The book is divided into six chapters: Whole Grain Basics, which covers whole grains are and talks about health benefits and gluten free grains; Wheat, Spelt, and Kamut; Brown Rice and Wild Rice; Buckwheat and Rye; Quinoa, Corn, and Millet; and Barley and Oats. If you are a person who cannot eat gluten, you'd probably really appreciate this book as it provides a lot of great gluten-free recipes and wheat alternatives.
I personally have made five recipes from this book so far. First came the Whole Wheat Pecan Waffles on page 16. Loved them, but then again, who doesn't love waffles? For a indulgent treat one night, I made the Sweet Chili Popcorn on page 207. Loved it! Though it could have used a bit more kick; perhaps I'd add some cayenne the next time I make this. But it was basically like caramel corn with a chili-salt flavour and it was a really great accompaniment to a movie night. I made the Oatmeal Scones on pate 253, only I added fresh cranberries to the mix since it was near Thanksgiving and there were fresh cranberries to be had. I love a good scone, and I'm happy to say that this recipe is a keeper. It was also a hit with my roommate, who is also a lover of a good scone. I made the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies on page 255. These came out quite dense and a little drier than I prefer my cookies to be, but they were a nice treat and I felt like I was eating something healthier for a chocolate fix. My eight year old roommate really liked them, too. Finally, since I am a quinoa fan, I made the Black & White Bean Quinoa Salad on page 181.
I made some substitutions, though, since I don't particularly like navy beans or cucumber. So I put in a can of chickpeas instead of the navy beans and I diced up a green pepper instead of the cucumber. I also omitted the jalapeno pepper since I don't like those either. But the dressing for this was very good and the end result was quite delicious! My roommate liked it, too, and it made enough so that I could have a few meals out of it. I will go back to this recipe again and again, I think.
Apart from these recipes I made, I have a whole bunch bookmarked in the book for future reference. There are quite a few bread recipes I want to try and the Chunky Chili Corn Bread Cobbler on page 162 is calling to me! I just have to wait until I can get a roast of beef at a decent price. For you vegetarians out there, there are plenty of recipes that would suit a veggie diet and even a vegan diet.
This is a great all-round cookbook with a lot of yummt stuff in it, and as is usual with Canadian Living recipes, they all turned out how they were supposed to without any issues. I definitely recommend this book and will be keeping it in my already overcrowded cookbook bookcase!
