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EatingWell: 500 Calorie Dinners

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Okay. What do I have to do to make you buy EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook? Name your price. What makes me so desperate? Sure, I want you to have an outstanding cookbook FILLED with healthy, delicious recipes. Make no mistake about it, I want the best for you!

But I have an ulterior motive as well. See, the way I figure it, if this cookbook sells like hotcakes, they’ll make another. Then another. Then another…

Yes. As a matter of fact I love EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook so much I already want sequels. I’ve made many of the recipes already – in fact, I’m cooking my way through the entire cookbook and loving every single second. Last night, while making the Black Bean Soup (page 42), I thought, “This is such a fun recipe, I don’t even care if it tastes good!” Fortunately, the soup was extraordinarily delicious – better than any Black Bean Soup I’ve gotten in any restaurant.

I was sent EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook to review on this very food blog and I’ll never be able to repay their kindness.  I do promise to think warm and fuzzy thoughts about them each time I reach for the cookbook – which will pretty much be everyday.

That’s a lot of warm fuzzies.

If Eating Well 500 Calorie Dinners were JUST another great cookbook, filled with beautiful illustrations, priceless cooking tips, and page after page of wonderful recipes, this review would still be a glowing review.  The recipes, themselves, can stand on their own.  We’re talking extraordinary and creative recipes, here.

Recipes that Include:

  • Middle Eastern Tuna Salad (made it today)
  • Thai Beef Salad
  • Black Bean Soup
  • Banana Pudding  Pops
  • Chicken Tetrazzini
  • Southwestern Rice & Pinto Bean Salad
  • Southwestern Tofu Scramble
  • An entire chapter is devoted to vegetarian meals
  • Cucumber Herb Vinaigrette (I’ll serve it with supper tonight)
  • Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans
  • Risotto with Broccoli Rabe & Red Pepper
  • Grilled Pork Tenderloin Marinated in Spicy Soy Sauce
  • Roasted Onion Soup
  • Artichoke Scrambled Eggs Benedict
  • Smoky Corn & Black Bean Vegetarian Pizza
  • Baby Tiramisu’ (you should see the picture!)
  • Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

I could go on, but frankly I’m getting hungry. It was the Grilled Pork Tenderloin that snapped my concentration.

As you see, if it were JUST a regular cookbook, I’d still be jazzed about it.  But it’s more… so much more.  We’re all trying to eat healthy and count our calories.  In the day of The Biggest Loser, we’re all very mindful of “Calories in… Calories out.”  We know the ugly truth:  When the balance isn’t right, the jeans get tight.

But who wants to count calories and even attempt to keep a running tab when filling your plate?  Math and I don’t get along nearly well enough for that.

Here comes the beautiful thing that separates this cookbook from the rest:  The saintlike authors have taken the “ciphering” (as Jethro would say) out of it.  They actually put together outstanding menus for the reader – complete with the main dish, sides, and dessert.  They tell you how much of each you can eat and still stay inside your caloric goal.

See? Saintlike.

What’s even better is this: The wonderful recipes in EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook are wholesome and nutritious, meaning you can actually have more food for less calories. This is where we foodies stand and cheer.

Book Description

Do you love food but hate “diets”? Do you want to be healthy and fit but find yourself too busy or simply at a loss about what to make for dinner? Then this book is for you. EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners takes the guesswork out of healthy cooking by providing delicious, easy recipes and menus for dinners that come in at about 500 calories, an amount experts say will help most people lose weight without feeling deprived. Once you try the meals in this book you’ll be amazed at how well you can eat for 500 calories. One night you’ll have a steak sandwich with grilled peppers and a garlicky aïoli served along with roasted red potatoes and a green salad with a tangy vinaigrette, the next night braised chicken in a paprika-spiked sauce over egg noodles with snap peas tossed with a creamy tarragon dressing. Want a glass of wine with dinner or a dessert to end the evening? We’ve included those in our menus too. Try pork chops with an orange and fennel salad along with a side of quinoa and a dish of strawberry frozen yogurt.

And this book will help you to do more than just trim your waistline—it will help you to improve your heart health and reduce your risk for diabetes too. It provides solid advice from EatingWell Magazine’s nutrition experts on what foods should be included in any healthful diet, how to figure out how many calories you need, how to determine appropriate serving sizes and estimate calories (without carting around a kitchen scale everywhere you go) and how to lose weight while still feeling satisfied.

In this book, you’ll also find:

  • 140 delicious recipes that use simple techniques and easy-to-find ingredients
  • Quick dinners: over 100 of the recipes are ready in less than 45 minutes and many take less than 30 minutes
  • Secrets of successful weight loss from renowned weight-loss researcher Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino, chair of the University of Vermont’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, author of the James Beard Award-winning cookbook The EatingWell Diet
  • How to eat all day and still lose weight, including what a 1,500-calorie day looks like and easy ideas for breakfast, lunch and snacks
  • Diet tips to maximize flavor and satisfaction while minimizing calories
  • 256 gorgeous color illustrations

Back Cover Reviews:

I always say, ‘Life is hard…food should be easy.’ EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners makes deciding what to have for dinner easy and delicious! With nearly 100 dinner menus that are satisfying and nutritionally balanced, this book is a great tool for anyone who’s trying to get—or stay—slim. (Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN, bestselling author of Your Inner Skinny )

