makes them unique and interesting again. Recipes may include meat and dairy as author writes from a farming perspective. Homesteading cooks and those who have stocked a working pantry will love this book. Opening a bag of dried legumes can be a daunting task of you don't know ways to prepare it. From storage and dried goods to canned beans and the probability of their after effects, all topics are dwelt with. Highly informative and extremely useful as a reference, this book is going on my wish list! I want a hard copy for my cookbook library.
Note: be sure to look at the list of farmers in your area for food supply. I found one in my region and am always happy to support my local farmers.

This was my first time reading through a cookbook instead of hunting and pecking for recipes. The format of this book is tailored to be flexible to the needs of families after the pandemic with an eye on making meals accessible and easy to fit into your lifestyle whether you're a vegan or a carnivore.

Berens starts off the necessary vocabulary and an introduction to different cooking methods. What I appreciated was how she has an "empirical formula" - or basic recipe that you can easily adjust to your family's needs - for each type of grain. She also gives general recipes for things like mayos, vinaigrettes and marinades if you prefer to make your own at home. The book is sectioned off by grain families and includes brief synopses on their historical usage and nutritional value. Included throughout the book are farmer profiles which talk about the agricultural techniques, challenges faced and the future of farming. Perhaps one of the best features for meal planners like myself was the many different variations of each recipe that Behrens includes. This makes it easier to cook the grains in big batches but offers enough variety that tiny tummies won't get bored. From a mommy perspective it's time and cost efficient and that's a deal maker for me.

This book is wonderful. It offers information about different types of grains and legumes and seeds. And the author shares different recipes for each type. The recipes are interesting and very easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding more information about grains, legumes and seeds and want to diversify their diet but don't how do it.

Grist: A Practical Guide To Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes is the ultimate guide on the subject matter stated in the title. Author Abra Berens has a reverence for our food, and for those who grow it. This is an interesting reference to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of cooking with these ingredients and having a more plant based diet. Although the author espouses eating more plant based proteins, she admits that she herself eats meat on occasion. This book would be relevant for vegetarians, as well as those wanting to add more vegetarian meals into their weekly cycle.

The book is divided up into chapters for each of the various beans and grains. Different ways of cooking are presented, as well as a couple of recipes for each ingredient. My favorite section was at the beginning where she had recipes for savory dressings and add ons to make the bean dishes sing. I learned a new term, "rig", which stands for chunky, acidic relish, and recipes are given for these. When reading about each ingredient one senses the authors interest and admiration for these food staples, and a mini text is given explaining each one, before moving on to recipes.

The book is also interspersed with stories from the farmers who grow these foods. The author says she wants to make people think more about where their food comes from, and think about the process of getting it to the table. She also bemoans the lack of diversity in what we have available to use in the stores. These are literally a kaleidoscope of variations in the foods we eat, but only the most popular and "sellable" are widely available.

There is a wealth of information about beans, grains, and legumes in this book and the reader will come away with some unusual recipes. The reader who is just looking for recipes and not information may wish there were more recipes in the book, but I enjoyed the explanation of each ingredient, and learning more about this subject. This is a big book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Chronicle Books for allowing me to preview this ARC.

Grist is phenomenal!! HIGHLY highly recommend this book. This is a down to earth and accessible encyclopedia on cooking legumes and grains.

I love the author's voice - Abra is relatable, passionate, and opinionated and the context that she provides for each category is so valuable. The book features gorgeous illustrations paired with detailed information on types of ingredients or the history of them. There are also farmer profiles sprinkled throughout, I love how this adds context to where these ingredients come from and offers the reader a face to the product.

The recipes throughout this book are lovely, but they almost serve as more of a guideline. The author encourages flexibility and using what you have. I love the general equation that Abra recommends for each recipe, it helped me reframe how to create these recipes on my own.

A few recipes I'm particularly excited about: all-corn cornbread w/ jalapenos, peaches + ricotta, whole roasted leeks w/ chickpeas, lemon vin, ricotta, and chard, cranberry bean salad w/ roasted carrots + mojo de ajo, and anchvy-garlic marinated corona beans w/ arugula + beets.

