NANCY JENKINS
Chances are excellent that you could cook out of
The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for the rest of your life and never feel the slightest tinge of boredom. How does Moroccan Carrot Salad with Orange and Lemon Juice sound? Or Catalan Soup of White Beans and Clams? Or Lebanese Fish Baked in a Tomato-Cilantro Sauce?
Mediterranean cooking is refreshingly low in salt, fat, and starch, relying instead on fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, and poultry. Nancy Harmon Jenkins provides a delicious alternative for anyone who feels their basic diet needs a change, but isn't sure which way to turn. Jenkins relishes tradition and place, and the vibrant people who bring this style of cooking alive. She circles the Mediterranean, collecting the classic recipes that fall within the defined parameters of the Mediterranean diet (as recognized by the World Health Organization): "plentiful fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains; olive oil as the principal fat; lean red meat only a few times a month; low to moderate consumption of other foods from animal sources, such as dairy products, fish and poultry; and moderate consumption of wine." Simplicity is the key to the Mediterranean diet--simple ingredients and stress-free preparation and cooking. This is more than a cookbook--it is a blueprint for healthier living. --Schuyler Ingle
1 I'm overwhelmed!!!
I bought this cookbook because I wanted to learn how to cook healthy mediterranean food.
I have opened the book several times and thought about starting a recipe but every single time, I close it and decide not to because there is sooooo much information and no pictures to tell me what I am making!
There are a ton of recipes (good, I am sure), but it's just way too overwhelming. I was deciding between this book and another mediterranean cook book.... I'm very sorry I bought this bulky thing.... I wish I woulda gotten the other.....
2 Easy and imaginative authentic recipes
I borrowed this book from the library to try. Now I must purchase it! The recipes use ingredients easy to obtain and the instructions leave no questions on how to prepare it. If one follows this complete healthy eating regime they WILL find that their sweet tooth is satisfied with a simple cookie or piece of fruit. Your cravings come from a diet lacking in complete nutrition and your body lets you know it in no uncertain terms! This book may not have pictures but the author paints wonderful word pictures if you take the time to enjoy it. Not a fast read. Let's slow our pace down like the Europeans do and find enjoyment in the simple pleasures of life.
3 Too wordy and no pictures
I was disappointed in this book and sent it right back for two reasons. One, it's very, very wordy. I like cookbooks that tell you how to cook the dish without so much reading. Secondly, I like a few pictures, preferably in color, but at least a few sketches. Some of the recipes looked interesting, but I'm sure I can find them in a cookbook that's more user-friendly.
4 Excellent cookbook, but definitely not for everyone
"The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook" has received many glowing reviews, all of them likely very much warranted. While I understand its worth as a cookbook, I have to object to how this book is marketed as being able to change one's lifestyle.
Recently diagnosed with heart disease in my mid-thirties, I have been looking for information that will both improve my health and work within the limits of my lifestyle. This book, at least for me, will not and cannot work. But I recognize it will for others.
First of all, as the author indicates, this type of cooking requires time and preparation. This is, after all, a part of Meterranean culture. I understand that. But it is not part of American culture. More importantly, it's not even feasible for many people trying to scrape by financially. The idea of working in the kitchen for hours each day is simply not possible for many Americans - regardless of their own desires. This is why I suspect that the audience for this type of book is restricted almost exclusively to families and individuals who are wealthy (or at least not in financial debt) or who are in a traditional relationship in which one spouse stays home during the day.
Another thing that I found annoying was the author's attitude that one's sweet tooth should be easily satisfied with a basic cookie or a piece of fruit. Having been raised a vegetarian throughout most of my childhood I can attest to the fact that eating natural foods all the time does _not_ guarantee that your desires for cake, ice cream or brownies will simply disappear. For some people, perhaps even a majority, it is a question of just giving up what they desire. If there's one thing I've grown to detest after my own diagnosis is that I will be easily satisified with my new diet and lifestyle. Like many individuals with heart disease, I must accept my plight. However, I don't have to put up with anyone telling me that I will be satisfied with something that I already know from my own experience to be a poor substitute. In other words, don't manipulate me, just state the truth outright: you may like desserts, but you're going to have to give them up.
If you have the time and interest to cook this book is an excellent choice. If your lifestyle simply cannot adapt then I would recommend looking elsewhere. In my personal experience I found "SuperFoods Rx : Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life" by Steven G. Pratt to be the most helpful thus far.
5 Finally, I eat my vegetables!
I bought this book mainly because I wanted to find a way to enjoy my vegetables, so that I'd actually eat them.
