Customer Reviews

Secrets of Fat-free Italian Cooking (Secrets of Fat-free Cooking)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the best Italian cookbook I have ever come across. As a Weight Watcher member, I am always looking for recipes that give nutritional analysis. Sandra Woodruff seems to have a great understanding of fat-free cooking and her knowledge base is superior. The recipes are easy to follow and shop for. The book is loaded with additional info about product packaging, substitutions, and fat fighting tips. I've only had the book 2 weeks and already I have made 8 nights worth of meals as well as dessert. Try the blueberry cheesecake! I collect cheesecake recipes and this is the best fat-free recipe yet. I took it to work and even the most critical food pleaser enjoyed it!. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs to cut the fat from their diet. You won't even miss the extra fat and calories!

Terms like low-fat and fat-free often bring to mind reduced flavors and poor imitations. Fortunately, this is not the case with this cookbook.

There are recipes from appetizers all the way to desserts, and not only do they have more traditional recipes we're all familiar with, but there are less common ones, to make sure you've got variety to choose from.

Honestly, they are going to be different from full-fat versions of the recipes, and in a few cases, such as the Fettucine Alfredo, the healthier version really doesn't cut it - but for every one of those recipes, there are plenty of delicious ones.

I've used this cookbook often enough that it's definately got signs of wear - and it opens right to my favorite recipe from it, Lemon Chicken Linguine.

Each recipe also includes all sorts of nutritional information, so if you're really watching your diet, you'll know exactly what to expect from a serving.

OUTSTANDING and FABULOUS!!!!! Her recipes are so delicious and her cooking tips have allowed me to adapt my mother and grandmother's regional recipes into healthier versions. Try Ms. Woodruff's version of Tiramisu---I serve it often and it's to die for!!

I collect all her cookbooks because the recipes taste authentic to the higher calorie ones. Good food is all about nutritional value and flavor. This book is a winner!!!

This is a wonderful book for anyone who likes Italian food, but doesn't want all the fat that is usually in it. It contains great tasting easy recipes that anyone can make, with ingredients found in any grocery store.

The author starts out by discussing low-fat eating & the ingredients that go into the recipes. Information on products for those with special diet needs is included. A great resource list for finding these products is in the back.

The recipes cover a wide range of foods including appetizers, omelets, salads, soups, pizzas, breads, pastas, sauces, main entrees, & desserts. Polenta, Risotto & Gnocchi are also covered. Each recipe has nutritional information.

Some of my favorite dishes include the spinach & mushroom calzone, lasagna & mama mia meatball soup. I recommend using low-fat cheeses instead of fat-free ones, because they melt better.

It's hard to find a good "Non-Fat" cookbook, since most cooks don't truly go "fat free," they simply reduce the amount of fat but still use it. While that's a good start (and I wouldn't claim that less than a gram of fat per serving will kill ya'), I'm still looking for actual cookbooks that eschew fat / cholesterol entirely according to something not unlike Ornish or Esselstyn type diets (meat, dairy, oils, avocados & nuts are generally all verboten or at best strictly limited).

That said, it's a pretty good low-fat cookbook, and should be relatively easily adaptable to "non-fat" pantries, by those looking for truly *non-fat* vegetarian dishes.

Anyway, for those less strict about the low-fat/non-fat divide, this seems like a very yummy cookbook to peruse...

It has about 200 recipes, as well as a section in the front about low-fat substitutions, healthy cooking, etc. It seems moderately well organized into sections for appetizers entrees, soups, salads, pastas, breads / pizzas, sauces, entrees and desserts. Most pages are black and white with ingredients instructions and nutritional information. There are interspersed cartoonish line art drawings, and there are also occasional full color plates showing a number of the dishes. Most, however, don't have pictures or cartoons.

Recipes are from meatballs to marinara, gnocchi to minestrone salad, chocolate-hazelnut biscotti to baked spinach and artichoke spread. All things Italian and Italian-inspired seem to be included in this volume. If not all things, then certainly plenty. It runs the gamut.

Especially at the bargain price, this cookbook is worth it even if you never make more than one recipe: the outstanding bruschetta pomodoro! Italian is my favorite style of cooking and eating, and I have never had a better pomodoro. I have served it to a native Italian who is a total foodie, and he couldn't stop eating it. Every time I make it for a tailgate party, picnic, party, or other social gathering, everyone literally asks me for the recipe.

All the recipes I've tried in this book have been exceptionally tasty without all the fat. Love love love it!

I made the Rigatoni in Spicy Olive Sause. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of rigatoni. This is not enough to feed 2 people. The sauce 8 plum tomatoes chopped also was not enough. This is the only recipe I have made. I am not pleased. If the recipe was for one person, it should have said so.

Some things ae pretty good. Others taste fairly bland. Concept is good. Not having an upscale market nearby, it is sometimes tough to use cook books that simply put the words "Fat Free" in front of every ingredient. Fat free meat, fat free chicken, fat free cheese...some of these recipes would be a lot better with some fat - and upgrade to the the "low-fat" version.

I've tried, really really tried! I went on a fat free and low-fat cookbook buying binge over a year ago. I bought just about every "Fat Free" book Sandra Woodruff put out. Know what? Not one good recipe out of any of them and I gave away the books or donated them to Goodwill. How is it that I can't find one recipe out of these books that tastes even halfway decent but others can? Are my standards so high? I just want low fat, low calorie foods that have a lot of flavor and aren't going to take all day to make....is that too much to ask? Of her books, apparently so. Read my reviews and you'll find some much better books to spend your hard-earned fatfree/lowfat cookbook dollars on. I swear that at one time I had a row of FF/LF cookbooks 15 feet long....there are a lot of ff/LF cookbooks but not many worthy of the name. Shop smart! Don't buy this book!