Slim & Scrumptious: A Cookbook Review & a Recipe

A few weeks ago, I received this cookbook to review, written by Registered Dietitian Joy Bauer from the Today show. You can check our her website here. I was immediately drawn in by the beautiful pictures and simple descriptions. It is exactly the kind of cookbook that I would want to write if I were to write a cookbook! I wanted to try a few of the recipes before recommending it though and now I can safely say, it’s a great book (keep reading because there is a recipe from the book included at the end of this post)!

The recipes are simple to follow, delicious and most importantly HEALTHY! Slim and Scrumptious features recipes for every meal from appetizer to snacks to dinner. Whether you want Strawberry Shortcakes with Sweetened Ricotta or Eggs Benedict for breakfast, Sesame Chicken Tenders or Spicy Pork Tacos with Sassy Slaw for lunch, or Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak with Chimichurri or Lemon-Dill Salmon cakes for dinner, Joy shows you that classic, rich food can still be made to taste great with just a fraction of the fat and calories. Some of the snacks and sweets that sounded tasty to me: Cinnamon Cheesecake Fondue, Chocolate-Cherry Oatmeal Cookies and flavored almonds. I think this would make the perfect gift for a birthday, mother’s day or housewarming gift. Here are a few of the things I tried:

Buffalo Chicken Chili

I am a big fan of buffalo wings but loved the concept of a healthier dish using ground chicken and lots of hot sauce. It really did taste like healthy buffalo wings especially with the blue cheese topping! My husband and I loved how different it was from an chili we’d ever had.

Buttermilk Ranch Dip

My kids are always asking for ranch with their veggies so this one definitely appealed to me. It was a little thick as a dip should be, so for the kids dressing I just added a little more buttermilk. I know I enjoyed munching on my raw veggies with it. Yummy!

Hoisin-Glazed Salmon

This has to be the easiest salmon recipe I’ve ever made. It literally took me 5 minutes to prepare and I was excited with the result- a delicious new flavor for my “usual” salmon. The jar of hoisin sauce can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store. The picture does not do it justice as I quickly snapped before sitting down, but if you want a simple, low-prep salmon dish with a unique flavor, you won’t be disappointed.

Like I mentioned Joy is the nutrition expert for the Today show, yahoo.com and has a monthly column is SELF magazine. She wrote a New York Times Bestseller book that was also sent to me for review. It’s called Food Cures and includes:

• Easy-to-follow 4-step food prescriptions for treating common ailments like arthritis and IBS; managing conditions like diabetes, migraines, PMS; reducing cholesterol and blood pressue- and more!
• Customizable and convenient meal plans
• Delicious recipes

If you would like to lose weight, manage a health condition or just want an experienced Dietitian at your fingertips, you should check out this book.

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Hoisin Salmon

Recipe from Slim & Scrumptious, very slightly modified

1.25 to 1.5 lb salmon
3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup (recipe called for 3 T but I thought it was sweet enough with 2T)
1 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place salmon in a baking dish lined with foil. Lightly season with salt & pepper. Bake for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together hoisin sauce, syrup, vinegar and ginger.
3. Remove salmon from oven, spoon sauce over salmon and return to oven to bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until fish is just opaque in the center.

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The two books were sent to me free of charge, however the review and opinions are strictly my own.