Light Basics Cookbook: The Only Cookbook You'll Ever Need If You Want To Cook Healthy

388 Pages·1998·42.82 MB·English

by  Shulman

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Basics
Cookbook
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The Only Cookbook
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to Cook Healthy
Martha Rose Shulman
"Light Basics Cookbool< will enlighten, inspire, and inform, pointing
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the way to a simple, sane, satisfying lifestyle." PATRICIA WELLS
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^|9^ BELVEDERE IIBURON UBRARY
BEL-TIB NEW BOOKS
641. 5 Shulman 1999
Shulman, Martha Rose
Light basics cookbook
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ever need if you want to
cook healthy
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PrintedinUSA
Also by Martha Rose Shulman
Mexican Light
ProveriQal Light
Mediterranean Light
EntertainingLight
Fast Vegetarian Feasts
The Vegetarian Feast
Little Vegetarian Feasts
Feasts and Fetes
The Classic Party Fare Cookbook
Great Breads: Home-Baked Favoritesfrom Europe,
&
the Biitish Isles NorthAmerica
Gourmet Vegetarian Feasts
TheSpice ofVegetarian Cooking
Light Basics
Cookbook
The Only Cookbook You Ever Need
II
You Want Cook Healthy
If to
m
Martha Rose Shulman
William Morrow and Company, Inc.
NEWYORK
For Molly Friedrich
Copyright© 1999byMarthaRoseShulman
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyany
means,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,orbyanyinformation
storageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthePublisher, Inquiriesshould
beaddressedtoPermissionsDepartment,WilliamMorrowandCompany, Inc., 1350Avenueof
theAmericas,NewYork,N.Y. 10019.
ItisthepolicyofWilliamMorrowandCompany, Inc.,anditsimprintsandaffiliates,
recognizingtheimportanceofpreservingwhathasbeenwritten,topnntthebookswepublish
onacid-freepaper,andweexertourbesteffortstothatend.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-m-PublicationData
Shulman, MarthaRose.
—
Lightbasicscookbook / MarthaRose Shulman. 1sted.
p. cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN0-688-15549-9
—
1. Cookery. 2. Low-fatdiet Recipes. I. Title.
TX714.S554 1999
641.5—dc21 98-17817
CIP
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
1234FIR5STE6DIT7ION89
10
BOOKDESIGNBYLAURAHAMMONDHOUGH
www.williammorrow.com
www.martha-rose-shulman.com
Contents
Ackno^vledgments vi
Introduction 1
How to Cook 5
Warm-up Exercises 41
Five Light Easy Pieces 43
Five More Light Easy Pieces 73
The Recipes 93
Chicken and Turkey 95
Salads 119
Soups: Dinner in a Bowl 152
Eggs 179
Grains, Beans, Vegetables, and Tofu 200
Pasta, Pizza, and Bruschetta 243
Fish and Shellfish 279
Main-Dish Tarts 305
Tacos, Quesadillas, and Salsas 324
Desserts 340
Entertaining 362
Index 369
I
Acknowledgments
A
s always, thanks to mylongtime agent, Molly Friedrich, who helped
^ M.„^ guide this project to a new editor. And thanks to that new editor,
.Pam Hoenig, who understood right away what I wanted to do with
this book.
And as always, thanks to my husband. Bill Grantham, who is enthusias-
tic about everything I cook, even when he has to eat the same thing night
afternight until I get it right.
Thanks also to Clifford Wright and his children, Dyala, Seri, and Ali, for
beingsuch reliable and enthusiastic eaters.
Introduction
This IS a book for people who want to learn to cook and eat well. By
eatingwell, I mean eating food that is delicious and that makes you
feel good, food that is vibrant and light but by no means ascetic.
Some ofyou may already know something about cooking; you will use this
book to retool your kitchen, refocus yourmenus, or simply add to your col-
lection of recipes. But many of you know nothing or very little about
preparing food; now it's time to learn. You will learn the basics here and de-
velop a repertoire that will give you the confidence to feed yourself, your
friends, andyour familyeveryday.
— —
When 1 wanted to learn to cook I was about seventeen years old all I
had to do was ask my mother to teach me. I wanted to learn the dishes we
ate for dinner every night. Sometimes my mother would show me how to
chop the onion, brown the meat, and make the spaghetti sauce. Other times
she'd just hand me the cookbook with the recipe she used for the dish.
With Light Basics Cookbook you will have both: somebody showing you how
to chop the onion and a recipe to follow.
A number ofyou are more accustomed to eating food that has been pre-
pared in a restaurant or take-out kitchen than to eating home cooking.
Maybe your parents were too busy to cook when you were growing up or
everybodyin the familyhad so many activities that it was difficult to coordi-
nate a sit-dowTi meal. And then, as an adult, you found yourselftoo busy or
too intimidated to cook. It may be difficult for you to envision where to be-
gin, because you're used to picking up your dinner at the local supermarket
salad bar. For you a good place to start might be with the tossed salad
—
warm-up exercise on page 56, since that's what you like to eat every night.
You might ask yourself, "Why bother?" since ready-made meals (what the
supermarkets call "meal solutions") are so available at your local mega-
supermarket or take-out place. My answer to that question is simple: you
will eat better in every way if you prepare your owti food. First of all, you
will be in charge of the ingredients that go into the dishes you make, most
important the fats. Cooking on an institutional scale, even fine cooking, al-
ways involves more fat, whether saturated or unsaturated, than you will use
when you cook with the recipes in this book. You will also have more con-
trol over the flavor and quality ofthe produce, poultry, and fish that go into
the dishes. Chicken dishes made with free-range chicken, the skin removed
and fat trimmed, are going to contain less saturated fat and more flavor than
dishes from even the most reputable carry-out chicken places. When you
begin eating meals made udth vegetables like tomatoes and peppers bought
from local farmers at the farmers' markets and seasoned to your own taste,
the prepared dishes you used to eat might begin to taste a Uttle Ufeless,
heavy, or salty.
You will taste the difference, and you will notice more money in your
wallet once you begin cooking for yourself. There is absolutely no compari-
son. You might think the trade-offis in time, and you may have a point. But
ifyou care about enjoying food, and about your health, saving time will not
be yourhighest priority
In any case, cooking from this book won't be unduly time consuming
which is not to say that this is a "meals in minutes" cookbook. I think that
cooking is fun, and 1 have tried to make it fun for you. I've minimized the
number of ingredients wherever possible, and I've included many recipes
that are made with ingredients you can keep on hand. Knowing how to
market for both dry and fresh ingredients is halfthe battle when it comes to
efficient, satisfying, healthy cooking and eating. Part I ofthis book will pro-
vide you with the necessary lists to get you going.
How to Use This Book m
Ifyou are a novice, or unconfident in the kitchen, begin at the beginning.
Read through the first section of the book to get an understanding of how
cooking works, starting wdth equipping your kitchen, pantry, and refrigera-
tor and moving on to techniques. Go out and buy the food I tell you how to
cut and chop starting on page 25 and practice. Then begin with "Warm-up
Exercises" on pages 41-91. These are very detailed recipes that are designed
Light Basics Cookbook
2