Looking to liven up your recipe repertoire with a new cookbook? We sifted through the year’s healthy offerings and highlighted some standouts.
Robin Takes 5: 500 Recipes, 5 Ingredients or Less, 500 Calories or Less, 5 Nights a Week
By Robin Miller
$29.99, Andrews McMeel
To tackle just one of the challenges Robin does—less than 500 calories, 5 or fewer ingredients—would be a feat. That she combines them all into one super cookbook made up mostly of entrée ideas is seriously impressive. The nutritionist and host of Food Network’s Quick Fix Meals With 500 recipes, the pages occasionally get crowded, but that’s a small price to pay for endless culinary adventures.
The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook: Simply Delicious Low-Calorie Recipes to Make in a Snap
By Chef Devin Alexander with The Biggest Loser experts and cast
$21.99, Rodale
On The Biggest Loser, Chef Devin Alexander and other experts watch closely as contestants on the popular TV show struggle to change a lifetime of bad habits. So it’s no surprise that this cookbook focuses on familiar foods, like potato skins and pina coladas, and simple preparation techniques. The recipes aren’t fancy, but they’re family-friendly, and many are easily converted into a portable meal or snack.
Color Me Vegan
By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
$19.99, Fair Winds Press
Vegan cookbooks were a hot commodity this year, but Color Me Vegan employs an eye-catching (and nutritionally practical) concept, offering a series of recipes for every color of the rainbow. Because a vegan diet can seem limited, this means of organization helps demonstrate the wide variety of foods and flavors that its followers (and dabblers) can enjoy, from beet burgers to carrot fries to linguine with purple cabbage.
Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes From London’s Ottolenghi
by Yotam Ottolenghi
$35.00, Chronicle Books
If you’re looking for a cookbook that can double as a coffee table tome, this is it. The stunning photographs, including several two-page spreads, transform the concept of vegetable dishes from requisite to enticing. The Israeli-born, London-based chef takes lots of inspiration from international cooking, which should inspire any dieter stuck in a rut.
You Can Trust a Skinny Cook: 140 Recipes That Love You Back
by Allison Fishman
$29.95, Wiley
The cheeky title gives a hint of the good humor within this cookbook by the host of Lifetime’s Cook Yourself Thin, who candidly shares her own experience with learning to eat right. The recipes are elegant ... almost anything would be fit for entertaining but still approachable, and Allison offers loads of extra tips on the process and how to further lighten your dishes. (Check out her recommendations for a healthy brunch.)
Comfort Food Fix: Feel Good Favorites Made Healthy
by Ellie Krieger
$29.99, Wiley
Food Network’s Ellie Krieger has always maintained that you can eat your favorite foods and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. Her latest cookbook ups the ante by taking on some traditionally calorie-laden fare (including some Thanksgiving favorites) and slimming them down considerably. Serve one of her meals to the diet-averse and we bet they won’t even notice.
Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes From My Natural Foods Kitchen
by Heidi Swanson
$23.00, Ten Speed Press
The latest book from Heidi Swanson mirrors the feel of her pioneering food blog, 101cookbooks.com, with eye-catching photography and a warm, anecdotal tone. All of Heidi’s recipes are vegetarian, but rather than recreate staples with meat substitutes, she tends to create new combinations, like a snack of avocado and mustard seeds. If you’re new to the natural foods movement, some ingredients may be unfamiliar, but her straightforward prose provides a good introduction.
The Sweet Life: Diabetes Without Boundaries
by Sam Talbot
$32.50, Rodale
The palate of a gourmet chef can sometimes seem at odds with a restricted diet — so it may have surprised some when Sam Talbot very nearly won Top Chef’s second season. The New York chef was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12. But as his book illustrates, people with the disease can still enjoy a wealth of sophisticated, sumptuous food. (Try his Sour Strawberry Cobbler.) The recipes are peppered with insider tips from the professional chef and longtime carb-counter.
Gluten-Free on a Shoestring: 125 Easy Recipes for Eating Well on the Cheap
by Nicole Hunn
$19.00, De Capo Press
A few short years ago, many Americans hadn’t heard of celiac disease, but the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research estimates that one in 133 Americans now suffer from it. Accordingly, a rash of products and cookbooks devoted to a gluten-free diet have hit the market. Gluten-Free on a Shoestring stands out for its efficient approach — perfect a few staples, like an olive oil crust, and then build on them to create a full rotation of recipes. The book is no-frills, with few photos, but the advice is solid.
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Best Healthy Cookbooks of 2011
Looking to liven up your recipe repertoire with a new cookbook? We sifted through the year’s healthy offerings and highlighted some standouts.
Thinkstock
Best Healthy Cookbooks of 2011
Looking to liven up your recipe repertoire with a new cookbook? We sifted through the year’s healthy offerings and highlighted some standouts.