PICK UP THIS BOOK WHEN IT COMES OUT! It is one that I will turn to regularly and has inspired me to cook from my pantry more.

A good cookbook collection should include all kinds of cookbooks, and especially cookbooks that are full of information to help cooks in every facet of the cooking process. That is why Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes is a “must have” cookbook for a proper cookbook collection. Not only does it include excellent recipes, but it has essential information on some of the most healthy foods that we should be eating, as well as how to prepare them for the ultimate benefits to our health. So many people skip the nutritional benefits of beans, grains, etc. because they don’t know how to prepare them or because they are afraid to introduce them to their families because they are afraid their family will complain (i.e., gas from beans, which is explained). This excellent cookbook should be on every shelf: it includes everything a cook should know about the healthy benefits of introducing these delicious foods into our diets as well as the scientific aspects (fascinating, actually) such as botanical information, to soak or not to soak before cooking, whether it’s gluten free, protein content, and other things we should know about what we are eating and serving our loved ones.

The cookbook includes beautiful photographs, and the recipes are actually mouthwatering. There are recipes for vegetarian, vegan, special diets, and just good dishes that everyone will want to sample.

After reading this cookbook, I have been inspired to set a personal goal of including at least one recipe from this excellent book in my menu each week; there are enough good ones for months or even years with the variations. The recipes are very easy to follow and turn out picture-perfect. I love this book and recommend it highly to anyone who wants to add good nutrition and unique foods their diets. The information is also interesting enough that you can curl up in a corner and read it just for the excellent facts.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book was received as an ARC from Chronicle Books.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge foodie, so any time a book like Grist crosses my path, I get really excited. Grist, however, is kind of a let down. Don't even both reading the intro. It's off putting and is more on why the author decided to include meat in a grain, bean, seed and legume cook book. It's almost like a justification or that she didn't want this to be labeled a vegetarian cook book. Ok, great, but not necessary. Tell us about why you love grains, beans, seeds, and legumes so much that you decided to write an entire book, dedicated just to them.

She then gives a glossary of terms, as well as a cheat sheet on picking great vegetables. Seems more like filler than anything else.

Finally we start with the recipes. Condiments are up first. Very basic, and just a list format. No explanations, no pictures, just the name, ingredients, and incredibly brief directions. In my opinion, this should go at the end of the book, or because of how incredibly brief it, just put it on the page with the recipe it's being used for. It is just a bad way to start off.

And now onto the stars of the books.

She does give an intro which is nice, and even note pages that get into some detail on specific beans, grains, etc. Then onto basic preparations. How to boil, stew, puree, etc. And finally some recipes. I do like the few sections where she shows you how to cook for instance, black beans, at the beginning of the week to eat all week long without feeling bored.

The other interesting thing, are the interviews with a couple farmers, presumably who she bought ingredients from. The only down side to this, is again, it feels like filler.

Overall, it's just okay. Not something I'm going to pre-order, nor something I have to have. If I see in a book store, I might pick it up and flip through it, just to see how I feel having it in my hands, seeing if the layout gets changed up, or the intro edited.

Grist would be an absolutely wonderful addition to any home cook's library who is looking to incorporate more grains and legumes into their diet. The recipes are filled with interesting flavor combinations, notes, and variations so you can use what you have on hand. This is the perfect book for all who stocked up on beans during the pandemic. I also enjoyed the Farmer Profiles and the beautiful photography - I'll be adding a hard copy to my cookbook collection this fall.

Thank you Chronicle Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

I love cooking grains and beans and this is the perfect cookbook for someone like me! It offers general tips and recipes for a week's worth of foods as well as specific recipes. I made the Lentil & Pecan Stuffed Acorn Squash for dinner last week and it was excellent. I am looking forward to trying the other recipes and am planning to purchase the book once my digital trial expires, along with the author's previous book Ruffage.

