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The many challenges of 2020 led to almost everyone cooking and preparing more meals at home. Done properly, this actually has a number of health benefits: homecooked meals are usually lower in sodium and fat than meals prepared in restaurants, and that means they can be better for your heart health, too.
The holiday season is a great time to brush up on your cooking skills and freshen up your (and your loved ones’) cookbook collection. So here, for your consideration, are the cookbooks that have been my favorites over the past year, the ones to which I’ve turned for delicious, healthy recipes time after time:
The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook, by America’s Test Kitchen
This is, hands down, my all-time favorite cookbook for Mediterranean-style recipes. As you’ll see in future posts, as a cardiologist, I’m a big fan of the Mediterranean way of eating, because the Mediterranean Diet has proven itself time and again in well-designed, large-scale studies to benefit heart health by reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
America’s Test Kitchen is legendary for testing recipes until they find just the right variation(s), and they provide advice on how to choose the best ingredients and which cooking techniques bring out the best flavor without undue hassle. As they themselves say, “We make the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
In this book, you’ll find not only some of the best Mediterranean recipes anywhere, but also an explanation of the Mediterranean Diet, including the Mediterranean Diet pyramid and how to put it into practice.
Baladi: A Celebration of Food from Land and Sea, by Joudie Kalla
This five-star cookbook also has a number of wonderful Mediterranean recipes that you won’t find anywhere else. Chef Joudie Kalla shares her family’s recipes and also puts a twist on traditional recipes found in Palestinian homes throughout the world. The photographs are beautiful and the recipes are easy to follow, making this cookbook both a treasure and a pleasure to have and to read.
If you like this cookbook, you’ll also want to check out her prequel, Palestine on a Plate: Memories from My Mother’s Kitchen.
New Cook Book (Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen)
When I was in medical school, one of my dear friends gave me my first version of this cookbook, and I’ve never found better when it comes to simple recipes that work in almost every kitchen. Many of these are healthy recipes, especially when you train your eye toward those with poultry, fish, and vegetarian options.
The Complete Slow Cooker, by America’s Test Kitchen
Who doesn’t love a “fix-it-and-forget-it” recipe? As the subtitle for this book puts it, here are 400 “must-have recipes that cook while you play (or work).” Most of these recipes use whole, healthy ingredients and span a wide range of cuisines. Look for those that use lean meats, low-sodium options, and are light or free of butter, heavy dairy, or added sugar.
Once again, our friends at America’s Test Kitchen have turned out an indispensable guide, one that demystifies how to cook flavorful meals with a slow cooker.
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