The Canadian Living Light and Healthy Cookbook

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Whether your dietary concern is calories, cholesterol, fat,
carbohydrates, fibre, calcium, iron, sodium, or all of the above, this
recipe collection is the answer to your dreams.

Unlike the majority of cookbooks targeted at the
health-conscious—which give nutritional information only when it looks
good (e.g., mentioning that a recipe is high-fibre but neglecting to
point out that it’s over the top in sodium)—this book reports on all
the key nutritional flags for all the recipes. This means it can be used
with any type of dietary plan, whether low-calorie, low-sodium, low-fat,
high-fibre, etc.

The selection is best described as foods that are moderate and
realistic. Its underlying philosophy is that while Canadians are
increasingly concerned about what they eat, they’re not prepared to
live on tofu and bean sprouts. So the book provides recipes for foods
not usually considered health foods: roast pork with a plum sauce glaze,
pizza, French toast—even strawberry shortcake. Of course these are
new, lean versions of the high-calorie favorites.

The book includes recipes for breakfast dishes, salads, soups,
entrées, side dishes, desserts, and snacks. There’s also a chapter of
dishes especially for vegetarians, and a brief guide to making healthier
food choices. Lots of full-color photos of the prepared dishes make the
book attractive for browsing and help “sell” the recipes. “Light
and healthy” never looked so tempting.