The New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life [Hardcover]

American Institute for Cancer Research (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2005

We all want great-tasting meals, but we also want meals that help us maintain a healthy weight and live longer, healthier lives. Marrying the art and science of food, The New American Plate Cookbook is the first cookbook designed to accomplish all three goals. A team of cooks, nutritionists, food writers, scientists, and others who are passionate about food collaborated to create 200 recipes, from appetizers to desserts, that combine sound nutrition with culinary ingenuity. From updated favorites to innovative showstoppers, The New American Plate Cookbook delights the senses--with vivid colors, tempting aromas, and luscious flavors--while helping you reduce your risk of serious health problems like cancer and heart disease. Whether you wish to achieve a healthy weight or find a lifelong approach to eating nutritious meals, The New American Plate Cookbook will satisfy your conscience while it dazzles your palate.
The New American Plate Cookbook includes:
*200 recipes, from appetizers, soups, and salads to one-pot dishes and entrées to vegetables, egg dishes, breads, pilafs, desserts, and more
*74 full-color photographs
*Tips on meal planning and complementary combinations of dishes
*Practical suggestions and a guide to ingredients and cooking techniques
*Information on the science behind the New American Plate approach

Recipes from The New American Plate Cookbook:
Bruschetta with Green Pea and Roasted Garlic Spread
Butternut Squash, Tomato and Watercress Soup
Mixed Greens with Blueberries and Feta
Sweet Potato and Pear Stir-Fry with Chicken and Chili Sauce
New American Beef Stew
Greek-Style Scallops
Chicken with Tomatoes, Honey and Cinnamon
Broccoli with Scallion Dressing and Hazelnuts
Gingered Carrots with Golden Raisins and Lemon
Heirloom Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Corn and Green Chile Muffins
Rice Pudding with Pears and Apples
Fresh Plum Tart

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This well-written cookbook is based on the notion that dinner should comprise something other than a hunk of meat, a pile of potatoes and a handful of some sort of green. As an alternative, the authors-a team of experts from the American Institute for Cancer Research-propose the "New American Plate," which emphasizes grains, vegetables, fruits and beans; meat should be used as a complement to these ingredients, but not the main event. In introductory essays, the authors explain the benefits of plant-based eating: living with a lower risk of cancer, for one thing, as well as maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding chronic disease. But if all this clean living sounds a bit too virtuous to be delicious, fear not: there are some wonderful recipes to be found in this volume. Vegetable Chili is thick and hearty enough for even an ardent Texas chili-head, while Three-Pepper Tofu Stir-Fry tastes authentically Asian. There are even a few tempting desserts, like a Fresh Plum Tart and Meringue Tartlets with Strawberries and Shaved Chocolate. As one would expect, all the recipes are accompanied by detailed nutritional information, but they are also exceedingly easy to follow and appealingly photographed.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"This amazing book weaves together state-of-the-art nutrition information with recipes you can't wait to prepare. It erases any lingering doubt that food good for the body can also be exquisite." - Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., Director, Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, Yale University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (March 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520242343
• ISBN-13: 978-0520242340
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 1.1 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 72 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Good. March 26, 2005

By A. Curry

Format:Hardcover

I'm not a foodie by any stretch of the imagination, but I am trying to take off a few pounds and was looking around for something that had a little more variety than Atkins and South Beach, and a friend mentioned this book.

It's an attractively photographed, well-laid out book. I was worried that the recipes might be a bit fussy, but I've tried several, and they're all really good -- lower in calories and fat without TASTING like they're lower in calories and fat. Filling, too. Had some friends over and made the Sweet Potato Chili, one of the salads, and the corn muffins, and nobody suspected the recipes came from a "health" cookbook.

What I really like, though, is the overall approach. I try to keep up with the nutrition news, but there's just no way for me to get my head around "six servings of vegetables" or whatever. The common sense approach in this book -- just make sure that your plate's covered with at least 2/3 plant foods -- really appeals to me.

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars good AND good for you February 23, 2005

By A. Rein

Format:Hardcover

Being a foodie, I love to cook for friends and family. I often turn to the cooking classics for inspiration, but generally find these recipes too heavy for every-day eating.

When I opened the New American Plate cookbook, I found pages of attractive, tasty, healthy, and easy-to-prepare recipes (none of the recipes is longer than a page!). I also learned a lot - both about healthy meal composition and creative flavor pairings. I honestly never would have thought to make fettuccine with figs and chiles, but it's delicious!

The book is also visually appealing and well designed. The "cooking basics" section at the end is particularly helpful, and includes useful tips on food substitutions, proper storage and handling, as well as an extensive guide to the vegetables, fruits, grains and spices used in the recipes.

I'm so glad to have this wonderful book as a kitchen resource.

I just finished eating, but I'm already planning the menu for tomorrow night!

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a Good Cookbook! December 14, 2005

By Jennifer Mora

Format:Hardcover

Published by the American Institute for Cancer Research (www.aicr.org), this book sheds light on how to compose meals that reflect the new food pyramid with an emphasis on portion control. The beginning of the book outlines the difference between the "old American diet" (8 oz. steak, potatoes and peas, for example) and the recommended "new American diet" (5 oz. animal protein, 2 vegetable servings and 1 starch flavored with herbs and less salt and oils). The book's focus is to steer people away from eating so much protein and to eating more complex carbohydrates. I would not recommend this book to those who are backlashing against the FDA's recommendations for a healthy diet. There are no recipes that include fois gras, brie, etc.

The book's recipe section is organized into 3 parts. The first two parts are two different approaches to composing a meal. The first part consists of recipes for vegetables, salads, animal proteins, sauces, etc with their own respective sections. Most of these recipes have suggestions (in their introduction) of what other items could be served with it to make a complete meal. The second part is one-pot meals, i.e., casseroles (yes, casseroles!), stews, stir-fries, pilafs, entree salads, frittatas and chilis. The third part consists of items that really should be eaten more in moderation, i.e., appetizers, soups, breads/muffins and desserts, with soups being the exception.

All recipes have nutrition summaries (calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber and sodium) and most recipes include the nutritional benefits of certain ingredients and recommendations on how not to destroy the nutrition in what you set out to cook (brussels sprouts, for example).

The photography is beautiful with an appetizing photograph on every second or third page. Having cooked nearly half of the recipes in this cookbook, most of the food really looks like the recipe's photograph and tastes delicious too. This fact makes it difficult to stick to the recommended portions. Ingredients that one may not have cooked with before, such as millet, quinoa, and kasha have very appetizing recipes as well. The recipes are diverse and include many common ingredients. Also, the recipe layouts are easy to read.

The book has a valuable section at the end which summarizes cooking basics and specifics on healthy foods (vegetable descriptions).

Overall, this book gets a full workout in my kitchen and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to incorporate healthy foods and cooking methods into their daily diet. Just do not forget to focus on portion control!