Really enjoyed recipes as I transition to a more healthy lifestyle. I would highly recommend and this may be a lovely Christmas gift for family and friends.

Grist : A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes is an extensive book, almost a bible for cooking and understanding grains. The book is organised in chapters by type, and information and recipes for 29 different , legumes, and seeds: Amaranth, Barley, Black-Eyed Peas, Buckwheat, Bulgur, Chickpeas, Common Beans, Corn, Cowpeas, Crowder Peas, Farro, Fava Beans, Field Peas, Fonio, Freekeh, Legumes, Lentils, Lima Beans, Millet, Oats, Quinoa, Rice, Sorghum, Split Peas, Soy Beans, Teff, Tiny Seed Grains, and Wheat Berries, are provided. The recipes are simple, easy to follow and many use store cupboard ingredients. In these times it is the perfect book for being planet friendly and ready to cook from the cupboard should the pandemic situation change or worsen. Definitely a book for every cook.

A beautifully photographed and laid out cookbook on seeds, grains, and legumes.. I greatly appreciate that this book isn't "vegan" focused as I adore beans but don't actively seek out vegan recipes. I look forward to cooking through this book.

*I won't be rating this on Goodreads as I haven't read the full book, so I don't think that's fair, but I need to include a star rating here.*

I dropped this right after the intro. I don’t think I am able to review this because of how shockingly terrible the intro is. It just put me off the whole book. This is all based on uncorrected proofs, so there’s still hope, maybe.

The author’s explanations on why she chose to include meat just took me out. Let me just state that my issues are not with the inclusion of meat, because this isn’t a vegetarian or vegan book and I am fine with that, but with the completely incoherent mental gymnastics the author felt the need to include here to justify her decision.

Listing some of the good reasons for minimizing or avoiding meat, she states, ‘Animal rights: To eat meat is to take a life; to pretend otherwise is denial.’ But a few paragraphs after that, we learn that the author advocates eating meat ‘that does not negatively impact the animal’. I am not making this up. How can you go from acknowledging that eating meat is taking a life to advocating for meat that does not negatively impact animals? It’s a natural thing to have insane levels of cognitive dissonance, but it’s another to put those thoughts to paper, presumably review them in the cold light of morning, and not see any problems with it. A truly embarrassing thing to read.

But wait, it gets better. The author then defends including meat in her book about legumes on cost grounds. The author explains that we cannot talk about food cost without discussing food access, and that demonising certain foods and the people who buy them divorced from the economic and material reality of the system and people is a terrible idea, which is something I 100% agree with. Many people genuinely rely on really cheap meat, and they’re certainly not the problem – it’s all part of a big class and systems issue.

The problem is how she tries to make all the pieces fit together. So after advocating for eating and paying big bucks (‘paying the true price of that ingredient’) for meat that doesn’t negatively impact the animal (?), she defends including meat that is by her own admission totally unnecessary in her legume recipes, most of which are pretty inaccessible if you struggle with food access to begin with, because...... some people rely on cheap meat (true) and they shouldn’t be demonised (true)? I swear this is a new world record in mental gymnastics, and truly an embarrassing thing to read. So basically adding an unnecessary, very expensive ingredient to recipes and justifying it because working class people rely on cheap versions of similar ingredients to survive. Very normal and coherent. I’m sold!

Please, if you want to include meat, include meat and just go, but don’t write a long explanation that is beyond incoherent on a very basic level. And don’t co-opt legitimate social issues of class, food security and access to justify adding whatever ‘organic hand-reared happy meat’ you stan.

This book is so comprehensive! All of the flavored oils and spice blends are so so helpful and I can see myself using them over and over again for many recipes, not just all of the wonderful ones in the books. The book is a love letter to legumes and grains. They are absolutely the stars of the show. I am vegan so I love that nearly every recipe with meat included a variation that was meat-free. This book is so thoughtfully put together. I know that I will use these recipes over and over for years to come.