Not only does this book meet that goal wonderfully, it also contains some beautiful background stories and interesting results from nutritional research.
I'm going to spend a lot of time working through the book's recipies to find those I'll use the most. Not all recipies float my boat, but MAN is there some good stuff in here.
6 great book
This book reads like a traditional mediterranean cook book. There is an intro describing the typical meditterean diet (italy, greece, middle eastearn) Pasta, beans, garlic, veggies and olive oil. Delicious recipes, that hardly feel diet. In general, I would say they are somewhat lower in sodium than the typical american diet. I think it is healthful to get used to a lower sodium diet. You can always add a bit of salt if you find the recipes a bit bland without it.
There is a great recipe for Hummus, not *too garlicy but lots of fresh lemon! very good.Very good greek white bean soup... most soups use water as a base, and i tend to use stock instead, for flavor.Another favorte is a wild mushroom risotto... i tend to use regular mushrooms as porcinis are expensive. There are many very good recipes. There are even desserts, altho i havent made any of them.
This is an excellent addition to a cookbook collection. It is a great meditterean cookbook and a great healthy cook book. Nutitional info is included so these recipes can be fit into any diet plan.
7 The Book is O.K.
Honestly, I have to say that I am not pleased with the recipes I've tried so far. I like spicy and tasty food, but the recipes I have tried so far were surprisnly lacking flavor. However, it appears that the author has done a good job of finding recipes from all over the Mediterranea region. Unfortunately they are not to my liking. But I could just be choosing all the wrong ones.
8 Must have for any kitchen
I've been hearing that the Mediterranean Diet is the most recommended by Doctors for a healthy lifestyle. So, I borrowed this book from the local library to see what was involved and to make sure that I could prepare the dishes. These mouth watering recipes are so delicious and good for you too and best of all, they are within my limited cooking ability!. I'm ordering the book today!
9 Second review
I just purchased my fifth copy as a gift. That pretty well says it all.
10 This is the best book to help you do the Mediterranean Diet
This cookbook which is actually much more than that, really helped me get started on the best diet of my life. It describes the reasons the diet is healthy and provides recipes and supply lists to get you going.
11 This is too good to be good for you!
I've tried 2 recipes from this cookbook and they were both an explosion of flavor. I tried Ed Behr's Mediterranean country style bread and it was hands down the best bread I've ever tasted. A beautiful flavor and fine texture without using butter, milk or sugar...amazing! Then I tried the pasta alla checca and it was incredible. I followed the recipe first and made a pasta dinner, then i also ended up using it as an Italian "salsa". I usually feel pretty lucky to find one keeper in an entire recipe book, but I already have 2 out of 2 that I've tried and I plan to try more! This is very much worth spending the money on and adding to any cookbook collection. I could see myself living like this, it's a pleasurable adjustment to my diet and how often can that be said?
12 Finally the Truth comes out !!!
This book is amazing in all that it reveals about the dangers of the way we eat. I find it unbelievable the percentage of our own Doctors that are so mis-informed or maybe a better word would be brainwashed. Speaking as a person with a family history of obesity, heart disease and cancer I can't help but feel angry that no one ever took the time to research the reasons why people who go on low-fat diets don't really lose weight. I lost my father when I was 17 years old from heart disease, he was only 59 years old. I'm so thankful for this book and the information it has "armed" me with to fight for my life. After reading Low-Fat Lies and following the Med-diet I feel I have finally discovered the way to lose the weight I have been trying to lose for over 20 years, but more importantly to become healthy and to learn to live this way for the rest of my life.
13 Very good adition to your repertoire of cookbooks
This book has changed my husband's life and mine,if you are trying to live in a healthier manner,and do it while eating fantastic food,I would say that this book is the perfect thing for getting into the "healthy mood".
The recipes are very flavorful,and most of them,fairly easy to cook,also.
14 An essential for anyone who wishes to eat a healthy diet
This book is an invaluable staple in my kitchen. The recipes utilize fresh, delicious, readily available ingredients; they are flavored to please both the palate and the body. Tired of diet after failed diet, I wanted to find an alternative that was good for my health as well as my waistline, and this fits the bill. I am not only losing weight, I feel better, have more energy, and my blood pressure and cholesterol levels have dropped significanly. I highly recommend this book and this style of eating to anyone who wishes to improve his or her general health.
15 Too much author, not enough cookbook
I am going to do something I rarely do, and criticize a cookbook on style rather than content. I had to return this book because I simply couldn't stand the author's smug, self-satisfied editorializing. I love "local color" about recipes, but I don't like writers who think the point of local color is to make themselves look cool and sophisticated.
