Cookbooks for People with Office Jobs
There are lots of pretty cookbooks on the market–great pictures, luscious recipes, the best ingredients, look nice on your plate. Trouble is, they’re complicated, take forever to make, dirty up a ton of dishes, and don’t keep well overnight. Some of them also have a ton of fat in them, even if the cover of the cookbook says “low-fat.”
I’ve searched high and low for cookbooks that will make it easy for me to eat good food, not gain weight, and not spend half my life in the kitchen. When I’m home on weeknights, I want to relax, not cook and clean up–but I refuse to eat crap from a box, jar, or frozen micromeal tray. The next morning when I’m packing my lunch for work, I want to reach into the fridge, grab a couple of portion controlled baggies, and throw them in my lunch cooler bag. And if the leftovers from last night are still good the next evening so I don’t have to cook, that’s an added bonus.
In a cookbook, I want color photos of each dishes, because my culinary imagination on weeknights is thoroughly lame. I want the book available in hardcover so it will stand up in my cookbook holder without snapping shut. I want dishes with no more than five ingredients to shop for and prepare, and I don’t want to clean up much more than one pot, a cutting board, and my knife set after preparation. I want recipes made with healthy ingredients and high in Omega-3s.
Here are some of my favorite cookbooks that meet my high standards for weeknight and brown bag lunch food.
Eating for Life
by Bill Phillips
Hardcover: 404 pages
High Point Media (2003)
ISBN 0972018417
If you’ve seen Bill Phillips’ Body for Lifeseries, you know he’s on to something, but I didn’t expect his cookbook to be this good. Celebrity or diet cookbooks are usually throwaway books that the publishing industry foists on the author to make even more money. Phillips actually kitchen tested each recipe, and he won’t stand for unhealthy food, nor will he tolerate stuff that’s good for you but tastes bad. The main meals are all built around a portion of protein (usually lean meat) and a side vegetable. He then jazzes them up with seasonings and fresh herbs. Everything is fresh, simple, and takes intelligent shortcuts. One thing I love about this cookbook is the small photo collage of the ingredients at the bottom. If the recipe calls for chicken, bok choy, and salad dressing, then you don’t have to read the text to know what to put on your shopping list–you can just look at the picture.
Cooking Light 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook
by Cooking Light Magazine
Hardcover: 240 pages
Oxmoor House (1999)
ISBN 0848718526
Cooking Light magazine has been getting things right for a long time now, and any of their cookbooks are worth buying. This one caught and held my interest because it’s less elaborate than their normal recipe scheme and is aimed at the busy cook who still wants fresh ingredients and low fat food. This isn’t a diet cookbook, so you’ll find that the recipes are somewhat richer than the Phillips book, but you’ll stay healthy with this one–you just won’t lose any weight.
Quick Simple Food
by Susie Quick
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Clarkson Potter (2003)
ISBN 0609610716
I love this hard-to-find cookbook by the former food editor of Real Simple magazine. The recipes are basic, elegant, and work equally well for an after-work supper or a Sunday brunch with friends. She knows how to take shortcuts without sacrificing quality, and the recipes are low-fat but don’t taste like it. Dieters can use this one without fear of breaking their vows to slim down, and most of the recipes keep well overnight in the fridge for brown bagging the next day.
Try the Healthy Urban Kitchen cookbook too.