By the American Heart Association
320 p.
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Published: 7/1/14
Source: Blogging for Books for review
The more you cook at home, with a focus on fresh ingredients, the easier it is to achieve a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Making meals with fresh ingredients is not only healthy and flavorful but also fast and easy with Go Fresh. The American Heart Association offers more than 250 recipes in this cookbook, inspiring you to bring nutritious and wholesome ingredients into your kitchen. Enjoy full-flavored favorites—all made from scratch, made healthy, and made fresh—including:
- · Cauliflower-Carrot Soup
- · Blueberry-Walnut Chicken Salad
- · Blackened Fish with Crisp Kale and Creamy Lemon Sauce
- · Rosemary-Peach Chicken Kebabs with Orange Glaze
- · Tomato-Basil Pork Tenderloin
- · Butternut Squash Pasta
- · Dark Cherry and Apple Crumble
In the book, you’ll also find Healthy Swaps for substituting seasonal fruits and vegetables in delicious new ways, Shop & Store tips for making the most of your trips to the market and what you buy, and Tips, Tricks & Timesavers for reducing prep time and getting meals on the table faster.
My thoughts:
I'm on the lookout for recipes for fresh food cooking. Yes, don't faint, I do look out for them even though I hate to cook. I'm on a medically necessary diet which must include fresh foods. I cannot have canned, packaged, or instant. So, I thought I might be able to adapt many of these recipes for my needs.
While I hoped to find more recipes that I wouldn't have to alter, I could not. However, I being a special case and this isn't a cookbook that accommodates my particular problem this did not surprise me. Still, I think that several can be adapted easily to my diet. What I really liked is the guidelines on how to shop and store (there is even a chart as to where you should store it in the refrigerator) the fresh food. There is also a section at the end of each recipe which breaks down the calories, fats, sodium, etc as well as dietary exchanges for those on specific diets.
While I don't agree with everything presented in the healthy hints section, it does go with the recent suggestions for those that need to be cautious in terms of heart attacks. Since it emphasizes low sodium (there are heart conditions that actually require you to increase your sodium intake) I can make a safe guess that preventing general heart attacks is the goal of the book. There were also a few recipes with canned foods in the ingredients. While sometimes I know that is a choice that must be made depending on availability, I think a book that emphasizes freshness shouldn't have them in their recipes. However, these substitutions were rare.
I give this cookbook 4 stars. Although it wasn't exactly what I was looking for in a cookbook (but I didn't expect it either) I think it does a good job in presenting fresh food recipes aimed at improving the American diet.
I'm on the lookout for recipes for fresh food cooking. Yes, don't faint, I do look out for them even though I hate to cook. I'm on a medically necessary diet which must include fresh foods. I cannot have canned, packaged, or instant. So, I thought I might be able to adapt many of these recipes for my needs.
While I hoped to find more recipes that I wouldn't have to alter, I could not. However, I being a special case and this isn't a cookbook that accommodates my particular problem this did not surprise me. Still, I think that several can be adapted easily to my diet. What I really liked is the guidelines on how to shop and store (there is even a chart as to where you should store it in the refrigerator) the fresh food. There is also a section at the end of each recipe which breaks down the calories, fats, sodium, etc as well as dietary exchanges for those on specific diets.
While I don't agree with everything presented in the healthy hints section, it does go with the recent suggestions for those that need to be cautious in terms of heart attacks. Since it emphasizes low sodium (there are heart conditions that actually require you to increase your sodium intake) I can make a safe guess that preventing general heart attacks is the goal of the book. There were also a few recipes with canned foods in the ingredients. While sometimes I know that is a choice that must be made depending on availability, I think a book that emphasizes freshness shouldn't have them in their recipes. However, these substitutions were rare.
I give this cookbook 4 stars. Although it wasn't exactly what I was looking for in a cookbook (but I didn't expect it either) I think it does a good job in presenting fresh food recipes aimed at improving the American diet.
I love recipes that incorporate fresh food, maybe I'll buy this book for # 1 as an Xmas gift seeing how he does all of the cooking in out house as a subtle hint. Hehe! It's hard this time of year though when we have to import everything cuz of the snow. Thanks for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteOh I need one of those! :D
DeleteI really dislike cooking as well Melissa, but thankfully my husband has developed an interest in it (mostly out of necessity ;-)) and he does a good job of making sure to incorporate fresh ingredients. We could probably still use even more though, so this cookbook might be something worth picking up!
ReplyDeleteOkay, where are you and Carmel finding these guys? :D
DeleteFiguring out what to eat and cook has always been a problem for me. I like the sound of that chicken salad and I never heard of a cauliflower-carrot soup! I might check it out to see what that is all about.
ReplyDeleteIt is geared mostly to those that want to prevent heart disease but it does have some good advice about fresh foods.
DeleteI like cookbooks but they always disappoint too cos I want simple..simple..simple
ReplyDeleteI'm vegetarian so I eat a lot of fresh foods. Or try to. I hate to cook too. But I've been working on incorporating some new recipes and this sounds like it could have a few that would work for me and my family.
ReplyDeleteI've been working at making my diet as clean as possible (possible for me, that is. There are some things I can't give up!) so it's nice to see them incorporating fresh. And the simpler, the better because I really do NOT like to cook!
ReplyDeleteI want to eat the Blueberry-Walnut Chicken Salad Melissa!
ReplyDeleteIt's always so interesting to have a good cookbook, I love them!
ReplyDeleteMmm those recipes sound like my kind of food. I'm a bit of a picky eater. I've always love fresh, light food. Fatty, greasy stuff makes me barf.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to take a look at this one the next time I go to the bookstore. We have a fantastic farmer's market and I'm always looking for recipes that highlight fresh ingredients.
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's Worth
Aw that's too bad it wasn't quite what you needed or were looking for. A couple of those recipes do sound good! Have you looked into SkinnyTaste? I did a review of one of hers earlier this year and really enjoyed the recipe I did out of it so far.
ReplyDeleteyeah I think these have been a hit or miss for me as well ;/
ReplyDeleteI have a confession to make: I buy cookbooks all the time but never actually use them. One time hubby bought me a crock pot with a recipe book and um...its still in the kitchen cupboard...on the floor unopened with the book on top. I really need to use the crockpot.
ReplyDelete