Product Description

A good meal is one of life's great pleasures, but we all know that it can be difficult to choose foods that make us happy and keep us healthy. In his New York Times bestselling book The Best Life Diet, Bob Greene showed more than a million people that you can lose weight and eat delicious food. Now, in The Best Life Diet Cookbook he provides more than 175 recipes that taste as good as they are good for you.

With recipes like Flank Steak with Potatoes and Garlic and Sweet-and-Sour Stuffed Chicken, it isn't hard to eat well while shedding pounds. Slimmed-down comfort foods like Sweet Potato with Turkey Hash and Beef Stew with Winter Root Vegetables make family dinners satisfying and healthful. Rotisserie Chicken Salad with Oranges and Pistachios comes together in a snap. Or try one of the recipes contributed by world-class chefs like Charlie Trotter or Suzanne Goin, adapted to fit the Best Life guidelines. Craving something sweet? You won't believe that Pear and Banana Crisp and Apple Pie with Oatmeal Crust are low in fat and calories.

Also included are three sets of two-week meal plans: The Quick and Easy Plan for when you're most time-pressed; The Family-Friendly Plan with meals to satisfy the whole gang; and The Kitchen Connoisseur Plan for those looking for more of a challenge in the kitchen. Whether you're trying to drop some pounds or simply want to maintain your weight, these plans do all the calorie-calculating for you.

The Best Life Diet Cookbook is full of useful shopping tips and culinary information. Illustrated with dozens of beautiful black-and-white and color photographs, it is a book you will turn to again and again.

Bob Greene firmly believes that every meal should be a celebration both of the pleasures of food and your commitment to living your best possible life, and with The Best Life Diet Cookbook, you can reclaim your joy of eating and live the life you deserve.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1841 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.20" h x 7.75" w x 9.60" l, 30.00 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416588337
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:

About the Author
Bob Greene is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness, metabolism, and weight loss. He holds a master's degree from the University of Arizona and is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise. For the past seventeen years he has worked with clients and consulted on the design and management of fitness, spa, and sports medicine programs. Bob has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He is also a contributing writer and editor for O the Oprah magazine, and writes articles on health and fitness for Oprah.com. Greene is the bestselling author of The Best Life Diet Cookbook, The Best Life Diet, Revised and Updated, The Best Life Diet, The Best Life Diet Daily Journal, The Total Body Makeover, Get With the Program!, The Get With the Program! Daily Journal, The Get With the Program! Guide to Good Eating, and Make the Connection.

John J. Merendino Jr., M.D. is a graduate of Yale Medical School. He did his internship and residency at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and his endocrine training at the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Merendino is board-certified in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the George Washington Univeristy School of Medicine, has published scientific papers in major medical journals, and has 20 years of experience in caring for people with diabetes. 

Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., is the lead nutritionist for thebestlife.com, Bob Greene's weight loss and fitness website.  She is also a contributing editor for Self Magazine and freelances for other national magazines. Her latest books are The Supermarket Diet and The Supermarket Diet Cookbook.  In her private practice, she specializes in weight loss and eating disorders.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Eating is meant to be one of life's great pleasures. The simple act of sitting down to a meal can bring us joy, satisfaction, and, of course, nourishment; in a word, fulfillment -- both physical and emotional. Just think of the many memorable events in your life: sharing an intimate, romantic dinner with your partner, toasting a job promotion with friends, celebrating your child's first birthday, or one of the many special holidays you've spent with family. You may or may not remember the delicious food you enjoyed on these occasions, but I'm willing to bet that you remember the moment, the ritual of eating with friends and family, the joy of sharing these events with your loved ones. Simply put, the pleasure of eating and the bonding experience of a meal shared with others is a truly gratifying experience, one that enriches and improves our lives.

