Healthy Endeavors

Whole grains are the cornerstone of a healthy diet and lifestyle. If we want to avoid heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases, they play a key role in eating a low-fat, heart healthy diet. Next to eating lots of dark, leafy greens, I’m a huge fan of cooking whole grains for plentiful amounts of complex carbohydrates and various nutrients.

That’s why I was so excited when Whole Grains for Busy People arrived in the mail last week. I’ve been following Lorna Sass, whole grains expert, for awhile. I have some of her other cookbooks but I noticed that the recipes can take awhile. And being that I’m usually short on time, they aren’t always conducive to the type of cooking I do.

I love finding new sources of inspiration for the kitchen. I’m very much of a cookbook chef, one of those people who relies on recipes for a dose of creative thinking. And once I find some dishes I like, that’s when my creative expression comes through. I love adapting and enhancing them in interesting ways.

So I was ecstatic when I heard about her latest cookbook when I was listening to NPR. It was in the midst of the winter fund drive and I was driving around listening to the pitch as I did errands on a Sunday.  I heard them mention the cookbook as a thank you gift and I was all over it. The funny thing is, I regularly give them a contribution with or without a thank you gift, but that was even better motivation.

I like the cookbook because the recipes are simple and mostly quick. I also like that she includes numerous gluten-free recipes which is perfect for me since I try to avoid wheat. Above all, the recipes just sound enticing — salmon stew with quinoa, southwestern stew with squash, black beans and corn, and oat-crusted turkey cutlets, just to name a few.

If you’re a whole grain fan like me, I encourage you to give it a try. And if you’ve already been using the cookbook, do tell about your favorite recipe.

Filed under: Grains, Healthy Meals