Customer Reviews

Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Cooking: Recipes and Techniques for Wholesome Home Cooking

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has really great recipes. There are some simple recipes as well as those that are more time consuming. You have to enjoy cooking, which I do...and you have to want to be in the kitchen for at least 45 min. in order to prepare the meals. They turn out to be so delicious; it's definitely worth the time and effort especially if you're trying to keep a healthy eating habit. The portions aren't rediculously large and the taste is definitely satisfying! This book is highly recommended by me

If you are interested in a book filled with delicious healthy recipes and you love seeing a picture of it before you make it, this is the book for you! It has a picture for almost every single recipe in the book. Gorgeous!

Not only is this book about Healthful Cooking, the recipes are fantastic. Recipes are easy to read and the pictures are beautiful. Start with the mushroom, potatoes, onions and green bean dish and then move on the the salmon and asparagus salad and on to the poached pears. Thank you William Sonoma for another great book.

I bought this book because the recipes looked, not only healthy, but delicious. It is well illustrated and the recipes are quite easy to follow. There is an error on the recipe for Spinach Custard with Gruyere Topping on page 170 with the oven temperature. According to Williams-Sonoma, it should read 325 degrees and not 180 degrees.

beautiful pictures, love the format, not quite as skimpy as some william sonoma books. this is isn't a quick recipe book, but if you have some extra time, there are some fantastic recipes. it is worth it just for the red pepper lasagna, and the eggplant was yummy too. i don't recommend the eggplant cannelloni, however!

I bought this cookbook as a present for a friend. As I, myself, am interested in health food and adore the beautifully constructed full-picture versions of the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks, I had a hard time actually GIVING this present to her (*Sigh*...I suppose I shall have to buy my own, now).

This cookbook is great for the beginner in 'Healthful Cooking.' The beginning section is devoted to standard terms and proper cooking/preparation techniques involved with natural food preparation. The entire book features huge, wonderfully-photographed, pictures -- which are great for inspiration (I always find them greatly inspiring in my other Williams-Sonoma cookbooks).

The recipes range the gamut from easy to a bit more technical, but all cooks should be able to pull these meals off. Also, there is something that I found to be particularly wonderful about this cookbook: there are dessert recipes inside! I had almost become used to a world in which 'healthy cooking' did not involve cooking desserts... (Again, the pictures are wonderful, and guaranteed to make you drool, even if the dessert turns out to be inordinately healthy.)

I recommend this cookbook for anyone with a visual eye that is interested in healthy cooking.

Williams Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Cooking: Recipes and Techniques for Wholesome Home Cooking (Williams-Sonoma Essentials) not only gives you wonderful and delicious recipes, but also some great tips on how to eat healthy, how to clean and prep your foods. I give this cook book 5 stars! Enjoy!!!

If you're looking to create a healthful meal that doesn't compromise on flavor and don't mind spending some time in the kitchen this book is a great resource.

The book starts off with some basic chapters on nutrtion and principles of healthy cooking and then goes into the recipes which as expected range from appetizers to salads to desserts. Those new to cooking will especially appreciate the sections on basic recipes and techniques which, among other things, teach you how to make healthy homemade stocks.

Overall I found this cookbook enjoyable to cook from. There were lots of color photographs and the directions were clear. These recipes are not in the quick and easy camp so most will take you more than 30 minutes to get on the table, but they are also not overly intricate and do not require a lot of complicated preparations. The recipes are also what you would expect from Williams-Sonoma: casually elegant and drawing from many different flavor profiles. The only thing I don't care for is the fact that all the nutritional information is located at the end. It would be MUCH simpler for menu planning if it was located with each recipe, particularly for people who are following Weight Watchers or another plan and are looking for meals that fit within a certain calorie range.

The true test of any cookbook for me though is how well the food turns out. So far I have made several recipes including the Apple-Date Muffins, Cider-Braised Pork Chops, Orange-Cinnamon Carrots, and Baked Polenta with Mushrooms. Of everything I have made the Baked Polenta was the only thing that didn't work out. It was quite bland, but everything else has turned out exceptionally flavorful and worthy of serving to guests.

Overall, this is a good cookbook. If you enjoy other healthy cookbooks like those from The Canyon Ranch, Cooking Light, and Ellie Krieger you are sure to like this book as well.

The recipes listed here are very healthy and very tasty, dispelling the myth that healthy invariably means not tasty. The authors use spices and wines to make low-fat food tasty, and they always manage to. These recipes have various degree of difficulty, ranging from very easy to quite challenging, and many of these ideas can be used for Christmas, Thanksgiving and other holiday meals.

Great recipes with little added fat...bought as a way to get on track with my NYE resolution to get in shape and eat better. Made the salmon with lime recipe and it turned out pretty well. I don't know if I would pay FULL price for it (I bought mine used from Amazon), but there are some gems in here.