Learning to cook delicious meals using healthy ingredients is a snap in this new cookbook from bestselling author Julie Van Rosendaal and her long-time friend Sue Duncan. With humorous anecdotes and current factoids on health, Julie and Sue explain everything from the truth behind beans and flatulence to demystifying the simple process of soaking and cooking dried beans and lentils. At a time when eating foods that are as good for the environment as they are for us is a growing concern, whole, healthy, high-fibre foods such as beans and grains are in high demand. Helpful info from gastroentrologist Dr. Guido Van Rosendaal also highlights the physical benefits of incorporating more legumes and whole grains into our everyday diets. Spilling the Beans covers it all, from how to cook up beans and grains, to how to add healthy fibre to your favourite desserts. An entire section on baking delicious desserts with beans amps up cakes, bars, and cookies with flavour and fibre. With so many delicious desserts with beans as the hidden ingredient, this book is sure to be the talk of many a dinner party. And it's a surefire way to get more healthful foods into children's diets, as well.

This book contains everything the modern cook needs to know about preparing and cooking beans and grains. Recipes for every course from appetizer to dessert are sure to please long-time lovers of legumes and those just starting out. Tantalize your taste buds with

• Buttermilk Waffles
• Apple, Sprouted Bean & Crystallized Ginger Salad with Cambozola
• Turkey Chickpea Sliders
• White Bean Risotto with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, & Parmesan
• Slow-cooked Lamb Shanks with Lentils, Garlic & Rosemary
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

Julie Van Rosendaal was an avid cook as early as age three. When her father, known for his insatiable sweet tooth, found out he had high cholesterol, Julie took her expertise in the kitchen and began creating healthier and low fat recipes for cookies and sweets. After spending years doing research and experimenting in the kitchen, Julie developed a knack for taking recipes of foods that she craved, typically high in fat, and creating a healthier version. At the same time, she realized that dieting was silly and began to live on her own terms. She simply cooked and ate healthier versions of the foods she loved. In addition to giving her ideas for health-conscious cookbooks (which would eventually become bestsellers), this change in lifestyle led Julie to lose 165 pounds—a testament to the effectiveness and practicality of her recipes and food philosophy. Quickly the demand for her delicious low fat recipes became so great that she opened her own low fat bakery in Calgary, Alberta. With the great success of this bakery, Julie decided to share her low fat recipes with the world—in One Smart Cookie, among other cookbooks. Referred to as the “queen of the skinny sweet” and the “poster girl for low fat cooking,” Julie is in high demand for her knowledge and expertise. She has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, led many cooking demonstrations across North America, and regularly contributes to newspapers and magazines.

Julie Van Rosendaal's profile page

Sue Duncan grew up in Calgary, cooking and eating at every opportunity with her best friend Julie. She now lives with her husband and daughter in the Okanagan Valley, where she acquires far too much produce at the farmer's market but manages to eat it all anyway.

Sue Duncan's profile page