The Skinnygirl Dish: Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life (Paperback)

~ (Author), Eve Adamson (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Frankel (Naturally Thin), star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City, pre-sents a healthful, no-nonsense approach to eating and cooking. Comparing food to a wardrobe, she advises readers to know what classics to have on hand. Then, she adds, accessorize with items like pine nuts or sun-dried tomatoes. Frankel's book is divided in three parts: the first (The Skinny) explains her methods and philosophy; the second includes recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks; and the third part offers tips for holidays and special occasions. Frankel teaches how to think like a chef, urging readers to use the ingredients they have in their own kitchens. In fact, the 60 recipes presented become more than 1,000 with the substitution charts Frankel provides. For instance, when roasting chicken, the author suggests opting for turnip or parsnip instead of carrot; when mixing up tuna salad, sprinkle with capers; or adding pesto or horseradish to mayo for personality. Frankel describes her recipes as instructional and conversational rather than authoritarian, and encourages experimentation. She also helps readers organize and streamline their kitchens, and allows such shortcuts as boxed stock or prepared piecrusts. This fun, engaging, and easy-to-follow guide will be welcomed enthusiastically by Frankel's fans. (Jan.)
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Product Description

Join Bethenny on the Skinnygirl journey and learn how to cook
fearlessly and make the food you love that fits your lifestyle

In her New York Times bestseller Naturally Thin, Bethenny Frankel shares her ten real-life rules for enjoying healthful natural foods and escaping the diet trap. Now, in The Skinnygirl Dish, Bethenny joins you in the kitchen and shows you how to stop the "cooking noise" and put an end to the anxiety about how and what to cook and eat. The Skinnygirl dishes on how anyone can:

• Get in touch with your "inner chef" and make the Skinnygirl philosophy yours

• Use Bethenny's list of kitchen essentials and the core concept of using what you have at hand to enjoy creating healthy, satisfying meals

• Take your basic cooking skills to the next level with practical tips for saving time, money, and sanity

• Make personalized gourmet recipes from celebrity chefs, including Bobby Flay and Top Chef stars Lee Anne Wong, Hosea Rosenberg, and Ariane Duarte

• Light up -- and lighten up -- holidays and special occasions with tips and recipes for throwing the perfect, stress-free party

Over sixty recipes become more than a thousand recipes with Bethenny's "Use What You Have" substitution charts. Enjoy Breakthrough Breakfasts, Delicious Dinners, Simple Snacks, To-Die-For Desserts, and Skinnygirl Cocktails, plus tips to turn almost any dish into a vegetarian delight. With the famous wit and real-world sensibility that made her a breakout star, Bethenny reveals her kitchen adventures and inspires readers to cook the Skinnygirl way with taste and style.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; Original edition (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416597999
• ISBN-13: 978-1416597995
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,592 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #19 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Low Fat
  #63 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Diets & Weight Loss > Diets > Weight Loss
  #89 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Nutrition

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Slightly disappointed..., January 2, 2010

By	j.s. "mr z" (Bloomington, IN United States) - See all my reviews

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I am a fan of Bethenny Frankel (as a writer AND a reality show star) and I really enjoyed her first book, "Naturally Thin." I used the recipes from her first book often - especially the joyful heart muffins and cookies. That being said, I am not a fan of her latest book, "The Skinnygirl Dish."

Many of the recipes are rehashes of better recipes from other lowfat cookbooks. You'll find standard recipes for roast chicken, lemon asparagus, roasted root vegetables, AND the best recipes from the first book. If you already have any lowfat/healthy cookbooks, there isn't anything new here.

The book itself is bound in a large paperback edition with superthin pages and NO photos. It looks more like a novel and less like a cookbook (I am quite messy in the kitchen and I need sturdy pages that I can crease open). My copy of "The Skinnygirl Dish" is already slightly bent out of shape.

And lastly, the book is touted as having over sixty recipes and thousands of "Use What You Have" substitution charts. These charts are a gigantic waste of space...and they are basically common sense. For example: no regular milk? Try soy milk! No red peppers? Try any other color pepper! Really Bethenny?

Despite these negative observations, I like Bethenny's voice as an author and some of the recipes are worthwhile. As a big fan of her previous book, I was just disappointed in her first cookbook. It could have been much better!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for hassle-free, health-conscious meals (but no pix), December 29, 2009

By	Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Dish. This word can mean a recipe, or information that is not generally known or available. This book has plenty of both. It's ideal for people who want homemade meals that are simple and healthy.

Celebrity author Bethenny Frankel takes a breezy, this-is-easy approach to healthful cooking and eating. She uses the ideas in her book Naturally Thin to create this combination cookbook and guilt-free eating guide. Sprinkled throughout the 60 recipes are baking tips, party guidelines and, best of all, extensive use-what-you-have variations that make preparing these dishes a breeze.

As an example of how Frankel makes cooking and eating hassle-free, she recommends buying hummus and salsa instead of making it, and buying bread instead of baking it yourself. Unless you love to make these foods, why bother? There are great versions in the store to purchase. Save your cooking and baking for dishes you can't buy.

If the book had photos, this would be a five-star review. Cookbooks really benefit from showing you the dishes they describe.

Here's the chapter list:

Introduction: What's the Skinnygirl Dish?

Part 1: The Skinny
1. How I cook and how to make it yours
2. Show me your kitchen and I'll show you mine
3. The Skinnygirl chef's essential kitchen rules
4. Use what you have: Core concepts
5. Learn from my kitchen blunders
6. Channeling your inner chef

Part 2: What to make: Recipes, Conversation and Inspiration
Breakfast breakthroughs
Light lunches
Delicious dinners
Snacking simplified
Skinnygirl drinks and cocktails
Skinnygirl desserts to die for

Part 3: Skinnygirl Special Features
Lightened-up holidays and special occasions
How to throw a Skinnygirl party
Top Chefs, Skinnygirl recipes

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I was very disappointed, January 5, 2010

By	EID (Saltillo, MS United States) - See all my reviews

The first half of the book is just teaching you the basics of cooking and how to organize your kitchen and what equipment to buy. I wanted more recipes in the book because after alll it is a cookbook not a how to cook book for beginners which is what the entire first part of the book has in it. I wanted more recipes in the book to help you enjoy the foods you love without sacrificing the tastes that you love. The recipes she has in the book look good although I have not tried them yet there just are not enough recipes in the book for this to be called a cookbook. I hope that if Bethany writes another cookbook she will just have recipes in it and include pictures of how the food looks because the book has no pictures in it. I am also sad that the print is so light in the book it is very hard to read.