One of my favorite Sunday pastimes is curling up on the couch with cookbooks and cooking magazines to plan a menu for the week. I don’t always follow recipes exactly and often just use them as inspiration for my own recipes.
My current cookbook obsession is Now Eat This! by uber-talented (and hunky) chef Rocco Dispirito. Living in Texas the past few years has fueled my desire for comfort foods like mac and cheese and anything fried. Rocco’s book teaches you how to have your cake (check out the desserts pg. 221) and eat it too. By learning to sub simple ingredients for others that are high in calories, fat and sugar you can still indulge! Did I mention ALL the recipes are 350 calories or less a serving? He includes a list of “Can’t-Live-Without Ingredients” in the intro that are now essential items in my pantry. Needless to say this cookbook rocks!
My favorite recipes are:
Stuffed mushrooms with crab meat – page 8
Spicy fried calamari with lemon – page 9
Coconut shrimp with pineapple puree – page 12 (the puree could be used for so many things)
Tortilla soup w/avocado and cilantro – page 45
Shrimp and Chorizo paella – page 101
Macaroni and cheese with a crusty crunch – page 174
Cooking with Care 