Customer Reviews

The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one comprehensive cookbook. Featured are 1,000 recipes within chapters such as appetizers/beverages, breads, desserts, fish/shellfish, grains/pastas, meatless main dishes, meats, poultry, salads/dressings, sandwiches, sauces/condiments, soups/salads and veg. side dishes.

In true "Cooking Light" fashion, there are complete nutritional breakdowns, serving size recommendations and prep times for each recipe. The additional handy chapters, which describe essential kitchen tools, pantry must-haves, and food substitutes help arm you with the knowledge you need to make healthy eating a lifestyle.

But best of all, there are many full-color photos throughtout the book which give inspiration to those of us who are visually-oriented. Most ingredients can be found in any supermarket and most recipes can be completed within 30-45 minutes (according to the prep and cooking times given).

The only qualm I have is that some of the recipes are repeats from previous Cooking Light cookbooks, and the number of desserts featured. There are too many for my taste, but for those of you who do make desserts often, you'll have plenty to choose from!

All in all, a worthy addition to your cooking library.

... this should be the one. The annual collections are great (and after using this for a while you'll probably wind up subscribing to the magazine and buying the annual collections, too), but they're definitely frustrating to search through.

This, as the title states, is a "complete" (ie general purpose) cookbook. It's organized by categories, making it easy to browse through and look for something appealing--as you certainly will with such a wide variety of recipes! According to the introduction, it contains the "top 10%" of the 10,000 recipes that the magazine published since its launch in 1987.

The book is well-illustrated in color, with lots of helpful step-by-step technique photos. Info boxes every few pages offer additional information on ingredients, equipment, tips and techniques, etc. Organization, typeface, and layout are as important to me in a cookbook as content, and I think this really scores on those counts, as well. Unlike so many cookbooks, it also boasts a well-laid-out, practical index (albeit with a few frustrating quirks, like listing Baba Ghanouj as "Ghanouj, Baba"). It took me just a minute to glance through and confirm that many of my favorite CL recipes are included.

I got 5 Star Recipes as a gift, but I really don't use it. I don't agree with a lot of their "5 Star" choices, and it's really limited in scope. Quite a few of those recipes are repeated in this volume. For just a few dollars more, this would have made a MUCH better gift!

This cookbook has become my standby. The recipes are surprisingly tasty, given the low fat content in most of them. With the exception of the roasted garlic potatoes, which do not cook in the time specified in the recipe and in fact did not turn out well at all, all the recipes I have tried from this book have turned out to be both scrumptious and impressively presented. I have particularly enjoyed the broiled Australian lobster tails, the Barbecued Oriental Flank Steak, and the Carribbean Style Rice and Beans. I agree that there is a heavy slant toward desserts, with more than half the book being devoted to such recipes; however, the remaining recipes consist of everyday items you could easily whip up for dinner in a very short time. Many of the recipes are accompanied by very helpful step-by-step illustrations. There are also inset boxes that give you tips on what to look for when purchasing a particular item, or how to cut an ingredient a certain way. In that respect, this book is both an instructional manual and a cookbook. I subscribe to the magazine and have found this book to be a nice extension of the magazine and its contents.

First off, this is a greatest hits collection. The book has over a thousand recipes culled from thirteen years of the magazine. That's a pretty nice place to start. Then, unlike the annual books, this is an organized book so all of the desserts are together and such.

But why buy this instead of "Five Star Recipes" (the "best of" book released a couple of years ago)? For starters, this book has at least five times as many recipes. Also, FSR is mostly pretty fancy stuff - great for entertaining but more complicated than most of us want for every day. This book has enough room for both the showy and everyday standards. For example, it has about six versions of meatloaf alone.

But the part I wasn't expecting and found most wonderful are all of the sidebars filled with wisdom on the basics. For example, there's a nice section on tricks for boiling eggs that teaches you how to avoid getting the green rim around the yoke.

Bottom-line: This is a winning cookbook. Veteran cooks will find good recipes and still learn new tricks. I'm also thinking that it has great potential as a bridal shower/college graduation gift.

I am a big fan of the magazine 'Cooking Light.' I love the articles, but sometimes find the recipes too daunting for a week night - either too much time or too many ingredients.

This cookbook is not like that. This cookbook is aimed at being the one-stop shop for all of your cooking needs. Whether it's the Thanksgiving turkey or weeknight fajitas on the table in a half hour, it's all in there. (There are in fact multiple fajita recipes!)

The reecipes are designed so that a minimal amount of ingredients delivers the most flavor in the simplest fashion.

This book has all of the most requested, best recipes from Cooking Light including the award-winning Italian Cream Cake.

This book is logically formatted by food topics -- cakes, cookies, meatless entrees, poultry, sauces, etc...with numerous simple menu suggestions (and I mean really simple, do-able in under an hour).

If you are someone that is looking for a top-notch healthy cook book, then this book could be for you.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

All of the recipes have excellent written instructions that make every recipe a success every time.

If you want to indulge and cook up Stuffed Chicken Parmesan or Shrimp Scampi..you can without all the fat and calories.

