Customer Reviews

Cooking Light: 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have a lot of cookbooks with easy or quick in the title that I never use because either the recipes are not healthy or are not tasty or both. I use this Cooking Light cookbook EVERY week for at least 3 of my weeknight meals. Not only is everything easy to prepare, healthy, and tasty; it is easy to search through the book to pick my menus for the week before going to the grocery store. Everything is spelled out for you. I would use this book even if I had plenty of time during the week to cook.

I was very disappointed with this cookbook. Typical recipes tend to run along these lines: combine package of frozen vegetables with meat; combine can of something with frozen chicken. Not that that sort of thing can't provide some very quick and tasty meals, but recipes like that are already printed on the back of the box, or listed by the hundreds on websites like Campbells or Green Giant for free.

I also objected to some of the processed foods. Frozen vegetables are great--convenient and with nutrition intact. But bottled gravy? The boil-in-bag rice particularly irked me. Rice takes 20 minutes to make! Same thing with all the packaged frozen cooked chicken.

I will say that the menu recommendations are handy. And it's nice that each recipe gets a two-page spread--picture on one side, recipe on the other. The downside of this is that this relatively slim book doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of recipes in it.

I can recommend checking this book out of the library. You're sure to find a couple of recipes that are worth checking out. But not to purchase. Frankly the price is outrageous for what you get. You would be far better off spending the same money on any one of the cooking light annual books. Those have about ten times as many recipes of all types, from which you can easily glean at least this many quick weeknight recipes.

Or save your money entirely and use the "back of the box"/manufacturer's website recipes, which are pretty much the same thing as this book. There's nothing special that makes them "light," other than using the low sodium or low fat version of packaged foods.

This book is truly the best cookbook I have ever owned (and since I collect cookbooks, that's saying alot). I had the book for only 1 week, and have tried 2 recipes (Mexican Chicken Skillet & Dijon Porkchops). Wow---they were quick, easy and truly delicious.

The book gives food exchange value for all recipes. Since I am counting food exchanges to help me lose weight, this is a great feature!

The recipes I tried truly did take less than 15 minutes. I could hardly believe it!

If you're even considering buying it.....BUY IT. You won't go wrong!

I am a busy working woman and not much of a cook to boot. The meals in this book take only minutes to make, but taste like you really know what you're doing in the kitchen. The nutritional info also makes this cookbook very easy to use with the Weight Watchers 1-2-3-Success program. We're buying two more for Christmas gifts this year!

As a mother and busy professional, this book has become a staple item in my kitchen. The recipes are easy, quick, low in fat and delicious. We've put a star on the page for every recipe my family has loved...and that's nearly every one. Cooking Light does everything except the shopping...5 ingredients, 15 minutes -- that's all it takes! This one is a must!

I purchased this book used because of the first review--which was less than kind. The book came in excellent condition and I'm VERY glad because I think the book is GREAT!!!!! Yes, it does contain some pre-packaged items like coleslaw mix and gravey in a jar, but frankly, I'm too busy to make everything from scratch! Frozen veggies are there too, but that's okay because they can be healthier because they're frozen very quickly, compared to fresh, which unless you shop at a good fruit market, can sit there for a while. There's even a hand full of recipes using the crock pot--a real time saver! I'd absolutely give this as a gift too. Pictures abound for those of you who like to be visually inspired! Nice fish recipes, pasta, a very cool section on quick side salads. Because of the range of foods, there is lots of color with the meals as well. The shopping list is brief and very helpful. The book is well layed out. There's even a cute little microwave chart for cooking veggies--which we all know we need to eat more of, and they go so great with lots of things! There's this nice little "Vegetable Salad Marinade" that you make then it gives four VERY healthy legume salads to use it on--no leftovers to waste! There are some unusual, different recipes too like "Moroccan Chicken and Lentils"--how's THAT to break up the same-old-thing routine? I don't know folks. I love to cook, but time is at a premium at my house. I think this book has earned five stars!

Take it from an eater of these recipes -- they're awesome. Because they're so quick _and_ so easy the number of "standard" menu items in our house is steadily increasing. Of the dozen or so entrees attempted so far, only one has not met with 100% approval (parents and kids). So many cookbooks get bought for one or two recipes. This book will get used for more than that - making it a five star book by far!

Ok, I hate to cook. I'm single and rarely are recipes simple and quick, and when you're cooking for yourself, who wants to go through all that trouble. I sure don't. I made the glazed pork chops with green beans and strawberry parfaite for dessert. My friend could not believe how good it was AND that it was my first time trying that recipe. And it was SO EASY!!! I bought the cook book because it had pictures of every dish (which is very helpful, I think) and because it said "5 Ingredients, 15 Minutes." I didn't even know that it was low-cal. What a bonus! This is a great book if you want to eat something tastey, healthy, quick and easy to make. I think I have actually started to enjoy cooking (shhh don't tell anyone though :)). This cook book is worth every penny.

As a subscriber of Cooking Light magazine, I was interested in seeing what this cookbook had to offer! WOW! After being drawn to the gorgeous photos, I decided to try one of the recipes! Our guests were so amazed at the deliciousness of the meal (the Sunflower Orange Roughy with Garlic-Dill rolls), combined with the health benefits, that they decided to purchase this cookbook for themselves and buy a couple extra for gifts! The features are wonderful "extras". The grocery list that runs down the margin of every recipe is a wonderful feature -- sure helps me get my grocery list organized! And, the nutritional information is always of interest! I expect this cookbook to be the one I turn to for throwing together a simple meal as well as one that adds a level of sophistication!

This cookbook is great for busy people who want to cook but don't have the time or interest in making everything from scratch. I have made several of the recipes in here and most (not all) of them have been good enough to put into regular rotation. Most of the recipes are centered around dinner meals.

Pros:
- Each recipe has a color picture to go with it. I love this!
- The book is well organized with chapters devoted to chicken, beef, pork, etc.

Cons:
- The "15 minute" claim is not quite correct. Most of the recipes are fast, but not that fast. Basically, the "15 minute" and "5 ingredient" claims are figurative, rather than literal.
- Some of the recipes require ingredients that only special, up-scale grocery stores carry. I hate spending lots of time in grocery stores trying to find some thing that I've never heard of.

In general, if you're a cook who likes to make things from scratch or cook only authentic recipes, you won't be satisfied with this cookbook. This book is aimed towards people who don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and have no qualms about using pre-made ingredients in their cooking. Nutritional information is given. Most dishes are relatively nutritious (unless you're on an Atkins-like diet).