Chef Abra Berens turns her attention to grains and legumes

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Chef and author Abra Berens already tackled vegetables. Now its time for grains and legumes. Her new cookbook “Grist” is a guide to cooking grains, beans, seeds and legumes. It offers 140 recipes with more than 160 variations. Like her previous effort “Ruffage,” Berens puts the home cook in the driving seat. She introduces and describes each category of grains and legumes and offers techniques on how to prepare them — stewed, fried, boiled, marinated, smashed and sprouted, among them. Then she lets the reader pair them with various dressings, oils, relishes and other condiments, mixing and matching saltiness, acid and creaminess depending on what’s on hand.