The Essential Eating Well Cookbook    edited by Patsy Jamieson Order:  USA  Can Countryman Press, 2004 (2004) Hardcover Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Good Carbs. Good Fats. Great Flavors. We all want that. But with our busy life styles, we don't always eat the way we should. But maybe with The Essential Eating Well Cookbook (with recipes from Eating Well, the Magazine of Food & Health), we can eat tasty, good for us food. For more than a dozen years 'many fine cooks have sharpened their knives and honed the thousands of recipes that make up the library from which this book has been selected.' We read that 'Eating Well lives and cooks at the intersection where the culinary world meets the realm of nutritional wellness.' You will find, at the corner of recipe pages, stars indicating the health benefits of that recipe - Healthy Weight, Lower Carbs, and High Fiber. Best of all, substitutions have been made to classic recipes, that allow us to savor the food without sacrificing our goals or flavor. The cookbook starts off with a page of Seasonal Menus and another of Holiday Menus. Now to the good stuff - the food! I can't list all the 375 recipes but I can choose a few that had me heading for the kitchen. Mexican Potato Omelet rates two stars, for lower carbs and high fiber. I must try Figs Stuffed with Gorgonzola Cheese - can't go wrong with gorgonzola, that wonderful Italian blue cheese. Starred with healthy weight and lower carbs, I've got to try it. From Soups, I'd have to vote for Roasted Tomato Soup - my chef daughter makes a tomato soup to die for. This looks similar and is starred with healthy weight and lower carbs. Salads are a basic in my kitchen. I'm opting for Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing. Wow! And healthy weight and lower carbs besides what sounds like great flavor. Beans & Grains suggests Black Beans and Barley and brings us high fiber. Veggies? Green Beans with Carmelized Onions, with healthy weight and lower carbs. Pasta is one food I truly miss while trying to watch what I consume. But there are recipes here that will allow me to indulge my passion. Penne with Asparagus & Lemon Cream Sauce would set me up for a week and it's also high fiber. Vegetarian meals always warm my heart. Grilled Eggplant Towers with Tomatoes & Feta strike it rich with healthy weight, lower carbs and high fiber! The cookbook wends its way through Poultry, Fish and Seafood, Meat, Breads and - are you ready? - Old-Fashioned Desserts!! Be still my heart. How about Rice Pudding and Bread Pudding and Creme Brulée and Bananas Foster Gratin and Pies and Cakes and Cheese Cakes and Apple Oatmeal Cookies and ... Sorry, I let my enthusiasm get away with me there. Take it from me, my significant other and I will be using this cookbook on a regular basis as we both try to bolster ourselves in our later years with good food that hasn't lost its taste - and, hallelujah, is good for us. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews