The Complete Idiot's Guide to Quick and Easy Low-Carb Meals Review & Ratings

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Quick and Easy Low-Carb Meals Review

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Along comes another LC cookbook, sayeth the powers at Amazon, and lo I buy and test; for such is the compulsion of the dieting reviewer.
Not normally someone to pick up the books with titles that suggest I may have lower-than-average intelligence (guilty conscience perhaps?), nevertheless I couldn't resist the allure of "quick and easy". Tod Dimmick has written a cookbook that promises several things in the introduction:
*Use high-quality, low-carb ingredients
*Keep it simple
*Call for accessible ingredients
*Avoid processed foods
*Take advantage of quick cooking methods
*Keep an eye on saturated fat
*Control expense
*Add in fun and flavor
My job, as I see it, is to test how well these promises are carried out by actually performing the recipes in my average home kitchen. This time I tried four appetizers, three breakfasts (aside from the ever-present omelet recipes that *every* LCCB has, and which I am tiring of rapidly; besides, it's hard to mess up a basic egg/meat/veggie recipe if your cooking method is good), two seafood main courses, a meat loaf, a kid-friendly chicken dinner, a salad and three dessert selections. Additionally, there were a few dozen recipes that were so similar to recipes from other LCCBs that I didn't even need to try them yet again to know exactly how they would turn out - simple and classic dishes that are universally LC, like grilled steak with seasonings, wine, and butter or roasted veggie side dishes. In all, I feel confidently familiar with at least half of the recipes in TCIGTQ&ELCM.
My verdict: this book lived up to its promises, mostly. There were few enough ingredients, easy to understand instructions, and everything was fresh, unprocessed, inexpensive and accessible at my supermarket. Vegetables were emphasized in most main dish recipes, putting an end to the myth that LC means lacking nutrition and variety. There was a lot of leeway in choosing cuts of meat based on personal preference and budget. Nearly everything had a built-in guarantee of good flavor because that is what you get when you use a very few fresh, unprocessed ingredients in simple recipes that call for quick cooking methods. Looked at that way, it's hard for this cookbook to fail.
As for being low carb, my impression is that about half of the overall recipes were truly a traditional, Atkins-style low carb, the other half is what might be called "good carb", of the kind that you might find on a South Beach diet, for instance. I suppose that somebody on a "good carb" type diet would have no trouble with the low carb dishes, but a traditional Atkins dieter would have to stay away from the "good carb" recipes for sure. Some high-carb fruits were called for frequently in the breakfast and dessert sections: also, unprocessed bran was used as a substitute for many starchy things including bread crumbs, and while that's okay for some LC diets, it's troublesome for Atkins and Paleo diets. That does limit a strict low-carber severely, and it was a little disappointing to me, given the title that promised *low* carb. I just wish that the Good Carb and Low Carb recipes were marked as such.
I can sincerely rave that I loved what I tried (exceptions: anything that tried to imitate bakery items that are normally made with wheat flour. The pancake and cookie recipes blew chunks IMHO. Sorry Mr. Dimmick, but soy flour and other LC bake mixes just don't taste right). Even where it wasn't terribly original, this cookbook can't be faulted for taking advantage of the tried-and-true. Sometimes all I needed was a reminder that yes, stuffed peppers can be translated low carb, and that Oh yeah, classic salsa and hot artichoke dips are ready-made as low carb. What can I say, there is a fine line between Id__t and genius.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

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