I originally bought the book for my father, whose doctor has recommended that he adopt the "Mediterranean" diet. However this cookbook would not be much use to someone who wasn't already an accomplished cook with a good idea of what a Mediterranean diet looks like. The cookbook doesn't particularly address how one builds a diet up out of a collection of recipes. It reads as if the health aspect of the book was tacked onto what is, from the recipe point of view, a fairly conventional cookbook.
The recipes looked fine, but there are so many wonderful Mediterranean cookbooks, written by authors whose personalities are a lot more inviting. I will second another reviewer's praise of Sonia Uvezian's very personal book on Lebanese cooking. Despite being a more narrowly focused book, or perhaps because of it, the reader gets a much better idea not just of how to make a few Lebanese dishes, but of the overall structure of the Lebanese diet.
16 Traditional recipes rich in flavor and nutrition
The Mediterranean diet features naturally healthy, lusty dishes that please the eye, tempt the palate, and satisfy one's love of robustly flavored food. This practical and informative book offers traditional recipes that highlight the bold flavors, vibrant colors, and wholesome ingredients of the region's cookery. The dishes are not difficult to prepare, and the fun in the kitchen is equaled by the reward at the table.
Also recommended: "Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen: A Culinary Journey through Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan," by Sonia Uvezian. This is a totally unique and masterly volume that showcases a dazzling collection of healthful and imaginative recipes, many of them documented for the first time.
17 Great for California living
Ms. Jenkins's Mediterranean Diet Cookbook is a super addition to anyone's cookbook shelf. Her plain language explanation of the cooking methods was a big plus. Her scientific ammunition on the benefits of this type of diet is impressive --makes me wonder how much I should believe about some of those reports on fats, etc. The book has proved especially useful here in California where lemons, fish, and other items are much more plentiful than in my previous home...and her translation of ingredients into American supermarket terms is wonderful. I espcially enjoyed the salad dressings, the fish recipes, and the vegetable soups.
18 Lots of Recipes - goes great with Low-Fat Lies...
This book makes a great companion for the Low-Fat Lies / High Fat Fraud book. Lots of recipes to get you started eating FOOD; and, not pieces and parts!
19 Healthy dining and culinary delights.
I have always felt that the word "diet" hurts the appeal of this book. It is not a "go on this and lose weight" diet, but rather "the way the Mediterrean peoples of the world eat" diet. Most healthcare professionals feel that the Mediterrean diet is the healthiest diet there is; however, this book is on a list of my top five cookbooks in a collection of approximately 500 based on how delicious the food is! Try the Greek Salad and the Salad Nicoise, two dishes that are horribly served in diners all over the Northeast, to see how they really should taste. The food is truly wonderful AND healthy. The recipes are clearly written and easy to prepare. I give this book as a present all the time to both my health-conscious friends and my cooking friends. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook, to anyone who loves to eat, and to anyone who wants to clean up his nutritional act in 1997. I give my thanks to Nancy Harmon Jenkins for a monumental work and wish everyone who tries it good eating and good luck.
20 To your health: good nutrition doesn't have to be boring.
I discovered this book in searching for things that could help me do a better job of managing my own recently diagnosed hypertension. It is recommended in Dr. Thomas Pickering's book, "Good News about Hight Blook Pressure." Pickering is no "alternative" health faddist. He is a real doctor who bases his recommendations on the best scientific medical research he has at his disposal. He recommends the Mediterranean diet (over no less than that of the American Heart Association) and this book by Nancy Harmon Jenkins as one which can introduce you to the cultural experience of Mediterranean eating at an aesthetic level. This book has given our family an extraordinary series of great dining experiences. There is nothing dull about the recipes in this book. And the author has traveled and researched the subject so well that many of the recipes begin with a discussion of the person from whom the recipe is taken. The Moroccan Harira is an exceptional bean soup with just a little lean beef in it to add some interest bites along with the chick peas and lentils. It is the ginger, the cinnamon and the saffron, though, that make this soup a standing ovation dish. And this just an humble bean soup. Throughout, the spices are exotic and the uses of vegetables that most Americans long ago relegated to the category of culinary boredom are creative and delicious. Get a copy of this beautifully presented book, buy a drum of olive oil and get ready for healthy dining. Oh, and a little red wine is O.K., too. The Mediterranean diet is an absolute delight for its followers. As soon as I post this review, I am ordering two more copies as Christmas gifts for people on my list who love to cook and who like to venture beyond their secure bounds of their own culture. Neither of them has any problem with hypertension as far as I know. And, with this book on their kitchen reading shelf, perhaps they never will.
