The Truly Healthy Family Cookbook: Mega-Nutritious Meals That Are Inspired, Delicious and Fad-free

In this lighthearted volume, Ruggiero (The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet) delivers original, flavorful recipes for family-friendly meals. And while calling them mega-nutritious would be an overstatement for the collection as a whole, each recipe does contain at least one healthy element. Make My Date Date and Almond Muffins are made with whole wheat and amaranth flours, Three Times the Charm Three-Cheese Flatbread with Pears and Maple Drizzle features hemp seeds for extra protein. Even the sugary Simply Peachy Homemade Peach Butter is punctuated with fresh thyme (a tiny bit), which the author celebrates for its “health-promoting flavanoids.” Although the recipe titles err on the cutesy side, they serve as a reminder that food can be simple and fun. And the recipes themselves are original and often adventurous: Orange You Fabulous Orange-Infused Whole Wheat Breakfast Couscous with Cherries is a change from standard cereal options; Desert Song Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Dried Fruit combines sweet, spicy, and savory. Parents looking for new ideas for family meals could find this volume to be a worthwhile resource. (Aug.)