Friday, November 6, 2020

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "The What to Eat When Cookbook" Served with a Recipe for Carciofi E Pepe

Happy Friday! Another long and crazy week, that still isn't over and one that had me wanting to stuff food in my mouth like it was going out of style, looking for a little comfort. Since I was still sneaking leftover Halloween candy at work all week, I am happy to have a new healthy cookbook in my collection and I am happy to be a stop on the TLC Book Tour for The What to Eat When Cookbook: 135+ Deliciously Timed Recipes by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., Michael Crupain, M.D., M.P.H., and James Perko, Sr., CEC, AAC. Accompanying my review is a recipe from the book for pasta, one of the ultimate comfort foods.

Publisher's Blurb:

This inspiring cookbook/strategic eating plan–sequel to the wildly popular What to Eat When–offers 125 delectable recipes geared to longevity, weight loss, and success.

In their acclaimed lifestyle guide What to Eat When, Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Michael Crupain revealed when to eat foods for healthier living, disease prevention, better performance, and a longer life. The key, they assert, is eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. Now, in this mouthwatering sequel, they deliver 125 recipes to put these lessons into practice. From a fiber-rich pasta dish loaded with healthy and fresh tomatoes and a creamy lemon dip and homemade crackers to satisfy your snack cravings to a salmon burger you’ll love to eat for breakfast (yes, breakfast!) and a healthier, decadant chocolate mousse–a treat that also offers hormone-boosting ingredients before you hit the gym. Each dish is paired with practical information about the nutrients and benefits of the ingredients, plus expert cooking tips, what portion size to eat when, and helpful subsitutions. Covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert–and the best times to eat all four–this highly anticipated sequel to Roizen and Crupain’s best-selling eating guide offers a plethora of meals that will get you through the day, and extend your life by years!

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: National Geographic (October 20, 2020)
 

Author Notes:

DR. MICHAEL ROIZEN is the Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, Chief Medical Consultant on The Dr. Oz Show, author of four #1 New York Times best-selling books, and originator of the popular RealAge.com. He is board certified in anesthesiology and internal medicine. He’s been recognized with an Ellie, an Emmy, and the Paul G. Rogers Award from the National Library of Medicine for Best Medical Communicator.

DR. MICHAEL CRUPAIN is the Medical Director of The Dr. Oz Show. He is board certified in preventive medicine, a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, and part-time faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to joining The Dr. Oz Show, he directed food safety testing at Consumer Reports. He is an Emmy award-winning producer and sat on an USDA advisory committee.

JIM PERKO is the executive chef for the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and the Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, he has apprenticed for the American Culinary Federation 1976 US Culinary Olympic Team and cooked for scientists on the 1977-78 US Antarctic Expedition. Perko is the founder of the national award-winning program Food Is Knowledge.

My Thoughts:

I had read just a little bit about the What to Eat when Plan (The When Way) but I am always interested in finding good healthy recipes to add to my reportaire, whether or not I follow the eating plan or not. The book starts with a chapter titled: What to Eat When: The Cheat Sheet which gives an overview of the plan. It's fairly simple with the two major principles being, "eat only when the sun is up" and "eat more earlier in the day." These are things I actually do with a heartier breakfast and lunch and a lighter dinner. There are some basic nutritional philosophies, nothing too radical, things like limiting red meat and pork to 4 oz and 6 oz a week respectively. There is a list of "No! Foods"--mainly added sugars, syrups, white flour, processed foods, fried foods and coconut and palm oil. Chapter Two is called The Kitchen Sink and it's all about cooking and food prep--probably most impactful for someone who doesn't cook much. Recipe chapters are divided by Dips, Sauces, Snacks & Apps, Pasta, Grains and Sandwiches, Vegetables, Soups & Salads, Fish & Poultry and Drinks & Desserts and the back includes a 31-day eating plan and a recipe index by both ingredient and by recipe.  

Here are some of the recipes I tagged to make, all of the Creamas (pureed vegetables like cauliflower, carrot, artichoke, and corn to use as a base for sauces without using dairy. I picked a recipe with the Artichoke Cream to try), Beet Muhammara, Cashew-Naise (a mayo substitute), Shallot, Mint and Lemon Yogurt, Fennel Bagna Cauda and Harissa Spice Blend, Whole Grain Waffles with Chia Berry Sauce, Mushroom "MLT", Cauliflower Masala with Lemon-Scented Millet, Linguine with Mushroom "Bacon," Onion & Tomato (When Way Amatriciana), Jamaican Jerk Jack, Leftover Celery Sicilian Style, Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Warm Vinaigrette, Asparagus with Cashew Basil "Aioli", Pesto Green Beans, Lentil Dumplings, Fennel with Coriander & Cumin Scented Tomato Sauce, Creamed Corn, Snap Pea Salad, "Addictive" Quinoa Salad, Roasted Vegetable Ribollita, When Way Black Lentil Soup, Trout Piccata, Salmon Rillettes, Salmon Burgers with Harissa Yogurt, When Way Golden Milk, Chocolate Espresso Mousse, Vitality Smoothie, Grape Escape, and Whole Grain and Dark Chocolate WTEW Bars

