Go Fresh with the American Heart Association

I'm kind of a cookbook junkie.  I love, love, love looking through cookbooks finding inspiration and recipes for yummy, healthy foods to feed my family.  That's why I was excited to read Go Fresh: A Heart-Healthy Cookbook with Shopping and Storage tips.

The book contains sections on shopping for and storing fresh foods, taking a fresh approach in the kitchen, cultivating healthy eating habits, and finding a healthy lifestyle, along with appendixes featuring a food storage guide, vegetable cooking times, and ingredient equivalents.  Oh, and 250 delicious recipes using fresh, healthy ingredients.

The recipes are divided into appetizers, snacks, and beverages; soups; salads and salad dressings; seafood; poultry; meats; vegetarian entrees; vegetables and side dishes; sauces and condiments; breads and breakfasts; and desserts. 

The tips are fairly standard--not much new information there if you've been leading a healthy lifestyle, but good solid advice if you're just starting out.  The appendixes are helpful, particularly the vegetable cooking times--I have to look up the temp and time every time I want to roast or grill veggies--it's nice to have it all in one place. 

Paging through the recipes I found quite a few that I wanted to try, and even more important, that I thought my picky eaters might eat and enjoy.  The recipes are well written and easy to follow, using ingredients that are readily available.  Each recipe includes calorie count and nutrition information.

I have tried 6 recipes from the book so far, including Blueberry-Walnut Chicken Salad, Sirloin with roasted potatoes and vegetables, Grilled portobello burgers with spicy avocado sauce, Country thyme chicken strips, Ancho chicken and black bean salad with cilantro-lime dressing, and Peanutty chocolate-banana freezer.  I have plans to make sautéed zucchini with Parmesan and Nordic raspberry almond rice pudding in the next couple of weeks.

I loved everything I tried.  My family received the new dishes with varying degrees of acceptance, but that was as expected.  I think our favorite was the Ancho chicken and black bean salad with cilantro-lime dressing.

 

The grilled chicken is juicy and delicious.  The ancho powder provides a sweet peppery flavor without a lot of heat.  The cilantro-lime dressing compliments the chicken and salad perfectly.  This dish is a perfectly spiced and delicious southwestern style main dish salad, and it's definitely going into our regular dinner rotation.

 

Bottom line: this is a terrific resource if you're looking to "freshen' up your cooking.

 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.