Abra Berens’ Grist is a delightful treasury of information about “grains, beans, seeds, and legumes,” but I found it was the kind of cookbook I prefer to read from than cook from. Berens’ attitude makes reading even the glossary, which contains definitions for things like “glug”, “science feel”, “divvy”, and “acidulated water”, a pleasure. I didn’t skip the parts that I normally skip in cookbooks, like her interviews with growers or her opinions on canned vs. dry. (For the record, she gives quite good advice for how to use both.) The headnotes on recipes are worth reading even if you never read the recipes themselves.

I could be convinced to trade my vast collection of cookbooks for this one title! The recipes make use of easily accessible ingredients, combined in many different ways. In addition to the author’s ideas, the set up encourages you to experiment with your own adaptations.

Each time I open the book I find myself delighted by the possibilities.

I can’t wait to buy a copy, the moment it is published!

I received Grist as part of a NetGalley giveaway.

Grist is a compendium of information and recipes involving a wide array of "grains, seeds, and legumes" from around the world. There's a ton of information packed in here: not only recipes, but rundowns on cooking procedures and tips, procedures for preparing and serving, meal plans, pairing tips, interviews with farmers, and more. It's a really, nice, holistic look at a significant but often-underappreciated segment of the food world The photography and layout are beautiful and the recipes are fairly simple and straightforward.

Man, I love beans. I am slowly turning into someone who makes a big pot of beans every week so that I always have something healthy and comforting to eat. Now that I am starting to visit restaurants again, my desire to cook beans has only increased, not decreased. Restaurants, with the exception of some like Ethiopian and Indian restaurants, are really slacking on the bean front! I have been working my way through Joe Yonan’s Cool Beans with great success and was excited to try another book that promised not just beans but their best friends, whole grains.

Abra Berens’ Grist is a delightful treasury of information about “grains, beans, seeds, and legumes,” but I found it was the kind of cookbook I prefer to read from than cook from. Berens’ attitude makes reading even the glossary, which contains definitions for things like “glug”, “science feel”, “divvy”, and “acidulated water”, a pleasure. I didn’t skip the parts that I normally skip in cookbooks, like her interviews with growers or her opinions on canned vs. dry. (For the record, she gives quite good advice for how to use both.) The headnotes on recipes are worth reading even if you never read the recipes themselves.

In the long run, though, Grist will not replace Cool Beans as my go-to bean reference. For starters, there are no pressure cooking instructions, even though that’s the most practical way I’ve found to cook beans. The book’s breakdown by ingredient then type of preparation, while in theory a good idea, does not work so well when a given ingredient or preparation has only one entry or a suggestion rather than a recipe. The inconsistency makes it seem imbalanced. For instance, my absolute favorite part of this book is when Berens provides a plan for turning a pot of beans or a grain into a week of different uses. I only found two examples of this in the book though, so it’s not practical to expect to open up this book when you have, say, cannellini beans and need to know how to handle them. You might find thorough cooking instructions and several options, or you might find a salad where they are used as a garnish.

Grist seems like it wants to be a reference book, but it is better to read for the sheer pleasure of it, letting yourself be inspired by the beautiful photos and French-influenced recipes.

This is a very interesting book full of information, some recipes and a n interview style chat. It was fun to read and explore. There was a lot of great information and recipe ideas.

Something a bit different than your normal cookbook.

Anyone who stocked up on staples during the pandemic will be looking for a way to use them up now that food production seems back to normal. This is a pretty neat cookbook, giving you recipes for many staple with an fun array of variations.

What did I like? Versatility of this cookbook is huge, and I loved the shout out to the farmers. Over four hundred pages of detailed cooking methods for pretty much every grain, bean, seed, and legume. I would have loved more pictures though since a ton of us don’t eat these things day to day, like we should. I enjoyed the recipes and bookmarked a ton to try!

Would I recommend or buy? I’m hoping this cookbook will have a great price since it’s pretty versatile and any household could benefit from eating this way. I would love a copy! The authors first cookbook was a huge success so no surprise this one will be as well.

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review!