Pros: Helpful lists and tips; incredibly delicious recipes; many recipes; photographs
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Jane Wesman Public Relations, Inc.
Since I’ve had a need to eat healthy lately (in particular, low-fat and high-fiber), it was the perfect opportunity to try out Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook. I’d found her book on The Eat-Clean Diet surprisingly helpful, but of course I prefer to have a wider array of recipes to work from, and that’s where this book came in.
At first glance the book might not seem that different from other good healthful eating cookbooks, such as EatingWell Serves Two. They both contain plenty of recipes with lean meats, whole grains, etc. They both contain great helpful hints to assist you through understanding how to work with healthy foods, how to make them interesting, etc. They both contain some nice photographs to make the food seem alluring and yummy.
However, to me there’s one key difference. Tosca Reno’s recipes aren’t bland.
You might be a tad confused now, because I didn’t particularly rate down the EatingWell book for its blandness. That’s because I’m well aware that there’s a sizable contingent of people out there who want their diet food to resemble bland, “normal” American fare as much as possible; I’m not going to mark down a book for catering to that crowd, even though I don’t personally enjoy that approach.
However, I’m certainly happy to sing the praises of a book that finally satisfies my desire for flavorful, creative diet food. I know it can be done, and it’s my feeling that part of the reason a lot of people think diet food sucks is because they want flavorful food and most diet books cater to the safe, bland crowd. Well, Tosca Reno is one health and fitness advocate who doesn’t seem to believe in that.
One of the recipes we tried from this book was a stuffed pumpkin recipe that involved things like ground bison and wild rice. It was incredibly delicious, even as leftovers—one of those recipes that don’t taste like diet food at all (and that’s the way it should be!).
Another was a breakfast burrito that wowed us so much that we use variations on it regularly now as a savory break from my Tosca-inspired hot breakfast cereal, or as a delicious and healthy lunch. We try to keep whole grain wraps in the house every week just for this recipe.
There’s a white bean tuna spread that I like as much as standard tuna salad (and it’s a lot healthier!), and a couscous salad with chevre, oregano, and vegetables that’s out of this world (my husband took leftovers in to work as lunch today).
If you’re the kind of person who finds most healthy or diet cookbooks to be bland and underwhelming, then I urge you to try Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook instead. It challenges your creativity, suggests ways to work with unusual ingredients, and provides all the flavor those other books are missing!
I need this book! 🙂
So far, so good. I am really enjoying reading the book and making subtle changes in my eating. It should be called “Eat Clean Living” not “diet” because it is more a new way of thinking and eating more healthy.
J.Kaye: I’m SO keeping this out where I’ll remember to use it!
Stacy: I agree. Having read her original “eat-clean diet book,” I personally think she called it a diet in the book titles because she wanted the folks who are always looking for yet another ‘quick fix’ diet to, for once, read something that might be good for them. I’m guessing she was hoping it might almost fool the folks who are hurting their health through fad diets into accidentally learning proper nutrition. She definitely seemed keen on the idea of reaching those folks, anyway, so that’s my assumption.
Nice review, I agree that books do have to cater for “normal” everyday food and it seems this one does. I might have to buy it.
I think that there is room for any book that does something different to relieve the boredom.
LOVE THIS BOOK! I use it daily. Tosa Reno knows her stuff. The Canadian Beef Stew and Chestnut Stews are my fave winter recipes. I also love the Meatloaf with Brown Rice. Anyone interested can check out http://www.eatcleandiet.com for free sample recipes.
I’ve only just bought this book. i have been wanting to eat healthy for a long time and have tried a few before but found the recipes hard to follow,expensive and rather tasteless. With this book you have none of those problems and i have not found one recipe yet that is bland plus my family love all the meals so i do not have to do seperate meals.
This book sure sounds different! The recipes sounds really nice too! Thanks for the great info!
I will get this book too!
For anyone that has not purchased this book, do so! I have had it for a while and it does wonders. The recipes are amazing and the food tastes so good. The recipes are very easy to follow as well. Good purchase!
I will definitely buy this book! Your all reviews are so nice there 🙂 A stuffed pumpkin recipe sounds very delicious… I want to taste it! I think that Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook will be a good choice for my family! Thanks!
Really enjoyed the review. Made me want to go out and buy the book Going to try Alannas suggestion and try out the free recipes. With Thanksgiving coming up the stuffed pumpkin idea sounds great
Will buy this book for sure. From the other comments it looks like the food tastes good, but most of all the recipes are easy to follow – sore point for me with other books I’ve bought.
Great review, thanks. A high fiber, low fat diet probably is healthy. But in my personal experience, if you are interested in losing weight you are better going with a low carb diet. You might find some valueable information on our site which I’ve linked my name to. There will be recipes up soon as well. Unfortunatly we’ve got only a german version now, but an english is soon to come, Cheers, Jan
Will buy this book for sure. From the other comments it looks like the food tastes good, but most of all the recipes are easy to follow – sore point for me with other books I’ve bought.
We reviewed this book also, and are amazed to discover that it still sits in the Amazon bestseller lists. It is a good book, helped along, in part, by Tosca Reno’s publicity and profile.
This is a great cookbook. It is in fact still on the Amazon bestseller list. Very similar to the Eating Well book, but there is plenty of variety and enough reason to still get it. Thanks for the review!
I’ve been wanting to eat more healthily for a while have tried a few before but found the recipes hard to follow, expensive and bland. With this book you have none of those problems.
After reading about all the delicious recipes you have been trying, I now have to go and buy the book myself. Now looking forward to eating healthy without sacrificing taste 🙂
Good taste is probably the best reason to eat anything. Can’t most recopies be modified to meet your dietary restrictions? For instance, anything with objectionable quantities or ingredients can usually be reduced or swapped without much compromise to the outcome. I often swap a fat I don’t like for healthful ones.