The New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life

This well-written cookbook is based on the notion that dinner should comprise something other than a hunk of meat, a pile of potatoes and a handful of some sort of green. As an alternative, the authors-a team of experts from the American Institute for Cancer Research-propose the ""New American Plate,"" which emphasizes grains, vegetables, fruits and beans; meat should be used as a complement to these ingredients, but not the main event. In introductory essays, the authors explain the benefits of plant-based eating: living with a lower risk of cancer, for one thing, as well as maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding chronic disease. But if all this clean living sounds a bit too virtuous to be delicious, fear not: there are some wonderful recipes to be found in this volume. Vegetable Chili is thick and hearty enough for even an ardent Texas chili-head, while Three-Pepper Tofu Stir-Fry tastes authentically Asian. There are even a few tempting desserts, like a Fresh Plum Tart and Meringue Tartlets with Strawberries and Shaved Chocolate. As one would expect, all the recipes are accompanied by detailed nutritional information, but they are also exceedingly easy to follow and appealingly photographed.