Cookbook Adventures

I have recently started going to the library a lot. As a result, I have been picking up a lot of books. The majority of these books are from my goodreads list of books to read, but I have been making a point of each time I go to get a new slew of books, I also must get at least one cookbook.

Now, I have some pretty high standards for cookbooks. I have to, given my goal of healthy eating and all. Sometimes, these standards are difficult to meet. Here's what they are:

1) Book must declare itself to be healthy food, favoring vegetables, whole grains and low fats.
2) Book must include dishes made with red meat and or dairy.

On my first round, it took me 20 minutes to find a book that met both of these criteria. The vast majority of books that have number 1 do not have number 2 because they are vegan or vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I like vegan and vegetarian food just fine. In fact, I end up eating vegetarian or mostly vegetarian most days. The boy, however, is not usually happy with strictly vegetarian meals. He needs his meat. And so, both criteria exist.

So, thus far I have picked up 4 cookbooks. Here's what I liked and didn't like about each.

EatingWell: Comfort Foods made Healthy by Jessie Price

This book worked really well for me. I actually made one of the recipes and have saved a bunch of the others to make later. I found that some of the better dishes are made vegetarian, but I just added or substituted chicken. My favorite was the Spicy Peanut Ginger Noodles, made with whole grain spaghetti and frozen vegetables. Plus, I learned how to make a spicy peanut sauce! Good, easy recipes that are fast and healthy!

The Everything Healthy College Cookbook by Nicole Cormier

I have yet to actually try anything out of this one, but I saved a bunch. There are a lot of good ideas in here for food on the go and very easy healthy dinners. One thing that is true is that it tends towards cooking for one (which makes sense but isn't super useful for me). Mostly, this was a good meal idea builder than anything else.

The New American Plate (American Institute for Cancer Research and University of California Press)

I have this book right now. I like its philosophy: Americans eat too much meat, but the solution isn't to get rid of it, it's just to make it take up less plate and fill the space with more vegetables and whole grains. There are lots of tasty looking recipes in here. The only issue I have is that they tend to be filled with Whole Foods Market kinds of ingredients, which will break the bank if I buy them all the time. I'm also not sure how adventurous the boy is willing to be. He has an assignment to take a look at it and get back to me. Lots of pretty pictures too!

400 Best Ever Recipes: Non-Fat/ Low-Fat by Anne Sheasby

This book is... interesting. It's big, filled with pictures, basic instructions and European names for things (sometimes I'm not sure what vegetable they're talking about). The food looks good and it is definitely low fat. I haven't gone through the whole thing yet so I'm not sure if I'm enthusiastic about anything, and there are a whole lot of very french techniques, which I can only barely imagine make the crossover from "BUTTER EVERYWHERE" to "itty bitty bit of safflower oil" very well. It will take some more investigation and possibly some balance finding, but I think this might work well for me, especially given my experimental nature in the kitchen.

What are your favorite healthy foods cookbooks? I know I'm going to grab whichever one of Alton Brown's cookbooks falls soonest into my field of vision (Alton Brown is the Good Eats guy), but what others do you like? Send them my way!