cover image Good Housekeeping Smart Carb Suppers: Delicious and Healthy Meals

Good Housekeeping Smart Carb Suppers: Delicious and Healthy Meals

The Editors of Good Housekeeping, Good Housekeeping Magazine. Hearst Books, $14.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-1-58816-437-7

After several years of anti-carbohydrate excess, when people actually believed that a bacon cheeseburger was healthy eating as long as they avoided the bun, experts are now saying that ""low-carb"" should not mean ""no-carb."" Instead, as the introduction to this useful volume puts it, cooks need to focus on good carbs; that is, foods with natural, ""intrinsic"" sugars (like fruits and whole grain products) as opposed to foods with added, ""extrinsic"" sugars (like soda and cookies). Enter Good Housekeeping and its volume of 75 low-carb, ""triple-tested"" meals. At first glance, some may be put off by this cookbook. The table of contents is organized only by broad categories (e.g. ""Seafood,"" ""Vegetables, Eggs, and Cheese""): individual recipes are listed only in the index. In addition, the volume has a distinctly suburban slant. Some of its fruit-and-meat combinations-like the Spiced Grilled Turkey Breast with Peach Salsa-are best left to Applebee's, and too many of its recipes direct the reader to ""prepare charcoal fire or preheat gas grill""-a problem for most urban dwellers. These little flaws aside, the book is actually a lot of fun. In keeping with the Good Housekeeping philosophy, the recipes are easy to follow, with accurate preparation times and useful nutritional information. And, for the most part, the recipes produce pretty tasty meals, from old standards like Coq au Vin to delightful surprises like Cuban Mojo Pork Chops. The sides are also quite flavorful-Roasted Cauliflower offers a simple but fresh approach to the vegetable, and Collards with Pickled Red Onions is a novel way to spice up an underused green. In short, don't be put off by the less-than-lavish design: this will be a useful, and healthy, addition to the library of any home.