GoodPhyllisPellman - Fix-It and Enjoy-It Healthy Cookbook: 400 Great Stove-Top And Oven Recipes

Good Books in an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.goodbooks.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. Cover illustration and illustrations throughout the book by Cheryl Benner Design by Cliff Snyder Photograph on back cover by Jason Varney Print ISBN: 978-1-56148-641-0 (paperback edition) 978-1-56148-643-4 (hardcover gift edition)
978-1-56148-642-7 (comb-bound paperback edition)
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68099-016-4 Printed in the United States of America Although the analysts and editor have attempted full accuracy in the nutritional data and analyses included in this cookbook, many variables (including variations related to particular brands, to the refinement of products, and to the exact amounts of ingredients) could result in the analyses being approximate. Because many factors influence your health, please check with your healthcare expert before making substantial changes in what you eat. MAYO, MAYO CLINIC, MAYO CLINIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS and the Mayo triple-shield logo are marks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Good, Phyllis Pellman, Fix-it and enjoy-it healthy cookbook : 400 great stove-top and oven recipes / Phyllis Pellman Good ; with nutritional expertise from Mayo Clinic. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-56148-641-0 (pbk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-56148-642-7 (comb-bound : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-56148-643-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cookery. 2. Nutrition. I. Title. Title.

TX714.G653 2009 641.5--dc22 2008045050 Howand WhyDid This Cookbook Come to Be? __________________ H eres my dilemma. I ought to eat more vegetables. In fact, Id like to eat more vegetables. And fruit. And even grains. But where do I find good recipes that take me beyond my practice of steaming a pack of frozen broccoli as a side dish? How do I learn to think first about vegetables when Im planning dinner? And a bigger step yethow can I develop a habit of making vegetables, or whole grains or fruit, the heart of our main meal each day? Its this simplewhere can I find tempting main-dish vegetable, fruit, or whole-grain recipes that will taste good and satisfy? A Small Confession Im not a big violator.

I always prepare vegetables or a salad or both for our dinner. And I always have an apple or banana for breakfast. And often some greens for lunch. But theyre the colorful edges and not the main game. The educators have done their part. I have been convinced that I should re-configure our diet so that fruits, whole grains, and vegetables are the main planks and not just the decorative trim.

So where are the tasty recipes that will help me do that? A Few Non-Negotiables But Ive got to be realistic, too. I have a few requirements. I need recipes that dont call for fancy ingredients or ones that need a lot of special handling. I dont have time to track down exotic grains. Nor do I have extra hours to extract juice from whole grapes or reconstitute dried beans or even cook red beets, no matter the charm of their plumy tops and finely shaped root ends. Those are pleasures for free timeand Im woefully short of that.

And theres something else. I want the people who eat at my table to be satisfied when they finish a meal. I dont want them off scrounging for snacks an hour or two after theyve eaten my properly put-together spread of vegetable and fruit dishes. Those of us who anticipate meat or pasta as the center of a meal need a little assistance and patience as we scale those dishes back in favor of whole grains and sturdy vegetables. So I need recipes that satisfy hearty eaters with substantial yet healthy food. And Ive got to mention this.

It can be expensive to furnish your pantry with fresh berries and spinach and salmon and 95%-lean beef. Although, when you fill up the shelves with these items instead of slabs of ribs and steaks and prepared pizzas and pastas and gravies, youll likely find that youre spending less to feed your household. But cost is an ever-present concern for many of us. A Little Back Story Every October, my husband, Merle, and I attend the International Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany. A couple of years ago, our Good Books exhibit was next to Mayo Clinics exhibit. During some downtime, we and Mary Rysavy from Mayo admired each others books.

Mayo Clinic had authoritative volumes about health and diet and exercise. Our exhibit was full of cookbooks and childrens picture books, histories, books about quiltmaking, justice and peacebuilding, and memoirs. We ought to work together on a project, Mary said one day. Mayo has published some cookbooks, but they really arent for everyday use. Your cookbooks are put to daily use. I wonder if we could bring Mayos strength in health together with your strength in finding and presenting make-it-again recipes? Merle and I were intrigued.

Could we gather a collection of recipes that would solidly reflect Mayos commitment to healthy eating, expressed so clearly and convincingly in their Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid diagram (see )? And could we find, and then agree on, recipes that meet my criteriarecipes that are tasty, quick and easy to prepare, and that come from good home cooks who are scattered all across the country? Could This Idea Work? I worried a little, I admit, that we may not find enough appealing recipes. Could we discover vegetable main dishes with readily available ingredientsthat would work for people with very little time, and with almost no confidence in their cooking skills? What about whole-grain main-dish recipes that would meet the pickiest kids standards? And could we move fruit from garnish status to the heart and soul of a meal? Mayo would insist on healthy recipes. I was dedicated to the idea, because I knew how much I wanted such a collection of recipes for myself. And so we set out to try. Merle was no less an ardent believer in the possibility of this project, and he threw his insistent encouragement into it every day. Bless those resourceful home cooks who have already upped the proportion of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains in their daily cooking! Thank you for sharing your tastiest specialties in this cookbook! Tony Gehman, Esther Becker, Melissa Horst, and Kate Good, all from the Good Books team, also helped me immensely by organizing the recipes, preparing them for testing, and keeping track of their data.

Cliff Snyder made the cookbook pages friendly and usable. Mayo Clinic offered extraordinary expertise to this cookbook. Jennifer Nelson, Associate Professor of Nutrition at Mayo Clinics College of Medicine, and Director of Clinical Dietetics, Mayo Clinic Rochester, and her team did the Per Serving and Pyramid Serving analyses for each recipe, and advised me about how to adapt certain recipes so that they could meet Mayos healthy criteria. Dr. Donald Hensrud, Chair of Mayos Division of Preventive, Occupational, and Aerospace Medicine, and Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition at the College of Medicine, kept watch over the book so that it would fulfill Mayo Clinics commitment to offer reliable tools for healthier lives.