THE LIGHTEN UP COOKBOOK: 103 Easy, Slimmed-Down Favorites for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner Everyone Will Love by Addie Gundry

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin, 5/2018
PURCHASE: link

FROM PUBLISHER: Eating lighter doesn't have to include charts or calorie counting. By incorporating easy healthy recipes into your diet, like substituting cauliflower for starchy breads or baking chicken instead of frying it, you can revitalize your eating habits without giving up the foods you love. From light breakfast recipes like the Kale Smoothie to potluck favorites like Mayo-Free Chicken Salad to family dinners like Zucchini Lasagna and even sweet treats like Pineapple Fluff, eating healthier can be simple and tasty!


THINGS I'VE MADE

CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE


This recipes uses precooked pasta, precooked chicken, zucchini and corn. I used peas in place of those two vegetables. The cheese sauce is made with mostly chicken broth and little milk and cheese. I used Monterey Jack cheese in place of mozzarella. You combine it all together in a plan, pour into a baking dish, top with cheese and bake until bubbly. The chicken broth gave this good flavor but if I hadn't added raw onion to the melted butter before I made the sauce, and a pinch of garlic powder, this wouldn't have much flavor.

Problem: I think there was a misprint in the recipe. The full recipe (I made half, baked in a 1.5 qt dish) says to use just 1 tablespoon of butter, melted, and add 2/3 c. flour to that to begin the sauce and cook it together for a minute. That's impossible to do because there would have been a pan full of loose flour. To make a sauce you use equal parts butter and flour, cook for a minute, then add your liquid to that, so that's what I did here, using margarine in place of butter. There was a little too much sauce for this amount of pasta. Overall, a good flavored sauce (with added onion.)




SPICED GRILLED CHICKEN


This recipe is for a dry rub for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You grill the chicken or use a grill pan. I pan fried it for two minutes on each side then baked it in the oven the rest of the way, about 9 minutes. The rub has chili powder and cumin in it, among other things, and I omitted the coriander. It's very good and is basically like one I already use. It could have used a little onion powder but other than that, it's very good and you can adjust the measurements to suit your taste.


CHICKEN CANNELLINI SOUP


I made half of his in a 2 qt. pot. I omitted the zucchini and red and green bell peppers. I used pureed fire roasted tomatoes instead of leaving them diced. I was to use two types of white beans but I only used one. The flavor of this is pretty bland since it's mostly flavored with onion and garlic, so I added some pureed chipotle in adobo sauce and that made it so much better. I added almost 1/4 t. salt too. I only need two chicken tenderloin strips for this, which I baked then shredded with two forks. With the addition of chipotle , I'll definitely make this again since it's so easy to make.


ONE-SKILLET SEAFOOD ALFREDO


I made half this recipe and I used chicken in place of shrimp and imitation crab meat and I added peas, which I cooked with the penne pasta. This has a Parmesan cheese sauce that's made from chicken broth and milk...but I used all milk. Very simple to make and I'll make it again.


MY THOUGHTS: Not much in this book appeals to me. Recipes show typical ways to lighten up a recipe, such as using chicken broth in place of milk and using whole wheat pasta in place of regular, or low fat yogurt, ect., but that's about it. A lot of the recipes are in no way healthy so I don't want you to think they are.

The things I made turned out good and I'd make all of them again. Every recipe is easy to follow and someone who's never cooked before should have no trouble.


I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.



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