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A busy, healthy Bee offers nourishing recipes

A good cookbook can read like a novel, but few read like the cliffhanger that is "The Secret Ingredient" by a British writer named Sally Bee (Sterling, 2010).

Her story - left for dead on an operating-room table, suffering from a heart condition so rare that only 30 people worldwide have survived it - is a page-turner.

It's also an appealing cookbook filled with foods that are, as Bee would call them, "nourishing" rather than merely "healthy."

There's a lot to absorb in this book - life lessons and food lessons.

Sally Bee was 36, the mother of three young children, a writer and television personality when, six years ago, she suffered three major heart attacks within a week; the last was determined fatal by her doctors, who called in her husband to say goodbye to his dying wife.

Unaccountably, and against all the odds, Bee survived. It is unclear - even to her doctors - how she did so, but she believes that a healthful lifestyle, including nourishing and delicious food and regular exercise (the "secret ingredient" of the title) is at least part of the reason why.

Bee writes movingly, but not mawkishly, about the importance of her family, as well as the importance of food, fitness and rest.

Instead of crowing about her "life plan," she quietly puts forth her "staying alive as long as possible" plan.

She expresses compassion and understanding for others suffering anxiety or depression as they adjust to life as "heart patients."

She writes intelligently about food, and hits the main points of all sound nutrition writing: moderation, portion control, exercise and a little bit of self-restraint.

She includes some red meat, cheese, butter - even a dab of salt - and recommends organic fruits and vegetables.

It would be a person without an appetite who could read her book and not want to make some of her recipes. It would be the hardhearted individual who could read this book and not root for Sally Bee, hoping for a peaceful ending to her story, many years from now.

• Marialisa Calta is the author of "Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family" (2005 Perigee). More at marialisacalta.com.

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<h1>Recipes</h1>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=393707" class="mediaItem"> Ratatouille Chicken Tray Bake</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=393706" class="mediaItem"> Chili Con Healthy</a></li>

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