Allison Fishman Task - Cooking Light Lighten Up, America!

To the delicious Abraham Lee and Zevin Jones: Youve got big appetites like your mamause them wisely. Thank you for being the best travel partners I could have hoped for.

W e sent Cooking Lights ebullient and tireless contributing editor, Allison Fishman Task, on a mission: to crisscross this great land in search of favorite regional foods. The result of her road-tripping culinary anthropology is an almost dizzying collection of classic treats from the diners, county fairs, cocktail parties, and hotel dining rooms of our collective yore. Between the Reuben sandwiches, Waldorf salads, sweet-and-sour meatballs, red flannel hash, and apple pie, theres enough comforting nostalgia here to butter all of New Englands lobster rolls. But while traveling and eating, Allison also had her eye on a bigger theme: to lighten these American classics for a country that is starting to think hard about what it eats, even as it reaffirms what it loves from its past.

At Cooking Light , its been our mission for more than 25 years to honor the flavor values of traditional foods while coaxing a lot of fat and calories out. Nothing gives us more pleasure than a light cheesecake that has the same swoon-inducing, throat-catching effect of the Brooklyn originaland half the calories. We love eating and cooking, but we dont give indulgent treats like artichoke-spinach dip a nostalgia pass just because they remind us of the time we snuck big mouthfuls at Moms bridge-party soire. We see lightening up these dishes as a new sort of cultural preservation: classic flavors served up for a healthier generation. This is important because the recent push toward mega-burgers, bacon bombs, five-cheese pizzas, and other over-the-top glop isnt doing much to honor and advance our food culture, let alone our health. We much prefer Allisons approachrespect the traditions, but improve upon them. Love what you eat, but do so with a healthy future in mind. And keep an eye out, as Allison did on her road trips, for the new favoritesthe Vietnamese bnh m sandwiches, the Mexican fish tacosthat continue the evolution of our food through the inspirations of immigrant cooks.

This book moves our preserve-but-improve philosophy nicely down the road, serving up more than 150 recipes that American families can really dig into, happily and healthfully.

Scott Mowbray

Editor, Cooking Light

CONTENTS

More than 200,000 miles on the road. Over a million calories consumed. And Im here to share the whole story with you.

Y ou may know me as the host of Yahoo!s food show Blue Ribbon Hunter . Ive traveled from Maine to Hawaii doing what I lovemeeting new people and eating. Along the way, Ive learned the history behind some of our most beloved American foods. Memphis barbecue. Iowa pork tenderloin sandwiches. Chicago hot dogs. Ive also sampled some of the more, shall we say, unusual foods this great country has to offer. When it comes to food, well, Ill eat just about anything. Im thinking of you, West Virginia burgoo, wild boar nachos, and bear meat loaf.

When I first joined Blue Ribbon Hunter , I was in a quandary. So many of the foods I found on the road were stuffedliterally stuffedwith butter, cream, cheese, and other decadent ingredients. Was there a way to enjoy them with gusto without constantly worrying about what it was doing to my waistline? And thus began my quest to re-create the American favorites Ive grown to adore, but in a healthier way.

If youve seen the show, you know I can eat quite a bit in one sitting. At the National Hamburger Festival in Akron, Ohio, I ate 15 burgers. As a judge of the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival, I consumed 26 plates of food. I even went head to head with Maria Edible, a competitive eater, in a Buffalo wingeating contest. Thirteen wings. In two minutes. She won, but I certainly held my own.

But even though I love my joband the incredible indulgence that comes with itits important to me to stay healthy, keeping my energy up and my weight stable. And after recently becoming a mom to two beautiful twin boys, my desire to enjoy a long, healthy, fun-filled life has only gotten stronger. There simply isnt any alternative.

My love of food was nurtured in me early by my parents. But they also instilled in me a deep appreciation for good food, the kind that sustains and nourishes you. I know that Im not alone in my struggle to balance eating the foods I love with staying healthy. Ive come across a lot of you who are passionate about what you cook for your friends and family, yet feel guilty eating these very same dishes. But it is possible to enjoy your favorite comfort foods every night of the week. A few smart cooking techniques and simple ingredient substitutions are all you need to make your dishes leaner. Being smart about portion sizes will help keep your calories in check.

I know what youre thinking. Too often, leaner equals flavorless. And smart about portion sizes means eating like a rabbit. But Im the gal who loves food, remember? And Im also a chef, having trained my taste buds at one of the countrys best cooking temples, the Institute of Culinary Education. You could say its against my religion to create a flavorless plate of rabbit food.

The recipes here have all the creamy, cheesy, ooey-gooey goodness of the foods we Americans love to eatpizza, burgers, shrimp and grits, cinnamon buns, macaroni and cheese, apple pie and so much morebut without the unnecessary fat and calories. And, often, with a little bit more nutrition. Theyre the prize-worthy dishes Ive discovered in my Blue Ribbon Hunter travels, the comfort foods my mother made for me when I was a kid, the daily meals I serve my own family.

The way I see it, the food we prepare and eat with our friends and families is one of lifes simple pleasures. Its something to be appreciated and thankful for, to enjoy with gusto. And never, ever with guilt.

With love,