Now Eat This!: 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories [Paperback]

Rocco DiSpirito (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Featured Recipe: No Cream-No Cry Penne Alla Vodka

The dirty little secret about Penne alla Vodka is not the vodka but the hefty amount of heavy cream. Vodka is colorless, odorless, and without much flavor—not really attributes of a superstar ingredient. It’s the combination of cream and tomato sauce that gives this dish its signature flavor. The traditional cream is swapped here for low-fat Greek yogurt. --Rocco DiSpirito

Ingredients

• 8 ounces whole- wheat penne
• 2 cups Rocco’s How Low Can You Go Low-Fat Marinara Sauce (page 206 of Now Eat This!) or store-bought low- fat marinara sauce
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• One 7-ounce container 2% Greek yogurt
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

(Serves 4)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, about 9 minutes; drain.

2. While the pasta is cooking, bring the marinara sauce and crushed red pepper to a simmer in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Cook the sauce, stirring it occasionally with a heat-resistant rubber spatula, until it is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the saute pan from the heat.

3. Stir about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the yogurt until smooth (this tempers it and prevents the yogurt from curdling). Then whisk the yogurt mixture back into the marinara sauce.

4. In a large serving bowl, toss the sauce with the drained penne and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and serve.

Healthy Tips

Whole-wheat pasta has a dense texture that makes it a little tougher than regular pasta. Some people like that chewiness; some don’t. If you’re in the latter category, overcook it a bit. Toward the end of the cooking time, keep testing it until it’s as tender as you like it.

Fat: 4.8 g
Calories: 320
Protein: 18 g
Carbohydrates: 55 g
Cholesterol: 11 mg
Fiber: 6 g
Sodium: 416 mg

Featured Recipe: Seared Tuna With Green Beans, Lemon, And Wasabi

This dish isn’t a makeover, per se. But there are so many beloved--and believe it or not, unhealthy--seared tuna dishes out there in the restaurant world that I thought I should offer at least one healthy version. The tuna is never the problem. Tuna is rich in nutrients, low in fat, delicious, and just a good bet all around. It’s the stuff that’s put on top that’s the problem--anything from seared foie gras to deep-fried tempura crispies. Sure, it tastes great, but those additions turn a healthful dish into an artery-clogging one. --Rocco DiSpirito

Ingredients

• 4 sushi-grade tuna steaks (3 ounces each)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 12 ounces haricots verts or slim green beans, trimmed
• Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons wasabi paste
• 4 scallions (white and green parts), sliced thin on the diagonal
• 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds

(Serves 4)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat a grill or grill pan over high heat.

2. Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper to taste, and spray them lightly with cooking spray. When the grill is hot, add the tuna and cook for 1 1/2 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the tuna to a platter and allow it to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook the haricots verts in the boiling water until they are just tender, about 3 minutes; drain.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and zest, garlic, and wasabi paste. Add the haricots verts, scallions, and sesame seeds. Toss to coat, adding salt and pepper to taste.

5. Thinly slice the tuna. Fan each portion onto each of 4 plates. Pile a mound of dressed haricots verts on top of the tuna, and serve.

Fat: 3.8 g
Calories: 166
Protein: 23 g
Carbohydrates: 11 g
Cholesterol: 38 mg
Fiber: 5 g
Sodium: 211 mg

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From Booklist

Popular television chef DiSpirito’s latest cookbook retools diet cookery in hope of convincing even the most stubborn gourmand to cut calories yet still maintain a regimen of delicious, satisfying foods not immediately perceived as diet food. To accomplish this, he takes up underused ingredients such as Greek yogurt, whole-wheat pasta, cauliflower, and reduced-sugar ketchup, whose benefits go beyond mere calorie trimming to add fiber and enhance nutrition. DiSpirito’s goal is to reduce calories in popular “comfort foods” to less than 350 per serving, and his methods yield some astonishing calorie reductions. Onion rings fall from about 1,800 calories to 342. Fried chicken loses more than half. In addition to building in lower fats, DiSpirito does his best to lower cholesterol, carbohydrate, and sodium levels as well. The frustrated gourmet compelled to address weight loss will thrill to DiSpirito’s novel approach, but it requires thorough pantry restocking. --Mark Knoblauch

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345520904
• ISBN-13: 978-0345520906
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #2 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Healthy
  #1 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Regional & International > U.S. Regional
  #2 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Low Fat

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LOVE the book but lots of artificial sweeteners..., March 14, 2010

By	SwimMom (Great North) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Now Eat This!: 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories (Paperback)

I checked this book out from the library and intend on buying it. So far we have tried the Mac & Cheese (w/ Onion & Garlic Puree), Spaghetti Carbonara, Deep Dish Pizza, Nachos, & Brownies...all pretty much exactly as written and all in 3 days. The 1st three were AMAZING!! The Nachos were okay but I couldn't follow the recipe exactly due to our not having the black bean dip (subbed drained and rinsed black beans and green chilies)...if we'd followed it exactly I am certain that it would have been wonderful, as our version was "missing something". I am looking forward to trying the Indian Beef Curry and French Onion Soup soon. I LOVE that he incorporates Greek Yogurt into a lot of his recipes...such a wonderful healthy ingredient with a great texture, especially Fage brand.

