My unapologetic love for Martha Stewart is no secret. So this may be biased. But I think everyone can agree that the woman knows how to make a good cookbook. I own a few of her other cookbooks, and while I love them (obviously), sometimes the recipes are a little too rich - a little too old school for me. Sure, using butter to flavor everything tastes great, but my metabolism just isn’t into it. So when I stumbled across this gem - Everyday FOOD: Light - I was overjoyed. And Martha, well, she did not disappoint.

It has a basics section at the beginning, full of tips on how to boost flavor and cut out those sneaky fats. Otherwise, it’s organized by season, which helps in terms of buying seasonal ingredients, which tends to be healthier and cheaper. Double whammy. The recipes throughout are photographed beautifully. Each is accompanied by nutritional information, some come with tips on how to best store leftovers for a given dish, and nearly all come with an explanation as to how or why the recipe is light - how those extra calories were trimmed. And from what I’ve made so far, none of this sacrifices flavor. A few of these recipes immediately got dropped into our regular rotation. If you like Martha’s recipes or are looking for an easy way to start eating healthier, this is a great find.
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The Good Stuff

* Good layout and organization of recipes
* Good variety of recipes
* Wife says the index is bloody wonderful - but this would only be important to seriously anal library workers & nerds (Jen's note - nice eh, if he didn't cook as well as he did I might have to kick him to the curb for that)
* Recipes have simple easy to understand instructions, not too much prep time and most of the ingredients are readily available even here in the boonies
* The introduction to all of the light cooking methods and ways of making all of your meals lighter is extremely helpful
* Each recipe explain what makes it light and many have tips and tricks as well
* Nice to have the nutritional info listed on each recipe
* Each recipe has a picture -- which the wife really likes
* Unique way of organizing recipes by season - never seen before and really liked this
* the whole cookbook has a nice bright light laid back look which was a nice surprise as this is done by Martha Stewart (Jen's note: hubby has "issues' with Martha Stewart)

The Not so Good Stuff

* Recipes are a wee bit slanted to american type recipes -- not a big deal but if you are Canadian you will see what I mean (not an insult in any way - just an observation on choice of ingredients)
* The One Pot Chicken and Brown Rice dish just looks plain nasty (this is Jake's part of the review) and grits -- really (Jen's Note: we don't get the fascination with grits here in Ontario -- but than again we've been known to eat some weird dishes so really should just shut my mouth)
* Not a lot of kid friendly recipes if you know what I mean

Favorite Recipes

* Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash - Pg 345
* Light Chicken Parmesean - Pg 67
* Sweet Potato and Chipolte Soup - Pg 48
* Cilanto Lime Rice - Pg 178
* Lacy Almond-Orange Cookies - Pg 194
* Light Pineapple Upside Down Cake - Pg 112 (will post pics later)

Who Should/Shouldn't Use

* Best suited for beginner to intermediate cooks
* Perfect for my wife who always has a hard time digesting fattier/rich foods (Jen's Note: Thanks for telling everyone hubby)
* Great cookbook for those wanting to change their diet
* Not really good for the more experienced advanced cook

4.5 Dewey's

I received this from Random House in Exchange for an Honest Review ( )