Whole Food Cooking with Sue Gregg

This is not an official review of Sue Gregg's cook books but I did get the opportunity to taste test a couple recipes from her website. We've always tried to eat as healthy as possible and limit our intake of processed foods so I jumped at the opportunity to try out some new recipes.

Black Bean Chowder


Liam, who fluctuates between wanting to be a chef or an architect (he likes to create stuff), was very eager to help me prepare this meal. He likes to see what things go into recipes so he was my little "gopher" (go get this, go get that). There was a fair amount of chopping in this recipe so that bored him a little but he liked being the one to add everything to the pot.

The verdict

Liam gave this meal a 5 1/2 out of ten because he thought it was a little too spicy for his taste.

Morgaine, who is almost 4, enthusiastically gave this recipe a 9 out of 10 and said she'd be happy to eat it EVERY day. However, once Liam said it was too spicy she also decided it was too spicy *lol*.

Mike gave the soup a 7 1/2 and said it was something that he would like to eat again, however, he found it a little bit too chili like.

I, personally, give the the recipe a 7 because I also found it to be too chili like. I would have also preferred to use dried beans as opposed to canned. I liked that it was hardy and easily felt like a complete meal.

As a family we agreed that it was something that we like and would make it monthly and maybe a bit more often in the winter months as it is so warm and filling.

Baked Parmesan Chicken



This recipe is quite simple as it asks you to basically throw all the ingredients into a blender to make a coating for chicken breasts. However, because I was somewhat afraid that my blender would not be able to handle dry ingredients I kept Liam busy tearing up the bread and parsley needed in the recipe. We also had the opportunity to talk, again, about food cross contamination and safety as it was a busy day in the kitchen and we were cooking several dishes at once.

The Verdict

Liam did not like this meal but he is going through a phase where chicken just seems to fill him up (and that is what he told us) therefore causing him to not want to eat it. He told us that we would likely like it on another day when it wasn't filling him up so much.

Morgaine gave this recipe 7 stars. She liked the taste of it but didn't say much else.

Mike liked it and gave the topping an 8 1/2. His only comment was that it was a little too dry. However, I did overcook it slightly because he was busy outside and instead of taking it out of the over I left it in order to keep it warm.

I quite liked the taste of this meal, it was crunchy enough and had pleasing taste. Having tried it about 10 minutes earlier than the rest of the family, when it was cooked just perfectly, I also found it to be juicy.

It is a meal that we would likely enjoy once every couple of weeks (though for now would have to think of something else for our little boy). It was simple to prepare and with it's relatively mild taste something that can be served with various other dishes making it versatile and one of those dishes that can be served just about anytime. I believe it would even be good cold, served in a salad during the summer months when one doesn't feel like having a hot supper.

We would be more than happy, as a family, to have to opportunity to try out other Sue Gregg recipes. As a family who tries to eat healthy and have tried various other whole food ideas, we were happy (especially, Mike, who has been somewhat whole food resistant) to see that these meals were healthy without necessarily feeling that way. Check out her site and try one of her recipes for yourself!