Cookbooks and healthy eating ...

Holiday time … a chance to try new recipes while cherishing family traditions. Here’s a few forthcoming cookbooks to consider. SMITTEN KITCHEN KEEPERS by Deb Perelman is the most recent collection in this series, filled with “New Classics for Your Forever Files.” It is an extremely appealing cookbook, filled with colorful photos of delicious looking food. As promised, it does lean to more time-honored favorites like apple crisp or pound cake. Sections include breakfast, salad, soup & starters, vegetables (big and small), meat (and shrimp), plus a variety of sweets and snacks. Each recipe begins with a picture and a paragraph or two of commentary, then lists ingredients and directions. Nutritional information is not provided, but additional notes (with suggestions on substitutes or freezing, etc.) often are. A nod to classics include choices like little gem salad, French onion soup, or (skillet) chicken parmesan, but there are more unique offerings (like a citrus salad with radishes and hazelnuts for breakfast). Personally, I want to try the Challah Cheesecake Buns or Caramelized Cinnamon Sugar French Toast. Perelman does also set a reassuring tone with comments like “Don’t fret if you don’t have all of the spices called for. Use as many as you have; the fries will forgive” about Spiced Sweet Potato Oven Fries. Cooks will enjoy this beautiful text; however, I am a little surprised at the reliance on a heavier use of salt (e.g., adding two or three teaspoons of salt in Cozy Chicken and Dumplings) and even butter (e.g., two full sticks in the crust of Deepest Dish Broccoli Cheddar Quiche) in some recipes. SMITTEN KITCHEN KEEPERS received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal (“Essential for all collections.”).

LOW-SODIUM COOKING MADE EASY by Dick Logue is all about how to “Eat Well and Maintain Health Naturally with Less Salt.” This is adapted from other low sodium cookbooks which Logue has produced and the thoroughness of this recent cookbook prompted me to investigate other offerings from him which feature slow cooker, high fiber, and low cholesterol recipes. LOW-SODIUM COOKING MADE EASY begins with chapters devoted to spice blends & seasoning and to condiments & sauces (like sweet and sour or a teriyaki substitute).  The Baked French Toast in the breakfast section seems like an easy dish to prepare the night before. In addition, there are plenty of main dishes – with chapters on chicken & turkey, beef, or pork from which to choose. I am looking forward to trying Hungarian Beef Stew and also Pork and Sweet Potatoes, both in the slow cooker. And for seafood, we will be sampling Salmon Packets and Potato Crusted Fish. If you are still looking for ideas, there are additional chapters with suggestions for soups, stews & chilis, for salads & salad dressings, and for potatoes & rice. Unfortunately, there are not many pictures which I personally feel are pretty essential to an enjoyable, useful cookbook. The recipes, however, are relatively easy - as promised - and point to the importance of changing shopping habits (e.g., look for low-sodium bread) while pursuing dietary changes and a healthier lifestyle. 

THE EASY ANTI-INFLAMMATORY COOKBOOK by Molly Thompson is subtitled “Simple Recipes that Heal and Support Immune Health.” Like her earlier efforts, this cookbook, begins with some basic information about inflammation and then includes chapters on breakfast, on snacks, and on pasta. These are followed by poultry & pork, beef, and seafood, with the final two chapters featuring meatless meals and beverages. The recipes tend to be fairly complex and are probably suited to a more experienced, committed cook. For example, Paleo Coffee Cake Doughnuts with Crumble Topping had between one and two dozen ingredients, including three kinds of flour (almond, tapioca, and coconut). Ingredients are a bit unusual (at least to me), too; the appetizing Spicy Chicken Thai-Inspired Lettuce Wraps called for coconut aminos, chili paste, and toasted sesame oil. The pictures are colorful, with one for approximately every three or four recipes. There is no nutritional information, but number of servings and dietary designations (e.g., dairy free, gluten free, vegan, etc.) are included, with some helpful “pro tips” also interspersed.

On a related note, EAT & FLOURISH by Mary Beth Albright is all about “How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being” and even its beautiful cover evokes positive feelings. Albright, a writer, editor, and executive producer at the Washington Post, divides the book into six chapters dealing with first emotional eating; then pleasure; the gut microbiome; inflammation; nutrients and, finally, how to eat for emotional wellness. The first five provide scientific evidence of the important relationship between well-being and food, while the last provides a flexible four week outline to help incorporate many of the findings in daily life. As Albright points out, some suggested steps (e.g., “buy and eat 30 different plants in one week”), are indeed daunting, but she contends throughout the book that “it’s not just what we eat, it’s how we eat that affects mental health.” Notes, including citations for numerous scientific papers, represent at least ten percent of the text. EAT & FLOURISH received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.