diets

I am a foodie, or an foodie wannabee who has some pounds to lose. Not surprisingly, since there's been a major trend in healthy eating over time, now some even so-called "gourmet" cookbooks are trying to incorporate low-fat things like egg substitutes and evaporated milk into their recipes to make them healthier, or to have less fat.

Luckily, Weight Watchers and the people who publish "Cooking Light" (both owned by same company I think)create truly wonderful recipes which will enable you to stay on a diet and eat well at the same time. The food brains behind these recipes create big flavors from spices, herbs, condiments and pungent additions like exotic mushrooms, chilies, anchovies, capers, olives, etc. instead of from fat.

There is something for everyone in this book. Sometimes you'll make something and go "something's missing" (yeah! the fat!) still there are plenty of keepers here like Roast Zucchini Provencal and the most incredible roast whole chicken w/gravy I've ever had in my life. I have several weight watchers books and don't doubt for a minute that these people are absolute culinary pros who know exactly what they're doing. You won't find classical french cuisine here, but if you need to cut down and eat healthier, this is a great place to start.

I found the recipes easy to follow. They make use of herbs and spices that add flavor and interest to the meals. However, one point I would like to bring up is the lack of serving sizes in the recipes. For instance the Beef Barley Soup states that it makes 4 servings and each serving counts for four points; it fails to mention the size of the serving. I had to measure out the entire pot of soup to find how many cups I had and then divide it by four. This is time consuming. I have seen throughout the entire book that there are no serving sizes for most of the recipes. Unlike your other cookbook "Simple Goodness" and your Weight Watchers Magazine.

WW has great recipes but they've done my pet peeve again! It is so annoying to look at, for instance, the soup you just made and be forced to either guess at 1/8 or measure the whole batch of soup and then extract an 1/8. Why not: Serving size 1 1/2 cup?