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Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes
Books: CookBooks: Healthy: Item 5
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Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremesby Rachael Ray
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233 of 339 people found the following review helpful: Rachael Does Low Carbs, sort of. Typically Good Recipes, March 30, 2005 Reviewer:B. Marold (Bethlehem, PA United States) - '30-Minute Get Real Meals' by name above the title, tenth book and counting; Ms. Rachael Ray is her take on low carb dishes. However, as a lifelong pasta and bread girl, Rachael is tempering her low carb dishes with a lot of emphasis on `you can eat anything you want as long as you eat it in moderation'. Since I got a look behind her Food Network career and I have spent the last three years watching her and other Food Network shows for comparison, I have come to believe that it is to Rachael herself to whom most of the credit for her success must go. The `30 Minute Meals' concept was her invention and her first book with this title predates her Food Network show. And, I have recently begun to appreciate the value of her show's presentation strengths in teaching cooking in that there are no swap-outs, so you can see every single step in real time. A second strength is the subtle little itemization of ingredients artfully hidden in the little juggling act trips to the fridge and the pantry. My mother is suspicious that Ms. Rachael has behind the scenes help during the unknown amount of real time during the commercials and that shadowy producers refill the pantry while they are off camera so the ingredients for second and third dishes miraculously appear on her pantry shelf at about 20 minutes into the show. This may be true, but it's irrelevant to the instructive value of the show. It only means we have both seen some shows in far too many reruns and have begun to focus on irrelevant things. With this book, Ms. Rachael turns a new page in several different ways. For starters, she has changed publishers from very small Lake Isle Press to very large Clarkson Potter with a $2.00 boost in the list price of her trade paperback first edition which in almost every other way looks the same as her earlier books. One small difference to the good is the fact that the recipe font has changed from Ariel to Times Roman which I personally find much easier to read. The fact that it has a much richer appearance is irrelevant. Oddly, the color of the type for the recipes is still in a hard to read light blue with ingredients highlighted in a dark red. The font change makes the light color a bit easier to read, but if you had problems with the color of the type in Rachael's last book, then browse this one before buying. I have given the high praise to all of the earlier 30 Minute Meal books I have reviewed (except for the kids book) so the heart of the question for my opinion is whether Miss Rachael has continued to do what I have liked so much in the past. The answer is a qualified yes. The biggest difference in the substance of this book is that the recipes are no longer put together to form two or three course meals the way they are on the TV show. Almost all recipes stand alone in chapters organized by type of dish rather than occasion or theme. That this is a bigger change than the emphasis on low carb cooking shows that the emphasis on low carb cooking does not change the nature of her dishes all that much. Rachael still focuses on building dishes with strong flavors such as the Italian classics balsamic and red wine vinegar, garlic, Parmesano Reggiano cheese, Prosciutto ham, Italian sausage, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes, capers, and olives. In fact, the poster child for this book is the very distinctive Puttanesca sauce composed from olives, capers, anchovies, and garlic. I count five (5) different recipes, none of which include pasta, which include this combination of ingredients and `Puttanesca' in the recipe title. As Rachael will be the first to say, mixtures of these strongly flavored ingredients is one of the main secrets behind quick cooking. To Potter editors, the word `Puttanesca' does not appear in the index. Not good! As good an educator Rachael is about quick cooking, she is not an expert on the principles of `low carb' diets and this book shows no sophistication on what makes `low carb' work and how it can be misused. As I am not a nutrition expert either, I can only point out that Rachael's `low carb' strategy is largely based on substituting cauliflower for root vegetables and squash for pasta in a lot of recipes. I am sure these are good moves for reducing carbs, but I am suspicious at the same time with the fact that virtually every savory recipe includes about a tablespoon (120 calories) of olive oil per serving plus lots of ingredients such as capers, anchovies, and olives which are high in both oil and salt. I am also suspicious of the nutritional wisdom of revising the classic Cobb salad by removing all the greens, since people commonly fish out all the good stuff anyway and leave the greens behind. This is just a little inconsistent with Rachael's love of green vegetables and the healthy eating theme of this book. The copy editors at Potter have not touched `Rayspeak' with such quirky terms such as `stoups', scrambles, sammies, and EVOO. With 9 best selling books as a track record, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That doesn't mean I like it. It only means that the value of her recipes and presentation are strong enough for me to ignore them. The bottom line is that if you like Rachael, you will like this book, although if you like Rachael's show and don't have any of her other books, her earlier titles may be closer to what you like about Food Network Rachael. For low carb folks, this book has a very nice collection of recipes, especially burgers and soups, with strong Italian flavors with few Italian carbs. And, Rachael still does not bake.
