• We need to stop thinking of meat (red or white) as the center of our plate.

• Let us imagine ourselves in an economy with unlimited access to cereal grains, roots, tubers, plantains, legumes, nuts and seeds and restricted availability of meats. This would make our culinary interests develop more in the direction of the unlimited items.

• Since this is the case in many parts of the world, let's borrow their ideas (actually, their recipes).

• This will require an opened mind, some experimentation, and yes, time. Any new recipe we try is going to take a little longer to prepare.

• So you might want to 'experiment' only once a week or every two weeks. In a year you will have 24 new recipes. Let's say you discard half because you or a family member did not like them. You are still left with 12 'new' preparations that now are familiar to you and no longer take extra time to prepare.

Helpful resources

• USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, 5072 Hwy 8 West, Moscow, ID 83843-4023 (208)882-3023 email: pulse@pea-lentil.com

Write for recipes and nutrition information on dry peas, lentils, chickpeas

• The Breadman's Healthy Bread Book by George Burnett, Wm. Morrow & Co. publisher, 1992

Has a chapter with a thorough explanation of a variety of cereals (wheat, quinoa, amaranth, etc) and their nutrient content.

• Recommendation 4 "How to" lists three excellent cookbooks. They will help you with the 'experimentation' period. Sundays at Moosewood and Jump Up and Kiss Me offer menu samples. Menus can be helpful when you are at a loss "…well now, and what do I accompany this dish with?" They also have a list of ingredients that explains what they are.

• You can find pictures and information on many of the cereals, roots, plantains and legumes at the Dole site: http://www.dole5aday.com/nut_center/veg/NUTVEG.html and http://www.dole5aday.com/nut_center/fruit/NUTFRUIT.html

• US Dietary Guidelines for Americans at http://www.nalusda.gov/fnic/Dietary/9dietgui.htm provides current reliable dietary information.

Did you know?…

• White flour, flour, wheat flour and plain flour are synonymous terms. They result from the milling and sifting of clean wheat. The germ and bran have been removed. It is not a whole grain.

• All-purpose is also a white flour. It contains a specific blend of wheats which makes it suitable for home-made yeast breads as well as for quick breads

• Enriched grains contain added amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and iron. Enrichment restores only partially what has been lost during processing of the grain into flour and cereal. Many other nutrients are lost but are not restored.

• Starting January 1, 1998, the US Food & Drug Administration ordered the addition of the vitamin folate to enriched cereal grains. It will include flours from wheat, rice, barley, triticale, buckwheat, corn and rye, cornmeal, grits, rice, farina and pastas. Folate has been found to prevent the birth defects known as spina bifida (an opened spinal cord) and anencephaly (babies born without a brain). Enough folate is needed at the time of conception and shortly after.

How to increase the use of whole grains

• Use brown rice whenever your recipe calls for rice

• Use breakfast cereals made from a whole grain.

• Use whole wheat bread. Many 'wheat' breads have had coloring or molasses added for a darker color. If it does not say 'whole wheat' under the ingredients, the bread is probably made from white (no germ, no bran)

• Substitute a third to a half of all-purpose flour with whole wheat when baking breads or cookies

• Try a new recipe using bulgur quinoa, or cracked wheat. For a list of cereals, see Recommendation 5 Background