Unfortunately, so many of us have lost that special connection with the experience of eating. The reality is that our busy schedules have prevented us from savoring the act of sitting down to a meal, whether it's just yourself or with those you care about. As a result, many of us have fallen into the trap of trying to satisfy the need for emotional fulfillment that once may have come from dining with friends and family by focusing on the quantity of food and eating more than we probably need or is healthy. That's where this cookbook can help: you can reclaim the experience of eating as a celebration by sitting down to enjoy these high-quality, delicious dishes without overdoing it. This book contains more than just recipes, though. You'll also find a few different two-week meal plans, all of which incorporate these delicious recipes into a day's worth of eating to ensure that you get all the nutrients you need and the right amount of calories.

I hope that you'll come to think of eating healthy, home-cooked meals made from the freshest, most natural ingredients as a gift that you give to yourself and your loved ones. This may require you to reconsider cooking a bit; I encourage you to try to think of whipping up a nutritious meal not as just another task you have to do at the end of a busy day, but as a ritual that provides important vitamins and minerals, promotes good health, and gives you a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with your family. Nourishing yourself and your loved ones, especially with great, healthy foods, is simply one of the most effective ways to satisfy the body and soul.

To me, that's what eating is all about, and I'm challenging you to make an effort to embrace that experience, to stock your refrigerator with healthy foods, to make your kitchen a special place where friends and family gather, and to sit down and enjoy meals once again! This cookbook can help you make all of these things a reality and, in turn, improve the quality of your health and perhaps even your relationships.

I know that many people just don't have a lot of extra time to cook a meal, and I took that into consideration when choosing the dishes to include in this book. Sure, there are some recipes that will challenge your skills in the kitchen; in fact, there's a whole section devoted to recipes from some of the greatest chefs from across the world. But the majority of the recipes here take just 30 minutes or less, and they include ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen or can easily find at your local grocery store. The perfect example is Rotisserie Chicken Salad with Oranges and Pistachios (page 77). It's so easy to pull together and takes just 20 minutes to make because you're starting with an already cooked chicken from your local supermarket. Plus, it offers a new way to serve a familiar dish: instead of pairing the chicken with the same old side dishes, you're creating a beautiful salad with juicy oranges and crunchy pistachios. And there are many more recipes just like this one!

This cookbook will help you get back on track in the kitchen, and still leave you with plenty of time to get through everything on your to-do list. But I know that time isn't your only concern when it comes to eating; many of us have also become very calorie-conscious. For those of you who are trying to maintain your weight or slim down, these recipes will also help you focus on the quality of your food instead of the quantity. When you use fresh, high-quality foods, you won't have to eat as much to get that taste payoff. You'll be satisfied with less food, which means you'll consume fewer calories each time you sit down to eat. If you're looking for another way to keep your calories in check, you might be interested in our meal plans, which start on page 269. We've created three different plans, each of which offers six calorie levels (1,500, 1,600, 1,700, 1,800, 2,000, and 2,500 calories per day; as you know, calorie needs vary per person, and should be determined by how active you are and a variety of other factors). Putting together a perfectly balanced diet that provides all the vitamins and minerals you need each day without going over a certain calorie limit is like solving a complex puzzle. Don't worry: we've taken all the guesswork out of it with these meal plans.

Here's a quick preview of the meal plan options you can choose from. If you're really time-pressed, the "Quick and Easy" Meal Plan (page 293) will be a dream come true. This plan doesn't require a lot of cooking, and all the recipes in this section take no more than 20 minutes to prepare. On a typical day you'll have yogurt, fruit, and nuts for breakfast, a chicken wrap for lunch, and Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish with Spicy Slaw (page 145) for dinner (another 20-minute recipe).

If you have more time to spend in the kitchen, check out the "Kitchen Connoisseur" Plan (page 272). While still relying on quickly prepared recipes, this plan has you spending just a little more time in the kitchen, and includes more adventurous recipes. Wednesday of Week 2 is typical: homemade muesli for breakfast, lunch (made in 10 minutes) is Shrimp, Avocado, and Sesame Seed Salad (page 74) and dinner is Vegetarian Baked Beans on Grits (page 158).

