A cookbook search

[Gina O]

My SO's 24 y/o daughter is moving in with her boyfriend this week. She is launching a career as a personal trainer, is a triathlete, and wants to learn how to cook healthy foods.

I do not know what her current cooking skill is, but based on conversations we have had, I believe it is somewhat limited. I know for certain that being adventuresome with food and healthy cooking were not part of her upbringing.

I would like to find a cookbook to help her get started. She wants healthy recipes, and recipes designed for two people. I think it needs to be pretty simple, I am afraid of scaring her off. Any ideas? Gina

[drloverde]

The Moosewood cooks at home is a great cookbook. Also, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest is good. Both books are not overwhelming and have very healthy food in them.

Dena.

[Ralph]

Perhaps the Cooking Light Annual collection(s)? While they do have some occasionally unusual ingredients, I've always found CL's recipes to be pretty easy. Just MHO!

[heatherfeather]

She may be interested in either of these two suggestions:

1) Light & Tasty magazine subscription (put out by the same folks who do Taste of Home and Quick Cookng magazines which are both excellent cooking maganizes) Anyway, Light & Tasty has all healthy recipes that are VERY easy for a novice and also usually the recipes do not call for gourmet or hard to find ingredients. The cooking techniques are simple and the recipes will be familiar to someone used to eating mostly American food (as opposed to those of us with more daring taste buds). I didn't care for Light & Tasty at first because the recipes were so different from Cooking Light - but it has grown on me. I think it is perfect for a cook who doesn't have much time, who doesn't necessarily love to cook, but wants to eat healthy recipes that do taste good. The current issue is actually the best they've done - I have tried many recipes from this issue and they have been really great. You could pick one up at your local grocery store and see if you like it.

2) Cooking Healthy with a Man in Mind by JoAnna Lund (or any of her health minded cookbooks). The recipes in this cook don't include pictures, but are VERY VERY easy to make and very quick to prepare. There is nothing daring, no wild/hard to find ingredients. Also - be prepared for ingredients the typical Cooking Light cook would not usually go for - canned veggies, instant potato flakes, etc. However - the recipes in this and her other books really do taste homey and are mostly very good recipes. No fancy meals you'd serve to guests, but rather everyday easy meals that are low in fat, calories, etc. If she is a gourmet cook, she might not enjoy these books because of the reliance of canned foods etc. My husband actually loves the recipes in this book because they remind him of childhood - good old fashioned American style food. You won't find any authentic ethnic recipes in this book - everything has a midwestern American feel to it. I actually have almost all of the Healthy Exchanges cookbooks - they really are quite helpful when trying to feed healthy food to a family that isn't very daring.

[HRJ]

You might want to try Light Basics Cookbook: The Only Cookbook You'll Ever Need if You Want to Cook Healthy by Martha Rose Shulman.

It has a lot of very basic cooking info, perfect for a beginner, like how to stock the kitchen, etc. I bought it last year, thinking it would be a good source for some interesting light recipes, but, because so much of the book is designed for a cooking novice, I was bored with it. But if this young woman is just starting out in the kitchen, it would be a good first step.

Also, how about CL Complete? It probably covers everything she'd ever want to know.

[JHolcomb]

I just bought SIL a cookbook that you might consider. It's called "Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You). I looked through it last night and it looked pretty good. It includes ingredient lists for making each dish for one, two, and four people, and has nutrition info at the bottom of each page. It was pretty cheap, too.

[Rae]

What about the Cooking Light "5 Ingredient, 15 Minute" cookbook? I have a friend who doesn't cook and she thinks that this is the greatest cookbook ever published.

[Gina O]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I just ordered Healthy Cooking for Two (Or Just you) and Light Basics Cookbook from Amazon. Once I get them, I am going to put together a basket with the cookbooks and some cooking tools (I am thinking maybe a mini-Cusinart, spatulas, or whatever strikes my fancy at WS) to give to her as a housewarming gift.

Gina

[Gina O]

HRJ-

I just wanted to post a thank you for recommending the Light Basics Cookbook. I received it on xmas eve and and thoroughly enjoyed looking through it before I give it to her this weekend. It is exactly what I was looking for. I have even learned a few things from it.

I am looking forward to browsing Healthy Cooking for Two next. Gina