Many of the 135 recipes are accompanied by good color photos of the finished dish, and the instructions seem straightforward. There are some harder-to-find ingredients but most things can be purchased at a good grocery store. I did find a few of the recipe choices made a little strange, there are essentially three recipes for salmon burgers/patties--one even being just cooking up a frozen burger--maybe each of the three authors wanted a different salmon burger recipe in there? And there are two different chocolate mousse recipes, again it seems a bit of overkill. Overall, I think this cookbook is one I will use, both for the recipes and the inspiration with the different components. I like cookbooks that give me options and ideas for healthier recipes. It leans to vegetarian/vegan side, even with the chapter with fish (lots of salmon) and (mostly chicken) poultry recipes, which makes it good for me. People looking for the push to eat less meat and more whole grains should find it a good resource even if they don't follow this eating plan. 

So I was going to make one of the chocolate mousses but too much chocolate noshing lately, had me looking for a savory dish. I was intrigued by the When Way take on cacio e pepe and I usually have canned artichokes in my pantry. I did fail in using whole grain pasta as I just had regular linguine in my cupboard, so that's what I used. 

The What to Eat When Cookbook says, "Roman cacio e pepe is a simple yet delicious dish of just-cooked pasta served with freshlygrated pecorino cheese and a healthy dose of freshly ground pepper. Of course, on the When Way, we recommend limiting your cheese intake, so we came up with this version  made with a creamy artichoke sauce (crema di carciofi) rather than cheese. This is a pasta dish we prefer warm, so just make as many servings as you are going to eat immediately."

Carciofi E Pepe 
Reprinted with Permission from The What to Eat When Cookbook
(Makes 4 Servings)

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook time: 10 mins 

Ingredients:  

1 can (13.75-oz) quartered artichokes, drained 
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 to 3 Tbsp water
4 quarts water
salt
8 oz whole grain linguine 
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place the artichokes in a Vitamix or high-speed blender. Add olive oil. start the blender on low speed and increase speed gradually--the mixture is very thick and may not puree if you increase the speed too quickly. Scrape down the side of the blender jar, then shake the jar, and start again as needed. Add water by tablespoonsfuls (up to 3 tablespoons), and continue to blend until a very smooth puree. This may take several minutes. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add salt until it's salty like the sea. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain the pasta, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the crema de carciofi and toss to coat. Add agenerous amount of freshly ground black pepper and additional salt to taste,

Nutrition: Serving Size 1/2 Cup: Calories: 601 kcal, Total fiber: 10 g total Protein: 12.3 g Total Fat: 30.7 g total, Saturated Fat: 4 g, Healthy Fat: 24.3, Carbs: 48.7 g, Sugars: 3 g, Sodium: 61 mg, Potassium: 350 mg, Magnesium: 68 mg, Calcium 30 mg


Notes/Results:  I don't think anyone would taste this creamy sauce and think it was filled with cheese and dairy but I really liked it on the pasta--it is rich, creamy and has that slight "funk" in a good way that artichokes have. And of course I am a black pepper nut. I can see why the authors recommend you make just enough servings to eat fresh rather than reheating as the sauce does get a bit gloppy as it cools, but I had a concern it might be too fibrous and it wasn't at all after blending it for several minutes. I had no problem devouring my pasta and I am going to experiment with heating up and using my leftover sauce. It was so fast and easy, I will make it again and I plan on trying the other purees as well.  

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event  being hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's the link to this week's post.

Note: A review copy of "The What to Eat When Cookbook" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for my review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 
 
You can see the other stops for this TLC Book Tour and what other bloggers thought of the book here.

 

4 comments:

  1. I like the sound of artichokes on pasta, but I'm not sure I'd love this pureed sauce. Still, it's a good trick (quick dinner) to have under one's belt.

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  2. Looks like good pasta!

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  3. Wow! The idea of blending artichokes to use with pasta is genius. Can't wait to try this simple recipe.

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  4. We don't eat a lot of artichoke,but if someone served this to me I would look at it and think it looked delicious

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