I would give this book 4.5 stars if I could, but the scoring would not allow. The reason being is that there is an insane amount of artifical sweeteners in this book. I understand that he is trying to keep the recipes' calories and fat grams under certain amounts but I have a hard time believing that he, as a world-reknowned chef and serious athlete, would use Splenda & sugar-free chocolate syrup, etc as a normal part of his diet. I was really hoping that he would have included more of the "whole food, nothing artificial"-type recipes, like those that he had on the Biggest Loser. For example, the Brownies, which are supposedly the "star of the book" according to an interview that I read, had a "chemical" finish. I really wanted to try the chocolate chip cookies but haven't been able to find the chocolate nips in the recipe, so I opted for the more accessible Brownies. Please note that I have been making whole-food black bean brownies and white bean chocolate cookies (LOVE THESE!) for YEARS, including a bean brownie that is 79 cal/piece (8x8 pan, 16 pieces), so I am quite familiar with and accepting of the flavor and texture differences between these and the "real things". I just wish that the desserts were more "whole food" and less "fake" ingredients. It IS attainable. I do not give my kids artificial sweeteners, so most of these desserts would be off-limits for them.

All that being said, I LOVED the other recipes and look forward to trying more. I LOVE the variety of classic dishes from around the world. Thank you for this book, Rocco.

117 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars dashed expectations, March 18, 2010

By	John F. Coyne "John Coyne" (Hampden Twp, PA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Now Eat This!: 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories (Paperback)

Purchased at a retail book store for much more than I would have paid on Amazon... boo-hoo for me. Regardless, my initial good impressions have progressively soured... or more to the point, gone bitter.

I've made all my family's dinners this week (and one dessert) out of this book.

I made a good choice by cooking the chicken & dumplings Sunday - it was actually quite good.

Monday was chicken burritos... ok, but if I do it again, I will substitute lowfat sour cream for the greek yogurt.

Tuesday was fettuccine alfredo - the yogurt was the issue again, it overpowered the dish - I think I could come up with a better recipe using lowfat milk and lowfat parm.

Wednesday (last night, St. Patrick's Day 2010) was shepherds pie - YUCK! for only a few more calories, real potatoes instead of cauliflower would have made a world of difference. The extra cal's from potatoes would have been offset by using a fat free gravy instead of the chicken broth based gravy called for in the recipe. Anyone who feels that cauliflower in a food processor is any kind of substitute for mashed potatoes must be completely without tastebuds... did I say YUCK yet?

So to follow up this terrible St. Patty's Day Irish non-treat (shepherds pie is an Irish dish), I made brownies. THE BROWNIES ARE TERRIBLE - JUST PLAIN AWFUL - the picture on the brownie page is no way, no how the brownies from the recipe. They were bitter, the espresso powder overpowers the chocolate and the black beans give it a very strange texture that is not at all pleasing.

Tonight (Thursday) was going to be his Sloppy Joes, but forget it - chalking this book up as a $20 loss and moving on with my life. Do yourself a favor if you think this is a cookbook for you: ask to borrow a friend's, borrow it from the library, or find another way to try out some these recipes for free before you waste your money.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now Eat These Yummy Recipes and Permanently Lose Weight, March 12, 2010

By	J. Whitford (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Now Eat This!: 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories (Paperback)

I have to be honest and say I am not a cook. I am devoted to my takeout menus. There is a reason I laminate them and keep them in a folder. I have tried losing weight eating. I ate low fat, no taste food and it only left me feeling miserable and desiring meat dishes and sweet desserts.

My doctor suggested that I get healthy (translation: lose some weight or your heart, kidneys and other organs are going to quit on you.) He compared my body to a toxic waste dump and said the only thing that would help me was a return to eating real food I prepared myself. Enter Rocco's cookbook.

Rocco was a guest chef on the Biggest Loser. After that show, he was encouraged and inspired to write a cookbook with real food and recipes that anyone could eat and still lose weight.

This book includes all my favorite comfort foods that I tend to eat over and over again at fast food joints, order for takeout and at local shopping malls and restaurants.

I am adding one new recipe a week to my meal plan. Here are a few of my favorites and how many calories and fat grams Rocco reduced in each recipe:

1. Chicken Alfredo (made with whole wheat linguine) cut out 920 calories and 65 grams of fat.

2. Chicken Cordon Bleu cut out a 1,000 calories and 75 grams of fat.

3. Filet Mignon Béarnaise with Roasted Cauliflower -cut out over 400 calories 33 grams of fat

4. Loaded Baked Potato Skins - cut out 450 calories and 33 grams of fat

These recipes use fresh ingredients, sometimes cooking spray (you could substitute olive or canola oil), and sometimes natural sweeteners like stevia, etc.

The taste is incredible. The portions for some recipes may seem small, but I offer this suggestion. Turn off your TV and computer. Sit and eat at your dining room table without distraction. Savor every bite. Not only will you enjoy your food more, you will actually taste it, and realize when you are full a lot faster.

Bon Appétit!