Mediterranean Light

These dietetic-but-not-dull recipes, culled from Shulman's friends and fellow cooks, feature Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern and Southern French cuisines. Using relatively little olive oil, few fats and lean chicken and rabbit, Shulman ( Supper Club Chez Martha Rose ) ``lightens'' traditional fare. She claims that these recipes are designed for slow, steady weight loss, and, without putting forward a program of exercise, promises that ``you won't gain the weight back.'' That's a strong claim for a diet cookbook that doesn't always specify exact portions for each dish. (Any 1200- to 1500-calorie-per-day diet requires strict portion control.) Dieters may be misled. For example, Shulman suggests eating bread with meals, but portion sizes are not in every instance listed clearly above each recipe's nutrient analysis. And ample menus--one includes crostini with porcini mushrooms, pasta e fagioli, swiss chard, a small green salad, and oranges with mint, plus one slice of bread, yielding approximately 830 calories--could lead easily to overindulgence. (May)