Cookbook Review: The Best Light Recipe

Part of the reason I learned to cook was so I could eat healthier food. (Not that you can tell that by this blog.) Still, I do try, on a day-to-day basis, to make food that is mostly healthy. My BFF showed me this cookbook, and I liked hers so much that she sent me one, too.

This cookbook was put together by the editors of Cook's Illustrated, (think America's Test Kitchen). The best thing about this book is that, in addition to the recipes, they take you through their quest to lighten each recipe. You learn WHY the ingredients in the final recipe made it, and why others were cut. This is VERY helpful to those of you who, like me, are tempted to stray from the recipe or cut out steps that seem like too much work. It also makes it easy for you to transfer what you learn to other recipes. Plus it's just interesting.

There are a LOT of recipes in this book I haven't made. (Just give me time.) Most of what I have made, though, has been a hit. I was out of honey-mustard dressing once when I wanted a spinach salad, and so I made the recipe in the book. YUM, and better for you than what you'd buy in a store (plus I had the ingredients already, so it felt free). There is also a roasted garlic dressing my BFF says is good. If you're partial to creamy dressings, recipes include blue cheese, Parmesan-peppercorn (BFF approved), and ranch, among others. The section on salads includes recipes for croutons and a guide to lettuces and salad greens.

The soups section includes what you'd expect from a light cookbook (broth-based with lots of veggies), as well as cream-based soups. Cream of Broccoli, Asparagus, Sweet Pea, Roasted Carrot, Butternut Squash, Mushroom, and Tomato make up that section. There are even chowders, stews, and chillies.

The vegetable section includes the best method for preparing Stuffed Bell Peppers I've seen (even the very picky Big Geek liked the stuffed peppers), and their scalloped potatoes recipe is mouthwatering and surprisingly rich. They'll even tell you how to make your own veggie burgers (although I haven't tried it yet).

Many recipes start with a basic recipe, and are followed by variations. A section on risotto, for example, begins with a classic Parmesan Risotto and then gives three different variations for special risottos. The book is full of helpful information, like which vegetable protein tested the best for their recipes, how to cook beans, how to mince basil and how to cut chicken. There is no way I can explain how much information is here. This is the only cookbook I've ever actually gone cover-to-cover on, because their are tips on nearly every page that help me in my everyday cooking.

Some of my favorite recipes from this cookbook include the one-pot chicken and rice dishes, Pork Tenderloin with Apple and Sage Cream Sauce (oh, dear GOD, why haven't I made this recently??), several of the wet rubs and glazes for meat, and peach cobbler (it has brandy in it, and you know how I like liquor in my food). The oven friend chicken, which I make as chicken strips, is a huge hit at my house with both big and little geeks.

The only recipe I've tried from this book that gave me trouble were the cinnamon rolls (they are a quick bread, not a yeast roll), and my BFF swears they worked out for her. She also raves about the lasagna, chicken parmesan, and buttermilk biscuits.

The other thing I like about this cookbook is that if a recipe wasn't good, they didn't print it. Apparently, you can't make a decent "light" pie crust, and so none are included. They tried, and none met their standards. They did, however, manage a cheesecake (after trying 28 times).

Eventually, I will work my way through this entire cookbook. It's currently $23.10 on Amazon, and worth every penny. I'd pay significantly more than that.

My rating: 5 of 5 bytes

Cookbook Review: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade slow cooker recipes 2

I borrowed this cookbook from a friend because I <3 the crock pot. What's not to love--you throw stuff in, walk away, and come back to a finished meal. Apparently, however, I do NOT <3 semi-homemade.

This could be my fault. See, I am cheap, so when a recipe in this book called for "bacon crumbles, Hormel," I'd think, "doubtful" and just make some bacon and crumble it myself. Or when I was supposed to use diced frozen onions, I'd just dice an onion instead. Maybe that contributed to my disapointment in these recipes. But I think the main issue is that I like food that tastes good (and fresh). And you can't do BOTH "semi" homemade and fresh in the crock pot.

I'm not accustomed to drowning my chicken in cream-of-whatever soup. And you know, I don't care for the flavor of cream-of-whatever soup. I was surprised by that, because I ate plenty of chicken doused with cream-of-whatever soup growing up. But now, it's just not my thing.

The first recipe I tried was for red beans and rice with Andouille sausage. It actually tasted pretty good, although I ended up with red beans and mush. This, though, was most likely my fault for two reasons. First of all, the recipe called for "converted" rice. I foolishly used REAL rice. Second, I let it cook for WAY longer than it was supposed to, because that's how things worked out that day. Still, it tasted good even if the texture of the rice was WAAAY off. I have to say I'll try this again on the stove without any particular recipe.

The second I tried was tukey cutlets with green chili scalloped potatoes. I know, right? Sounds good. However, my grocery store didn't have the cream-of-chicken verde soup that was needed. I tried to improvise by using cream-of-chicken and then tossing in a bit of salsa verde. Either that didn't work out or the recipe sucked, because the potatoes are still in my fridge a week later. I tried to throw them away last night, but they are glued to the container and I'd already started the dishwasher and didn't want to dirty another utensil. Maybe tonight.

At this point I should have given up. But I'd already purchased ingredients for another dish, cheddar beer chicken. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. The recipe used a prepared cheese soup, but would have been better with actual cheese. Also, there was FAR too much liquid in the pot after it cooked. But the chicken was very tender and I liked the beer flavor (even though I don't like beer--go figure).

The most annoying thing for me was the way she tacks a specific brand onto every damned ingredient. I realize you don't really have to use that brand, but still--someone BOUGHT the cookbook, do you have to advertise in it, too? If you're going to use your cookbook to sell endorsements, you should give it away for free.

In addition, the cook times were not good for most crock pot cooks. Most people using the crock pot want to put stuff in before they go to work (or start their day), and then not come back for 8-10 hours. This book contains a lot of recipes that only cook for 3-4 hours, plus (and this is SUPER inconvenient), ones that cook for an hour, then need more ingredients, or have to rest, or change from "high" to "low" or whatever. If I'm going to have to be that involved with my crock pot, I'll just use the stove or oven.

I know a lot of people like Sandra Lee, and I appreciate that many cooks are busy and just want to do things quickly. But really, buying so many "convenience" items is super-expensive, and it would probably cost about the same amount (and taste much better) if you just went out to dinner. I'm giving this one back to my friend.

Final rating: 0 of 5 Bytes.