Amazon.com Review
If you think that eating healthy means giving up flavor and pleasure, you're in for a treat. Author Robert Siegel was an overweight gourmet cook heading for a heart bypass when he changed his eating and eliminated meat, dairy, and dietary fat. His next challenge was to revamp those healthy but boring recipes so that he and his dinner guests would feel satisfied, not deprived. Before long he was "The Healthy Gourmet," teaching thousands how to cook "fat free and delicious"--giving up fat but keeping the flavor.
Fat Free and Delicious contains 176 recipes, from appetizers to desserts, to please every palate. You'll find fat-free and ultra-low-fat modifications of traditional recipes such as Sloppy Joes, Lasagna, and French Fries (baked instead of fried); international favorites like Fruit Crepes, Teriyaki Noodles, Fiesta Chili, and Mushroom Stroganoff; and innovations like Mock Guacamole (with cauliflower, tofu, and peas), Savory Mushroom Gravy (only 7 percent fat), and German Carob Cake. Each recipe includes calories, fat grams, and fat percentages, and a number are marked "quick and easy"--ready in 15 minutes or less. If you're trying to eat healthier, this book will get you on the right path without sacrificing taste. Highly recommended. --Joan Price
From Publishers Weekly
Aiming to "restructure" favorite fat-filled dishes by substituting healthy ingredients, Siegel offers 176 recipes, none of which contains meat, dairy products, oil, sugar or white flour. Based mostly on vegetables, grains, legumes and tofu and arranged by courses (plus a special section on breakfast), the dishes might also appeal to vegans and those with food allergies. In these transformations, lentils simmer in Sloppy Joes; tofu is stuffed into Manicotti; Grape-Nuts and apple juice make a cobbler topping. Some of his ideas for replicating the "mouth feel" of not-good-for-you food classics succeed: Spicy Bean Pate and Mexican Potato Salad with Corn and Salsa are fresh and lively. But many recipes are long on ingredients (12, including guar gum, in No Oil Raspberry Vinaigrette), while others are short on instructions (no indication of how long it will take to brown the roasted whole wheat flour for Country Style Gravy). Siegel provides a useful "Glossary of Natural Foods and Unusual Ingredients," diet hints (always keep baked potatoes on hand for snacking), cooking tips ("saute" in stock or tamari) and a calorie and fat breakdown for each recipe.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
