Customer Reviews

Conscious Cuisine

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Those who love good foods can keep "Conscious Cuisine" on the shelf for a long-time to come. There is lots of variety, and most of the savoring dishes and sauce recipes are low in sodium, carbohydrates, and sugar. Worth noting, is that this is not for the quick throw-together at-home food enthusiasts. It's a step up into a little more planning and stocking. But the results will give you 5-star dishes such as Saffron-chive sauce, Carrot Mousse, Layered Spinach, Wild Mushroom, are a few of the many high-end cuisine you can create in your own kitchen.

I have tried several recipes in this book. My favorite is the Margarita Cheesecake. The recipes are perfect for anyone looking to improve their eating choices as well as those who have had gastric bypass. They're low in sugar, carbs, sodium, but full of flavor!!!!!

Having experienced the tastes of what is now one of the best resorts in the world on a first hand basis, this book is for everyone that wishes to experience a world of intricate details, fine dining, into a healthful and refreshing way. Experience 5 STAR resort healthful eating right at your own home. Chef Neff has brought together a passion and love of food that he has refined into a healthful and abundantley tasteful book. Finally food for those of us that love it, and want the tastes of real food without fealing guilty. I know that this has taken him years to perfect to bring to the rest of the world, but like all fine things in life.. perfection takes time.

I love this book so much that I don't know where to start.

To put this review into perspective for you, it is written by an amateur cook that has been seriously studying cooking on her own for 25 years. My favorite cookbook is "The Professional Chef", this book ties for second place with "Healthy Techniques by the CIA".

Anyone can make a dish taste better by adding cream, butter, eggs or sugar. But when someone can take most of things away and still come up with food that you want to eat, all I can say is WOW. If I could nominate this man for sainthood I would.

First, I love that the chef gives you nutritional information on every recipe. If you are a numbers geek like me, you just need to know the calories, fat, saturated fat, etc. in each recipe.

Second, anyone that can come up with a Caesar salad dressing with 25 calories in 2 tablespoons, and make it take good, is a genius in my book.

There has not been a single recipe from this book that wasn't at least good. And given the numbers (nutritional information) that is really saying something. If you want to really be blown away there is a Chilled Chocolate Souffle with a Berry Consomme (230 calories) that is mind blowing.

On the down side, some of the recipes in this book are a little labor intensive. If you don't get pleasure from cooking this might not be the book for you. However, if you relax by cooking and love to learn new techniques I highly recommend this book. I would have given it more than 5 stars if that were an option. This book is definitely at least an 11 on a 10 scale.

I am a personal chef. I use the recipes and techniques in this book for all of my customers. Everything is flavorful, healthy and creative. So often healthy recipes are bland, the food dull and listless. Cary Neff has created recipes that pay attention to the whole experience, the textures are right, the flavors unbelievable. I feel good about serving my customers and family foods that are good for them. This book helps me do that with flair.

Chef/author Cary Neff wasn't born to the cooking class; he was a Chicago kid raised to love football who developed a love of food and made a name for himself with unique, bold recipes. Conscious Cuisine reflects his move from rich cooking to healthier cooking - still packed with his signature flavors. Blending Thai, Mediterranean and other influences, Conscious Cuisine promotes not just healthy recipes, but a lifestyle which embraces the bold flavor over the fat content. The goal is for all busy cooks to understand the conscious choices in shopping and cooking habits: chapters reflect this philosophy through shopping tips as well as recipes.

I should first preface this by saying I love food. I love reading about it, cooking it at home, eating it in restaurants, etc. However, I've recognized that since I have graduated from college and now have a more sedentary lifestyle that I can no longer eat the rich foods and large portion sizes that I used to. Thus, I have started looking to "Cooking Light" and other healthy cooking resources to help guide my menus. My biggest frustration with most healthy cookbooks is that the dishes lack flavor and feel like your standard Betty Crocker fare, rather than something you would expect to see in a nice restaurant. This book is exactly the opposite. What I love about it is that in opening it up almost every recipe appealled to me, and yet I was shocked by how healthful it all could be! It's great if you want to make something restaurant quality at home but don't want all the extra fat and calories. Everything I have made so far has been very tasty and of a quality that I would present to dinner guests. Among my favorites have been the Crisp Shrimp and Vegetable Spring Rolls, Pico de Gallo Shrimp Salad, Black Bean Griddle Cakes, Granola and especially the Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding. There is also a good variety so you can get a lot of interesting meals out of this book.

The only downside for me is the portion sizes on the salad dressings and condiments. Many of these sound absolutely delicious and would be amazing to use, but they make 2 or so cups of dressing that only lasts for 2 to 3 days in the fridge. Unfortunately, some of the recipes do not half well so they aren't the smartest option for a single woman like me who doesn't want food to go bad. I do, however, like that he indicates which items freeze well since there are a lot of delicious sauces I plan to make and then freeze in an ice cube tray to use for later. Overall this is a great book. I checked it out from the library thinking I would only like 1 or 2 recipes and now own it.

I own about 120 cookbooks and I peruse several cookbooks a week at libraries and bookstores. This cookbook is outstanding and ORIGINAL!!! Chef Neff goes far beyond routine, low-fat techniques. Every recipe has both complete nutritional information and a beautiful photograph demonstrating how to present the dish to its best advantage.

Chef Neff is truly a master of his craft.

The photography is beautiful and the ideas of the book good. But so far all the baking recipes have been off on liquids and time! And when I check the ingredients through a calorie calculator the fat and calories that Neff supplies for the recipes are not always correct. I still love the book for the inspiration it provides. And I know enough about cooking and baking to adjust for the mistakes in the recipes. But I do not recommend this book for any novice cook.

Cary Neff works here with me. We can't get enough of his books. Our team has been excited to know that we could find the books through Amazon and that everyone is a good a new. Thanks.