Cooking for a family? You'll love the "Family-Friendly" Plan (page 315), which uses recipes from this book that kids (and picky partners) can all enjoy. No one will turn up their nose at Ginger Waffles, Chicken Noodle Soup, Taco Salad, Cottage Pie (based on beef and potatoes), and other healthy versions of family favorites. In fact, don't be surprised if foods that weren't all that well liked by your family soon become welcome dishes. Take the Broccoli, White Bean, and Leek Tart (page 152) as an example. You may be thinking that your family doesn't eat white beans or broccoli, but when you put them into a creamy tart, they will not only eat these healthy foods but they'll actually like them! In terms of time, this plan falls somewhere between the "Quick and Easy" and the "Kitchen Connoisseur" plans. You don't have to follow the meal plans to the letter, of course. You can simply browse the section for recipes that will go over big at your dinner table.

No matter which plan you choose, you can be confident that you'll be getting all the nutrients you need. Each meal has been composed to ensure that you get the perfect balance of fat, carbs, and protein, and the plans are rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Why is this so important? Often, when someone fills up on empty calories (like a mound of French fries) or even has a relatively healthy dish that's missing a satisfying element, such as a whole grain roll, brown rice, or other complex carbohydrate, they tend to be more prone to grazing or snacking throughout the day. The end result: they take in more calories. These meals, on the other hand, will keep you satisfied and full, and will therefore help you cut your calorie intake. (Not to mention that these recipes also fit perfectly into the Best Life plan, a three-phased program to help you lose weight and live healthier. To learn more about the program, check out the revised and updated edition of The Best Life Diet [Simon & Schuster, 2009] or the companion Web site, www.thebestlife.com.)

This cookbook also includes an interesting mix of recipes. You'll notice a number of familiar classics (think chili and roasted potatoes), as well as comfort food with a healthy twist so you can enjoy these dishes every day, if you wish. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results. For example, if you didn't know better, you'd think the Steel-Cut Oats "Polenta" (page 167) was a real splurge. But the recipe, which combines sage and oats to create a savory side dish with a crispy exterior and soft, indulgent interior, is high in fiber and uses no cream or butter. Basically, these dishes offer incredible flavor, but they're better for you! And we've also created fresh, new dishes by pairing basic ingredients that you may never have thought to combine. The Broiled Mahimahi with Grapes and Leeks (page 143) is the perfect example. You've probably never considered combining grapes and leeks, but the result is amazing; there's no need to add extra salt, butter, or cream. That means you can keep your intake of sodium and saturated fat down while enjoying fabulous, flavorful food.

I like to think of these dishes, most of which are a snap to prepare, as easy but elegant. That may seem like a bit of a contradiction, but it's not at all. The Broiled Mahimahi calls for just six ingredients, including salt and pepper! Don't mistake simple for boring, though. Many of these dishes may challenge your tastes and I hope that you'll try them with an open mind and enjoy them as much as I do. The recipes in this book -- including those in Best Life Recipes from World-Class Chefs, which come from a number of chefs who just happen to be some of my personal favorites -- may be a little different from what you're used to cooking and eating. For instance, chef Anita Lo's Barbecued Breast of Chicken, Suzanne Goin's Succotash Salad, and Nobu Matsuhisa's Parmesan Baked Small Scallops are unique yet accessible. I'm hoping that these foods will expand your...

Customer Reviews

Healthy food, healthy life
Best-life advocate Bob Greene positions the ideas in this cookbook as a "gift that you give to yourself and your loved ones." Home-cooked meals made from fresh, natural ingredients will make you feel better, live longer and bond with your family and friends. Makes sense to me. And if you just want to cook yummy foods, these dishes are delicious.

They are also nutritious, and all the details for each serving are at the end of each recipe: calories, protein, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugar, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, calcium and sodium.

Easy-to-follow meal plans are broken down into three sections. Quick and Easy meals take no more than 20 minutes to prepare, Kitchen Connoisseur choices are a little more adventurous, and Family-Friendly meals offer healthy versions of family favorites. Each meal plan has six calorie levels: 1,500, 1,600, 1,700, 1,800, 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day.

