Feeding the Whole Family

by tabloyd
for MotherSpirit

The Santa Fe Black Bean Salad from Feeding the Whole Family could almost replace chocolate as my comfort food. Seriously, it's that good. And I'm not one to say that lightly -- chocolate's been good to me for many years now, and it's a relationship forged in and strengthened by times of trial. But this simple combination of corn, beans, cilantro, and red pepper, in a spicy garlicy-lime sauce, is close to ambrosial. I awoke in the middle of the night, very PMS-y, and my husband had to literally hold me down to keep me out of the kitchen.

Clearly I sound psychotic -- I recognize that. But I'm not the only one, and this isn't the only recipe. My mother was the first to make Santa Fe Black Bean Salad, and it never reached the table; she had to make a second batch so the rest of us could try it. (That second batch was doubled, of course, and now we just triple the recipe from the get-go.) My son, 20 months old, gleefully consumes the nut burgers (which I appreciate because they're very nutritious and also not low-fat; with a skinny babe like mine, that's a big plus); he lunges for the Pan-Fried Tofu and Greens with Almond-Ginger Drizzle to the point where we have to hide some extra for once he's asleep because the littlest member of the family will eat it all otherwise! My husband can't decide what his favorite meal is, but leans very strongly toward Red Bean and Quinoa Chili ... and I should definitely mention that he's a confirmed carnivore who only begrudgingly acknowledged tofu as a food within the past few years. The fact that less than a handful of recipes in the book are non-vegetarian (and most can easily be made vegan if they aren't already) is a complete non-issue as far as he's concerned; he's thrilled to see me pull out the "purple book" in the morning, as he knows that dinner will be something good. (Oh, and if you want a fast, tasty meal, look no further than Indian Rice and Lentils with Carmelized Onions -- it's easy, takes significantly less than an hour, and has a wonderful flavor.)

What is this book? Sometimes I think I'm the last person in the world to discover Feeding the Whole Family: Whole Foods Recipes For Babies, Young Children, and Their Parents ... but I know there have to be other people who haven't yet been converted. First published in 1994, I have the revised edition of Cynthia Lair's wonderful book; it's a favorite of LLL groups, health food stores, and just about anyone who wants healthy, tasty, exciting meals. The book includes basic information on how to cook grains and beans, how to choose, purchase, and store whole foods, and tons of great recipes; it also discusses the need for cooking mindfully, eating together, buying organic foods, changing your diet, and what and how to feed children. I recommend the book to everyone, not simply families; indeed, my few complaints center around the modifications for feeding small children (I can't believe anyone needs to be told to keep a little squash separate from a dish so they can puree it and feed their baby; completely ignoring my belief that babies don't need to be fed pureed foods, wouldn't people be able to figure out how to do that all by themselves?). We also tend to double the spices called for; we prefer strongly flavored dishes, and I think several of these meals are aimed towards people who may not be quite as familiar with spices like cumin, turmeric, mustard seeds, etc. But those few modifications notwithstanding, I can truthfully say that Feeding the Whole Family is my favorite, most-used cookbook ... and coming from someone with at least 200, that's really saying something!