As featured in Epicurious, Modern Farmer, Refinery29, Shape, Plated, Eater, Food52, Midwest Living, Bon Appetit, MindBodyGreen, The Infatuation, Associated Press, On the Menu and NPR's The Splendid Table. Make grains the easiest, healthiest, and most exciting stars on your table. Grist is the only grain and legume cookbook you need. Abra Berens, a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Chef: Great Lakes and the author of Ruffage, shares more than 300 recipes and variations, plus substantial reference information to help you discover the next great grain. Grist includes more than 125 recipes for 29 different types of grains, legumes, and seeds that, in combination with vegetables and lean proteins, are the stars of the healthiest, most variable, and most satisfying meals—many of them gluten free. New and seasoned home cooks will want to reference this guide to start building a repertoire of approachable, big-on-flavor recipes. Home cooks will be attracted to the reference quality of the book, its beauty (more than 100 photos and 30 illustrations) and heft (125 recipes + 300 variations = 448 pages), as well as the great writing, relatable voice, author authority, unique recipe style, extensive variations, and gorgeous photography and illustrations. THIS IS THE A TO Z OF GRAINS, BEANS, AND LEGUMES: The content is deep and authoritative, but also wide-ranging, with information and recipes for 29 different grains, legumes, and seeds: Amaranth, Barley, Black-Eyed Peas, Buckwheat, Bulgur, Chickpeas, Common Beans, Corn, Cowpeas, Crowder Peas, Farro, Fava Beans, Field Peas, Fonio, Freekeh, Legumes, Lentils, Lima Beans, Millet, Oats, Quinoa, Rice, Sorghum, Split Peas, Soy Beans, Teff, Tiny Seed Grains, and Wheat Berries. REFERENCE BOOK: Organized by type of grain/legume/seed, each chapter offers authoritative info and tips that home cooks can use to deepen their knowledge of ingredients and broaden their repertoire of techniques. The recipes are simple, are generally quick to prepare, and use ingredients that are easy to find or often already in people's pantries. FOLLOW UP ON SUCCESS: Ruffage by Abra Berens was named a Best Cookbook for Spring 2019 by the New York Times and Bon Appétit, was a 2019 Michigan Notable Book winner, and was nominated for a 2019 James Beard Award. Here's some strong praise for Ruffage: "Things in my kitchen have changed since Ruffage arrived. This organized, easygoing guide to 29 vegetables offers a few cooking methods for each one, supplemented by several variations.” —Kim Severson, New York Times "[RUFFAGE] is a total classic in the making."—Christina Chaey, associate editor, Bon Appétit "Crammed with exciting ideas that encourage creativity, this lively book will quickly become an essential item in the home cook's library."—Library Journal (starred review)

2020 James Beard Award Nominee – Best Cookbooks – Vegetable-Forward Cooking Named a Best Cookbook for Spring 2019 by The New York Times and Bon Appetit A how-to cook book spanning 29 types of vegetables: Author Abra Berens—chef, farmer, Midwesterner—shares a collection of techniques that result in new flavors, textures, and ways to enjoy all the vegetables you want to eat. From confit to caramelized and everything in between—braised, blistered, roasted and raw—the cooking methods covered here make this cookbook a go-to reference. You will never look at vegetables the same way again. Organized alphabetically by vegetable from asparagus to zucchini, each chapter opens with an homage to the ingredients and variations on how to prepare them. With 300 recipes and 140 photographs that show off not only the finished dishes, but also the vegetables and farms behind them. If you are a fan of Plenty More, Six Seasons, Where Cooking Begins, or On Vegetables, you'll love Ruffage . Ruffage will help you become empowered to shop for, store, and cook vegetables every day and in a variety of ways as a side or a main meal. Take any vegetable recipe in this book and add a roasted chicken thigh, seared piece of fish, or hard-boiled egg to turn the dish into a meal not just vegetarians will enjoy. Mouthwatering recipes include Shaved Cabbage with Chili Oil, Cilantro, and Charred Melon, Blistered Cucumbers with Cumin Yogurt and Parsley, Charred Head Lettuce with Hard-Boiled Egg, Anchovy Vinaigrette, and Garlic Bread Crumbs, Massaged Kale with Creamed Mozzarella, Tomatoes, and Wild Rice, Poached Radishes with White Wine, Chicken Stock and Butter, and much more.

Winner of the Popular Culture Association's Ray and Pat Browne Award for Best Book in Popular or American Culture In the 1940s and ’50s, comic books were some of the most popular—and most unfiltered—entertainment in the United States. Publishers sold hundreds of millions of copies a year of violent, racist, and luridly sexual comics to Americans of all ages until a 1954 Senate investigation led to a censorship code that nearly destroyed the industry. But this was far from the first time the US government actively involved itself with comics—it was simply the most dramatic manifestation of a long, strange relationship between high-level policy makers and a medium that even artists and writers often dismissed as a creative sewer. In Pulp Empire, Paul S. Hirsch uncovers the gripping untold story of how the US government both attacked and appropriated comic books to help wage World War II and the Cold War, promote official—and clandestine—foreign policy and deflect global critiques of American racism. As Hirsch details, during World War II—and the concurrent golden age of comic books—government agencies worked directly with comic book publishers to stoke hatred for the Axis powers while simultaneously attempting to dispel racial tensions at home. Later, as the Cold War defense industry ballooned—and as comic book sales reached historic heights—the government again turned to the medium, this time trying to win hearts and minds in the decolonizing world through cartoon propaganda. Hirsch’s groundbreaking research weaves together a wealth of previously classified material, including secret wartime records, official legislative documents, and caches of personal papers. His book explores the uneasy contradiction of how comics were both vital expressions of American freedom and unsettling glimpses into the national id—scourged and repressed on the one hand and deployed as official propaganda on the other. Pulp Empire is a riveting illumination of underexplored chapters in the histories of comic books, foreign policy, and race.