Light Casseroles

B.J. Busch is associate librarian of academic and information services
at the University of Alberta.

The Company’s Coming cookbook series has become a staple in many
households, for good reason. Books in this series are easy to use,
because the binding allows them to lie flat, the instructions are
clearly worded, the ingredients used in recipes are commonly found in
homes, and preparation time is not lengthy. Light Casseroles, volume 22
in the series, conforms to the specifications of its predecessors. It is
an ideal cookbook for everyday use by those who need to watch their
calories or their cholesterol, fat, or sodium levels, because the
nutrition guide accompanying each recipe provides information on all of
these. The recipes are generally tasty, if not spectacular; blandness
may be an inevitable offshoot of low-calorie cooking.

Where Paré does depart from the tried and true, the results are not
always successful. For example, Chicken Cola, which has chicken breasts
simmering in a ketchup/cola sauce, is much too sweet for an entrée.
Further, because these are casseroles and spend significant time in the
oven, there is very little scope for fresh ingredients that do not
require (or, indeed, may be harmed by) lengthy baking. Nonetheless, this
book is very useful, especially for people who do not have much time to
cook after work.