Lean and Lovin' it: 1,001 'best' recipes a boastful title, but some fit the bill
Sometimes cookbooks don't go around just once; they appear again and again.
That's certainly true for Agate Publishing's “1,001 Best Low-Fat Recipes.” The second edition hit shelves earlier this year, but it may actually be this book's fifth iteration, since it started life as “1,001 Low-fat Recipes” back in the 1990s.
Before “best” was added to the title, the publisher claimed that by the third edition in 2002 it had sold more than 200,000 copies. Pretty impressive, I say.
But what do “1001's” readers say?
I turned to Amazon.com to find out. Some loved this cookbook with comments including, “This has everything I'm looking for in a cookbook — interesting recipes from a variety of culinary traditions, simple ingredients that are easy to find, and great taste!”
Others weren't as enthusiastic. “I've made maybe 20 or so recipes from this book and only two were worth making again. Some were just plain awful.” Ouch.
Flipping through the pages I could see why that painful slight may be true. The Baked Artichoke Dip uses fat-free cream cheese, fat-free parmesan cheese, fat-free mayonnaise and fat free sour cream. Some 20 years ago when I tried fat-free parmesan-style grated topping it tasted like the cardboard container in which it was then sold. That topping has since disappeared from stores; thankfully. The only parmesan-style topping I could find today is Kraft's Reduced-Fat Parmesan Style Topping. Maybe you'll have better luck.
With so many recipes, no pictures, and a relatively inexpensive price tag, I have to wonder if editors taste-tested any of the recipes.
Yet there's some good news. Most of the recipes are short and concise and all include the usual nutritional information except for fiber. American Diabetic Association's dietary exchange program information also is included.
When 1,001 recipes are included in such a weighty compendium, you can be certain it'll cover the entire meal landscape. More than half of the recipes can be prepared in 45 minutes or less and those are conveniently marked with a small black square with the number “45.” There's also a mix of short ingredient-list recipes, as well as some recipes with 14 or more ingredients.
While I might argue with the fact that all the recupes are the best, here's one that certainly deserves the title. With only 4 grams of fat, this Bean and Pasta Salad with White Bean Dressing deserves a spot on your spring table.
• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write him at don@theleanwizard.com.