Lean and Luscious and Meatless, Volume 3

Hinman and Snyder's ( More Lean and Luscious ) third excursion into reduced-fat cooking explores vegetarian fare. Most of the dishes are mildly seasoned, even those inspired by spicy cuisines, like cauliflower curry and tofu fajitas; veteran vegetarians may find a number of the recipes bland. However, the collection offers an abundance of entrees, side dishes, condiments and desserts that are healthful as well as easy and inexpensive to prepare. Some, like linguine with tomatoes and ``cream'' (made with evaporated skim milk), can be whipped up in short order, while others, like beans and vegetables bourguignonne, reheat well, making them ideal for everyday meals. Even cooks who like to spice up their act will find plenty of sound ideas to work with. Although this isn't a diet book, each recipe is accompanied by mostly straightforward nutritional data; however, the authors use the confusing term ``additional calories'' (clarified only in the introduction) primarily to indicate empty calories contributed by ingredients like sugar. Thus one serving of apricot fruit and nut bread contains 223 calories with 50 ``additional calories'' for a total of 223 calories. (Dec.)