From Publishers Weekly
Part of Ray's appeal to legions of Food TV fans is her loose, nonnitpicky approach to cooking at home. Every meal she presents can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, and she consistently emphasizes simplicity and nonfussiness. So it's no surprise that Ray's contribution to the supposedly waning low-carb cookbook genre does not strictly adhere to the diet. Ray adores carbohydrates—"I cannot and will not eat without them"—and she believes consuming them "in moderation" is a healthy option. This selection of recipes, then, does include pasta dishes, but Ray wisely makes them heavy on the meat and vegetables and low on pasta (a half pound for every four entrées). Her devoted viewers will delight at the prospect of Bucatini with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions; Creamy Polenta and Bolognese Sauce; and Eggplant and Wild Mushroom Pasta with Ricotta Salata. Other chapters are just as appealing, offering ideas for main course salads, as well as meat and fish dishes, burgers, soups, snacks and desserts. In keeping with her low-maintenance style, Ray is lax with her instructions, calling for "a couple slices of smoked salmon" in one recipe, and "2 tablespoons vegetable oil (eyeball it)" in another. Ray's standard chatty demeanor, which comes through loud and clear, coupled with interesting, varied recipes, make this book a winner. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
No pasta? No dessert? No way! Everything in moderation, says Rachael Ray. After all, some days only chocolate or spaghetti will hit the spot.
In Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Get Real Meals, the bestselling cookbook author and Food Network star serves up another helping of creative, hassle-free recipes that are ready to rock your tastebuds in less than thirty minutes. The latest addition to Rachael’s runaway hit series of 30-Minute Meals cookbooks is designed for cooks who want to look and feel great but long for the fun and the flavor that’s missing from their extreme low-carb meals. Why fill your shopping cart and your stomach with processed, low-carb cereals and breads that taste like cardboard when you can eat the foods you crave? Here, at last, are recipes for those who just cannot and will not live totally carb-free: Pasta dinners made mostly with proteins and vegetables and only a couple of ounces of pasta per servings, fresh Thai and Mexican lettuce wraps, take-out-style stir-frys, and tons of burger ideas—with and without the buns. And when you’ve just got to satisfy that sweet tooth, even nonbakers (like Rachael) will flip for Nutty Creamsicle Pie, Stuffed Roasted Strawberries, and other surprisingly easy dessert recipes.
With more than 150 new dishes, plenty of time-saving tips, and a generous serving of Rachael's “you can do it” attitude, 30-Minute Get Real Meals proves you don’t have to go to extremes to eat healthy.
Rachael Ray confesses that there’s pasta in her pantry, and she isn’t afraid to admit that chili is just an excuse to snack on corn chips. On the other hand, she also confesses that it’s more fun to shop for clothes when she’s eating fewer carbs. So what’s a carb-frustrated cook to do these days? Don’t go to extremes, says the force of nature behind Food Network’s 30-Minute Meals. Get real! With a little creativity and less than half an hour, now you can watch your carbs and eat them, too. Satisfy your carb-starved cravings and still mind that waistline with more than 150 healthy, delicious recipes—including Rachael’s first-ever section devoted just to desserts:
•Snacks and Super-Supper Snacks
•Burgers Gone Wild
•Take a Dip: Fondues
•Salads that Stack Up
•That’s Souper
•Well-Rounded Square Meals
•Pasta: Come Home Again
•Desserts? Yes, Desserts!
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