Although most of the recipes are geared to busy families with little time to spend in the kitchen, there is a whole chapter of wonderful, healthy dishes from accomplished chefs. These recipes may take a little longer than the 30 minutes or so the other recipes require to prepare. Some of the chefs participating include Mollie Ahlstrand of Trattoria Mollie, Dan Barber of Blue Hill, Sarma Melngailis of Pure Food and Wine, Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter's and Roy Yamaguchi of the 35 Roy's Restaurants around the world. Ahlstrand's Zuppa di Pomodoro is a flavorful take on tomato soup that uses garlic, brandy, rosemary and orange juice.

In the back is a handy Techniques tutorial showing how to roast garlic, toast nuts, section citrus, clarify butter and the like.

Other good choices for healthy cookbooks include Deceptively Delicious, Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World and The Most Decadent Diet Ever.

The Eat This Not That! series is also excellent.

Here's the chapter list:
1. Introduction
2. Recipes
3. Breakfast
4. Soups
5. Salads
6. Sandwiches, Wraps and Crispbreads
7. Entrees: Meat, Poultry, Seafood, Vegetarian
8. Side Dishes: Grains, Vegetables
9. Calcium-Rich Snacks
10. Desserts
11. Best-Life Recipes from World-Class Chefs
12. Meal Plans
13. Basic Recipes
14. Techniques

Best Maybe But Maybe Too Exotic
Buffalo with Blackberries, anyone? Quinoa Granola? How about Salad of Riesling-Poached Tokyo Turnips with Brussels Sprouts, Pickled French Laundry Garden Onion, and Toasted Mustard Seed Emulsion? Bob Greene's "The Best Life Diet Cookbook", designed to be used in tandem with his wildly popular "The Best Life Diet" has the best and healthiest of intentions, but isn't a terribly great resource for anyone short on time or money or with a family of potentially picky little ones--in other words, a good portion of the population. Greene's philosophy of cooking and eating is a solid one; he firmly believes that "eating is meant to be one of life's great pleasures," and that "many of us have lost that special connection with the experience of eating...." The purpose of this books is to help readers "reclaim the experience of eating as a celebration by sitting down to enjoy these high-quality, delicious dishes without overdoing it." So far, so good.

The recipes, however, split into ten different categories that include Breakfast, Entrees, Side Dishes, and Desserts, overwhelmingly seem geared towards the young, the hip, and the unencumbered, not the average workaday American with 2.5 kids. While there may be a silent majority of working families who are beside themselves with joy to come home from a hard day at work to partake of Tofu Mushroom Scramble on a Whole Wheat Tortilla or Baked Eggplant with Ground Beef, they certainly keep themselves well hidden. And, even if Duck with Plums or Broiled Mahimahi with Grapes and Leeks seems like a winner, the price of the ingredients can often prove prohibitive in these days of the not-so-great economy.

Greene does acknowledge that different Best Life Dieters have different needs, and two of the three two-week full meal plans he includes in the back of the book, the Quick and Easy Meal Plan and the Family-Friendly Plan (the third is the Kitchen Connoisseur plan), are geared for the busy and the child-overwhelmed. The Family-Friendly Plan incorporates favorites like Sloppy Joes and Shepherd's Pie, but leaves the reader wondering why a person would purchase a book containing chiefly recipes of the Cauliflower Curry with Red Lentils variety if they are planning on cooking the Chicken Noodle soup.

That said, there is no doubt that Greene's recipes are nutritious, low-calorie, palate-expanding, and a real find for devoted food enthusiasts looking to expand their kitchen repertoire.

Sad to say "just more of the same"
I truly appreciate the wisdom shared by Bob & his recipes are really very tasty. The disappointment is that most of the recipes are similar to the first version. I would have hoped that there would be more diversity in his second edition ... you really have to join the website club to get that I guess.