Healthy recipe book recommendations.

possessednomad89
possessednomad89 Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi guys,

I'm looking to mix up my healthy meals to stop them feeling a bit stale (not literally) and am wondering if anyone has any healthy recipe books recommendations? Not flakey diet books but just good quality recipes!

Thanks, possessednomad89.
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Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Any good recipe book can be a great resource for healthy recipes. Most regular cookbooks are quite full of nutritious dishes. Some need slight modifications, like reducing the amount of oil used, and some can be made exactly as instructed and still be within calorie reach.

    Lately I have been playing with "The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook" and everything I made so far I really enjoyed.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Any standard book, as amusedmonkey says. But I really like the website 101cookbooks.com.

    For a really basic cookbook, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is good. He also has a vegetarian one and one for fish.

    I enjoy seasonal cookbooks, cooking through the year type things but use them for inspiration since I don't ever follow recipes.
  • majorgear
    majorgear Posts: 5 Member
    I'm looking into this myself. I used to have a good grasp of nutrition but between my 20's and my 40's it all leaked out of my brain. Here is some info from another MFP discussion on nutrion, community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10435956/helpful-nutrition-books-podcasts It seems Michael Matthews is well respected in this area. I can check back in after using advice from his books, videos, and podcasts.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited September 2016
    Agree that any recipe book is "healthy". Is there something specific you're looking for? Maybe it would help to give an idea of what types of cuisine or types of food you like..
    If lower calorie is the goal, I really like the SkinnyTaste cookbook. Her calorie counts are usually fairly close to what I come up with, the portions are reasonable, and the food is pretty good. She has a blog, too, that you could check out if you're interested...skinnytaste.com

    ETA: Also forgot another favorite of mine, the Mayo Clinic Cookbook. Lots of good stuff in there.
    https://www.amazon.com/New-Mayo-Clinic-Cookbook-Eating/dp/0848727584

  • kittykarin
    kittykarin Posts: 104 Member
    I like Hungry Girl's recipe books. Depending on what type of recipes you are looking for, she does a lot of convenience foods like breakfast in a mug and lower calorie versions of comfort and restaurant food. Not a "clean" eater but good recipes for someone to make healthy swaps for favorite foods.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited September 2016
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Any good recipe book can be a great resource for healthy recipes. Most regular cookbooks are quite full of nutritious dishes. Some need slight modifications, like reducing the amount of oil used, and some can be made exactly as instructed and still be within calorie reach.

    Lately I have been playing with "The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook" and everything I made so far I really enjoyed.

    I'd never heard of this book, but the Amazon reviews look promising. Someone even broke the recipe count down by category, and it looks like a good variety. For $5.34 used, I decided it was worth it to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I like kaylin's kitchen website and oh she glows for some variety.

    I also love the old south beach diet cookbooks.

    And I adore moosewood cookbooks. Otherwise I'm pretty boring.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Pretty much any cook book that has you preparing meals from scratch, whole ingredients and/or minimally processed foods stuffs is going to provide plenty of healthy meals. As calories go, you may need to alter some recipes to use less oil...and/or less sugar (though I can't think of anything I really cook that adds sugar), but yeah...for the most part if you're cooking from scratch, it's going to be pretty healthy.

    I love to cook and have a whole book case full of cookbooks...I honestly don't use them much anymore and tend to just find awesome stuff on pinterest...

    As books go, my two favorites are by Mark Bittman. "The Best Recipes in the World" and "How to Cook Everything." These are really great if you're interested in preparing a variety of cuisines from around the world. I'm also a big fan of Jamie Oliver and of course, there's my tried and true "Betty Crocker's Cookbook"...that was my first cookbook from my early 20's when I wanted to learn to cook to impress the ladies...and I was broke and couldn't take them out to nice restaurants.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Pretty much any cook book that has you preparing meals from scratch, whole ingredients and/or minimally processed foods stuffs is going to provide plenty of healthy meals. As calories go, you may need to alter some recipes to use less oil...and/or less sugar (though I can't think of anything I really cook that adds sugar), but yeah...for the most part if you're cooking from scratch, it's going to be pretty healthy.

