Now Eat This!: 150 of America’s Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories

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Now Eat This!: 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories
 
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Featured Recipe: No Cream-No Cry Penne Alla Vodka

The dirty little secret about Penne alla Vodka is not the vodka but the hefty amount of heavy cream. Vodka is colorless, odorless, and without much flavor—not really attributes of a superstar ingredient. It’s the combination of cream and tomato sauce that gives this dish its signature flavor. The traditional cream is swapped here for low-fat Greek yogurt. --Rocco DiSpirito

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces whole- wheat penne
  • 2 cups Rocco’s How Low Can You Go Low-Fat Marinara Sauce (page 206 of Now Eat This!) or store-bought low- fat marinara sauce
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper
  • One 7-ounce container 2% Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup chopped fresh basil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

(Serves 4)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, about 9 minutes; drain.

2. While the pasta is cooking, bring the marinara sauce and crushed red pepper to a simmer in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Cook the sauce, stirring it occasionally with a heat-resistant rubber spatula, until it is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the saute pan from the heat.

3. Stir about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the yogurt until smooth (this tempers it and prevents the yogurt from curdling). Then whisk the yogurt mixture back into the marinara sauce.

4. In a large serving bowl, toss the sauce with the drained penne and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and serve.

Healthy Tips

Whole-wheat pasta has a dense texture that makes it a little tougher than regular pasta. Some people like that chewiness; some don’t. If you’re in the latter category, overcook it a bit. Toward the end of the cooking time, keep testing it until it’s as tender as you like it.

Fat: 4.8 g
Calories: 320
Protein: 18 g
Carbohydrates: 55 g
Cholesterol: 11 mg
Fiber: 6 g
Sodium: 416 mg

Featured Recipe: Seared Tuna With Green Beans, Lemon, And Wasabi

This dish isn’t a makeover, per se. But there are so many beloved--and believe it or not, unhealthy--seared tuna dishes out there in the restaurant world that I thought I should offer at least one healthy version. The tuna is never the problem. Tuna is rich in nutrients, low in fat, delicious, and just a good bet all around. It’s the stuff that’s put on top that’s the problem--anything from seared foie gras to deep-fried tempura crispies. Sure, it tastes great, but those additions turn a healthful dish into an artery-clogging one. --Rocco DiSpirito

Ingredients

  • 4 sushi-grade tuna steaks (3 ounces each)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 12 ounces haricots verts or slim green beans, trimmed
  • Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tablespoons wasabi paste
  • 4 scallions (white and green parts), sliced thin on the diagonal
  • 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds

(Serves 4)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat a grill or grill pan over high heat.

2. Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper to taste, and spray them lightly with cooking spray. When the grill is hot, add the tuna and cook for 1 1/2 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the tuna to a platter and allow it to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook the haricots verts in the boiling water until they are just tender, about 3 minutes; drain.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and zest, garlic, and wasabi paste. Add the haricots verts, scallions, and sesame seeds. Toss to coat, adding salt and pepper to taste.

5. Thinly slice the tuna. Fan each portion onto each of 4 plates. Pile a mound of dressed haricots verts on top of the tuna, and serve.

Fat: 3.8 g
Calories: 166
Protein: 23 g
Carbohydrates: 11 g
Cholesterol: 38 mg
Fiber: 5 g
Sodium: 211 mg


Product Details

  • ISBN13: 9780345520906
  • Condition: New
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Customer Reviews

Good & Healthy Recipes
 
Review Date: March 3, 2010
Reviewer: Norma Lehmeierhartie, New York, USA
I just spent about an hour reviewing Now Eat This! 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories, by celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito. As a former chef and avid cook, my passion is cooking healthy and delicious meals. So, it was with interest that I read this book, as I wanted to see how Rocco brought flavor--not calories--to America's favorite comfort foods.

The trick to cooking flavorful, healthy and low calories meals is using--no surprise--flavorful, health and low calorie ingredients and understanding how to combine them to make a dish that satisfies. Using such ingredients is how Rocco achieves this. He uses aromatic herbs and spices that are packed with flavor, for example. Another great substitute that Rocco uses for butter, sour cream or cream is Greek yogurt--yum! If you haven't tried Greek yogurt, you're in for a treat. I substitute it all the time in dishes and don't miss a thing.

Rocco was inspired to write this book after being a guest cook on The Biggest Loser. He was asked to turn traditional comfort foods--laden with fat and calories--into low calorie, tasty and healthy dishes.

The book itself is eye candy--bright, beautiful colors and lots of sexy photos of the dishes.