This new cookbook really should have a picture up, the cake on the cover and the lavender color in the background will invite you to open this book. What you will find is:

1,000 recipes

Nutritional analyses and healthy makeovers of your favorite foods

Step-by-Step how-to photos

Tips and time-savers from Cooking Light editors

528 pages of inspiration

This is a collection of the best recipes. They are also healthy and there are plenty of color photos so you can see how the recipes will turn out.

~The Rebecca Review

I'm a college student who bought this book eight months ago when I decided to lay off the fast food and get healthy. I've done a lot of cooking for special occasions and such but had never cooked on a daily basis. The recipes in this book are very easy to follow with step-by-step illustrations for the harder stuff. The book includes all of the nutrition facts you could want for every recipe from saturated fat to the amount of fiber in each serving. There are also estimated prep times and cook times which are wonderful when you are flipping through to find a quick recipe on those busy days. There is also a very helpful substitution list in the back of the book. I can't count how many recipes I've tried, but every one of them has been delicious...even my boyfriend loves them. Since January I have learned to cook all kinds of wonderful, low calorie foods and have lost 20 pounds in the process. This is one cookbook I will always hang on to.

I have a whole library of cookbooks, but this is the one I reach for time and time again. There are certain qualities that make this book superior; they include:

- A well-organized index. Do not underrate this feature: The first step in deciding upon a recipe is what ingredients do I have on hand. With this nicely written index, I just look up the ingredient (eg. shrimp or plums) and there is listed a number of recipes.
- Simple common ingredients. Nothing too exotic or stuff you need to make a special shopping trip for. (I have several cookbooks that I never use for this reason.)
- Not overly complicated. I hate cookbooks that make things more complicated than should be, just to show off the skill of the author or chef. Recipes here are simple enough for beginning to moderate cooks, or those short on time. Isn't that all of us? (Approximate prep and cooking time is listed for each recipe.)
- Beyond the normal, done-to-death recipes. Though Joy of Cooking is considered the "Bible" I never use it. Why? Because the recipes are boring, done-a-thousand-times, in-every-cookbook lifeless. This cookbook offers simple, but slightly unusual recipes you're excited to try.
- Comprehensive. Seems to have a recipe for everything! (After using it many many times, I still have at least a dozen bookmarks in it for recipes I've yet to do but want to try.)
- Lowfat, with nutritional info provided. But I love the fact that flavor is not sacrificed -- you'll find lowfat milk listed, but butter and sour cream are also there when needed.
- Helpful extras. Like the substitution chart in the back (used it so many times!) and the list of cupboard basics in the front.

The book is attractively laid-out, with color photos for some of the items (but not all). A lovely keeper, one you will use again and again.

What I like about this cookbook is the variety of recipes. With over 1000 recipes in total there is something here to please almost everyone. The recipes do not take a great deal of time to prepare and the ingredients are easily found at your local supermarket. The highlight of the recipes is the low fat content. My personal favourite is the broiled Australian lobster tails.

What did not appeal to me about the book is the fact almost half the recipes seemed to be desserts and personally, I am not a dessert eater in the first place. If you have a sweet tooth, you might buy the book for the dessert recipes alone; however, I would have preferred to see more entrees and fewer desserts.

Overall, the recipes I tried turned out well and the directions are easy to follow. This book is great for those who do not have the time to slave away in the kitchen for hours on end; some of the recipes are quite unique.

As I sit here munching on a piece of yummy Kalua and Cinnamon Brownie (although it is really more a cake) with only 64 grams of fat in the whole 8 inch square pan, I thought it was time to share my thoughts on this cookbook. The reason I mention the entire pan is that the portion sizes for most of the deserts are unrealistically small in order to come down to a small sounding fat count. This one thinks you can get 16 servings out of an eight inch square cake that is only a half an inch high! I don't know many people who will stop after a 2 inch square of this cake. I suggest you calculate the entire fat content for the pan, and cut up the pieces into more generous sizes that satisfy, rather then ending up eating a huge quantity of bitty pieces. Even a more realistic 4 inch square only has 8 grams of fat and it is good! Aside from this I have few complaints. This book is packed full of wonderful recipes, all of which taste great and also happen to contain a moderate amount of calories and fat. Most are very quick and easy. Some of the ones I will make again include the Almost Tempura Chicken, Tai Style Pumpkin soup, Mocha Pudding Cake, Raspberry Muffins and Fried Chicken Salad - the buttermilk breaded chicken in it are great by themselves and of course the Brownies. The only disappointment so far was the Microwave Pudding which was not flavorful enough for me. The portion sizes for everything except the deserts are generous. This is NOT the only cookbook you will ever need though. There is no breakfast section or even an entry in the index! This is pretty surprising considering that a good breakfast is a very important part of eating in moderation. There are breakfast like recipes scattered about, smoothies in beverages, pancakes and muffins in breads, and egg dishes under eggs, but no easy way to find them. The section on recipes containing no meat was small. The sweets sections were huge, especially the selection of breads, most of which hardly anyone will have the time to make. I kept thinking why not breadmachine recipes when I stumbled over a couple of them at the end of the chapter. The directions are clear, but do not contain enough information for an inexperienced to cook to prepare with confidence. There are enough photos to stimulate the eye, but not one for every recipe - which I personally don't mind. All in all a worthwhile and highly recommended addition to any competent cook's bookshelf.