    I love to cook and have a whole book case full of cookbooks...I honestly don't use them much anymore and tend to just find awesome stuff on pinterest...

    As books go, my two favorites are by Mark Bittman. "The Best Recipes in the World" and "How to Cook Everything." These are really great if you're interested in preparing a variety of cuisines from around the world. I'm also a big fan of Jamie Oliver and of course, there's my tried and true "Betty Crocker's Cookbook"...that was my first cookbook from my early 20's when I wanted to learn to cook to impress the ladies...and I was broke and couldn't take them out to nice restaurants.

    Amazing how down to earth, and healthy Betty can be.
  • cbusnightowl
    cbusnightowl Posts: 132 Member
    Thug Kitchen! I loooove their recipe for Roasted chickpeas and broccoli
  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
    I have a cookbook called Eat Great. Lose weight. I have liked almost everything I have tried. It has a good variety of food and list the nutritional values.
  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
    https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Great-Lose-Weight-Weight-Loss/dp/1579540767/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1474859140&sr=8-3&keywords=Eat+great+lose+weight Here is the link to the book I mentioned above.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    i have an annoying collection of cookbooks both from school and for fun... but the internet never fails. tastespotting.com has, is, and will forever be my favorite wesbite.

    it groups recipies from blogs from all over the world and its picture based and has an awesome search bar. You get to see a picture of the recipie before clicking on it (i eat with my eyes first)

    and pinterest.
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
    Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook and Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One by Joe Yonan are both great especially if you are cooking for only one or two people.
  • valerialeek
    valerialeek Posts: 65 Member
    I use an app actually. It's called Yummly
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    Taste of home healthy edition has yielded some reliably tasty recipes (my favorite being the Zeus burgers). I also like the Cookie and Kate blog.

    I've kind of stopped buying cookbooks though. I have a binder and a journal and when I find a recipe that turns out online, I write it in my journal or print it out and stick it in my binder.
  • kar_yne08
    kar_yne08 Posts: 30 Member
    Looney spoons and skinny taste are both great
  • Sillybee727
    Sillybee727 Posts: 131 Member
    Eating Well magazine. I subscribed years ago and it changed the way I eat. (Now I just need to change the amount I eat.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Pretty much any cook book that has you preparing meals from scratch, whole ingredients and/or minimally processed foods stuffs is going to provide plenty of healthy meals. As calories go, you may need to alter some recipes to use less oil...and/or less sugar (though I can't think of anything I really cook that adds sugar), but yeah...for the most part if you're cooking from scratch, it's going to be pretty healthy.

    I love to cook and have a whole book case full of cookbooks...I honestly don't use them much anymore and tend to just find awesome stuff on pinterest...

    As books go, my two favorites are by Mark Bittman. "The Best Recipes in the World" and "How to Cook Everything." These are really great if you're interested in preparing a variety of cuisines from around the world. I'm also a big fan of Jamie Oliver and of course, there's my tried and true "Betty Crocker's Cookbook"...that was my first cookbook from my early 20's when I wanted to learn to cook to impress the ladies...and I was broke and couldn't take them out to nice restaurants.

    Amazing how down to earth, and healthy Betty can be.

    That's one of the ones my mom had, and the one I typically cooked from as a kid. I think of it as one of the most standard, easy American cookbooks, and indeed it's full of healthy meals and recipes.

    This is another reason why I find the idea that you need special cookbooks for healthy or "clean eating" or what not to be mostly just a scam or at least a weird question (not referring to OP here). Pretty much any normal cookbook should do.

    That said, I fully understand the joy of a new cookbook! I never cook from them directly anymore, but I love em.
  • CorneliusPhoton
    CorneliusPhoton Posts: 965 Member
    I like Cooking Light - magazine and online recipes. Also The Kitchn, skinnytaste, and food.com.

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