To keep the calories at a minimum, Rocco uses cooking spray. Cooking spray is great for faux frying and in some other instances, but I would use a bit of extra virgin olive oil in some of the other recipes. Olive oil is a "good fat" and is good for you. Sure, it adds calories, but it also adds flavor and gives the diner the feeling of satiation and satisfaction. (I can't help but believe that some of these meals are so light in calories that they would lead to hunger an hour or so later later and a possible unhealthy binge! For instance, his macaroni ann cheese recipe calls for 4 ounces of pasta for 4 servings!I do not know any pasta lover who could eat 1 ounce of pasta and be satisfied...)

That said, these are terrific recipes if you are trying to lose weight! Instead of the same old boring diet dishes, this book could keep you on track because of the variety in the dishes.

If you just want healthy and tasty meals, this cookbook is still fine. You can always eat a bigger portion or add some olive oil! :)

Overall, I like this cookbook and have earmarked several recipes to try very soon.

Author, HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT & SELL YOUR HOME FAST
Now Eat These Yummy Recipes and Permanently Lose Weight
 
Review Date: March 13, 2010
Reviewer: J. Whitford, Falls Church, VA USA
I have to be honest and say I am not a cook. I am devoted to my takeout menus. There is a reason I laminate them and keep them in a folder. I have tried losing weight eating. I ate low fat, no taste food and it only left me feeling miserable and desiring meat dishes and sweet desserts.

My doctor suggested that I get healthy (translation: lose some weight or your heart, kidneys and other organs are going to quit on you.) He compared my body to a toxic waste dump and said the only thing that would help me was a return to eating real food I prepared myself. Enter Rocco's cookbook.

Rocco was a guest chef on the Biggest Loser. After that show, he was encouraged and inspired to write a cookbook with real food and recipes that anyone could eat and still lose weight.

This book includes all my favorite comfort foods that I tend to eat over and over again at fast food joints, order for takeout and at local shopping malls and restaurants.

I am adding one new recipe a week to my meal plan. Here are a few of my favorites and how many calories and fat grams Rocco reduced in each recipe:

1. Chicken Alfredo (made with whole wheat linguine) cut out 920 calories and 65 grams of fat.

2. Chicken Cordon Bleu cut out a 1,000 calories and 75 grams of fat.

3. Filet Mignon Béarnaise with Roasted Cauliflower -cut out over 400 calories 33 grams of fat

4. Loaded Baked Potato Skins - cut out 450 calories and 33 grams of fat

These recipes use fresh ingredients, sometimes cooking spray (you could substitute olive or canola oil), and sometimes natural sweeteners like stevia, etc.

The taste is incredible. The portions for some recipes may seem small, but I offer this suggestion. Turn off your TV and computer. Sit and eat at your dining room table without distraction. Savor every bite. Not only will you enjoy your food more, you will actually taste it, and realize when you are full a lot faster.

Bon Appétit!
Astonishingly Low Calorie Comfort Food Recipes That Taste Like The Real Deal!
 
Review Date: March 22, 2010
Reviewer: cookswithbooks, long island, new york
Every time I grab a "triple chocolate chip" cookie from Rocco's book, at first I feel that twinge of guilt you feel when you are eating food you know you shouldn't eat, then I remember that they contain no sugar, no flour, their main ingredient is white beans and they are only 40something calories (even less sometimes cause I can get 30 cookies out of a batch instead of the 20 the book recommends) and about 1 gram of fat!! I then sigh with relief and eat 2! They are sooo delicious!!

After trying many of Rocco's superb recipes in Now eat This! I have come to realize that if this book existed 20 years ago America might be in better shape physically. It's long overdue but I'm glad it's finally here.

Other than the triple choco chip cookies some of my personal faves are:
Lobster bisque: tremendous lobster flavor and easier to make than the original
Peach and blueberry cobbler: his use of Bisquick is so smart
Turkey enchiladas: green salsa is so flavorful you don't notice the low fat cheese
Steak au poivre: I never need to eat the 1300-calorie version ever again
Berry pops: not the most original idea but best tasting yogurt pop I ever had
Onion rings: pure magic, I can't believe how crispy they are & with a little Tabasco the Smokey mayo sauce is mind blowing

There are a couple of dishes I liked less but there is so much room for personal preference you can make these your own w/o adding too many calories. For example, I can't eat a brownie that doesn't have chocolate chips and walnuts in them so I sprinkled a few in the batter and they still came out below 100 calories and were truly delicious!

Personally, I'd like Rocco to makeover every dish in America!

In this delectable cookbook, award-winning chef Rocco DiSpirito transforms America’s favorite comfort foods into deliciously healthy dishes—all with zero bad carbs, zero bad fats, zero sugar, and maximum flavor. What’s more, Rocco provides time-saving shortcuts, helpful personal advice, and nutritional breakdowns for each recipe from a board-certified nutritionist. So prepare your favorite foods without the guilt. Finally, a world-class chef has made healthy food taste great!

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