I’ve been cooking East-West food my entire life, and one of the things I love about it is that the ingredients and techniques used most often are all inherently healthy. You can feel good about eating it and it tastes good too. The recipes in 500-Calorie Dinners deliver that same great promise—healthy food that’s actually tasty. And simple too—one of my favorite things! (Ming Tsai, chef/owner of Blue Ginger )

EatingWell has done it again! This book is packed with mouthwatering, inspiring and accessible recipes that make you want to get cooking right away. They do the calorie counting for you so you can relax and enjoy every bite. (Ellie Krieger, RD, author of So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week )

The deputy editors at the EatingWell Media Group, publishers of the 2008 James Beard Award-winning The EatingWell Diet, are back to help dieters prepare healthy dinners with yummy recipes designed to fill up the tummy while keeping the calories low. (Library Journal )

For some of the most delicious recipes you’ve ever seen – plus priceless tips about eating healthy – please do yourself a huge favor and grab a copy of EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook right away.

You really, really, really don’t want this one to get by you.

Delicious and Yet, Somehow, Low-Calorie Spinach Recipe

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The Biggest Loser Cookbook

The recipe below is from a favorite cookbook of mine: The Biggest Loser Cookbook: More Than 125 Healthy, Delicious Recipes Adapted from NBC’s Hit Show.  As you may know, I’m totally hooked on any and all things associated with The Biggest Loser.  I LOVE the show’s premise of changing lives – they literally give these wonderful people a second chance at life and I don’t guess I’ve ever watched an episode without tearing up at least once.

I also have their exercise dvds (although a recent one has just about been the end of me!) and every cookbook I can get my hands on.

I haven’t bought the newest Biggest Loser Desserts Cookbook yet or the Food and Activity Journal but I will.  I’ve looked through them several times at the bookstore. I even committed to memory an Orange Smoothie recipe, went directly to the store for the ingredients (you know, before the memory train rode off into the sunset) and made some that night.  Delicious!!!

This healthy, low-calorie, and outrageously delicious Spinach recipe was titled “Melinda’s Holiday Spinach” in the cookbook but I’m just going with “Melinda’s Spinach” below.  I wouldn’t want anyone thinking you had to wait for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday to make this dish.  I actually first made it during the summer – I remember because I was listening to baseball (another obsession) while cooking.

Give this one a try, you’re going to love it.

Melinda’s Spinach Recipe

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped white onions
2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 sliced fresh mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bag (9 oz or 12 cups) baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon light cream cheese from a block, at room temperature

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Heat for 30 seconds. Add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add the spinach. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the leaves are wilted. Remove from the heat. Add the cream cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 (2/3 cup) servings.

Per Serving: 91 calories

More about the Cookbook

The Biggest Loser Cookbook: More Than 125 Healthy, Delicious Recipes Adapted from NBC’s Hit Show is packed with recipes you’ll use again and again. There are healthy breakfast recipes, healthy snack recipes, healthy sides, soups, stews, and even healthy desserts.  As a grand #1 snacker, I’m saved by the snacks in this cookbook!  My family and I love to snack while watching our favorite tv shows and ballgames.  If it weren’t for healthy recipes like these… well, I don’t even want to think about it.  I probably wouldn’t be able to fit through my back door.

A few of my personal favorite recipes are:

  • Seth’s Fiesta Poached Eggs
  • Pete’s Man-Size Low-Calorie Breakfast Omelet
  • Kelly’s Cottage Cheese and Fruit Parfait
  • Lox-Of-Muscle Crisps (my oldest daughter and I down these like they’re doughnut holes)
  • Roasted Red Pepper Dip
  • Spinach Skinny Dip
  • Bob’s Popcorn with a Jessica twist
  • BBQ Pork Sandwich
  • Mom’s New Beef Stew
  • Parmesan-Pepper Sweet Potato Fries
  • Garlic and Chive Mashed Sweet Potatoes
  • Mo’s Spinach Ricotta Bake
  • Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower
  • Greek God(Dess) Salad (LOVE it!)
  • Pecan Crusted Chicken
  • Pan “Fried” Catfish with Southwest Tartar Sauce
  • Iced Buffed Mocha
  • Lisa’s Frozen Gramwiches
  • Melinda’s Holiday Spinach
  • …. and, well… all the rest!

I could list a lot more recipes, but quite frankly I’ve worked up an appetite. I’m 2 minutes away from fixing Seth’s Fiesta Poached Eggs for brunch and my mouth’s watering.

This really and truly is a wonderful cookbook – and one that you’ll again and again.  A lot of cookbooks have less than a handful of recipes you’ll actually use.  When it comes to this book, you’d need a team of hands.  Plus, we’re talking about ingredients that are easy to find. In fact, a lot of them are probably in your kitchen right now.  I love that!  The Biggest Loser Cookbook is also packed with inspirational contestant stories and advice from the trainers.

If you’ve made a commitment to fitness and to living healthier, you’ll want to arm yourself with all the tools and motivation you can get your hands on.  The Biggest Loser cookbooks, books, and dvds are an excellent way to fill your arsenal with tools that’ll help you meet (and surpass) your goals.  Also, watching the show each Tuesday night will also give you tons of advice, tips, motivation, and inspiration.

Here’s an extra little tip:  Follow the trainers and host on Twitter!  They’re always sharing tips, advice, motivation, and even recipes. You never know what they’re going to say or do next and they’re excellent at fan interaction.

The information is below and your goals are within reach.

Alison Sweeney: @AliSweeney

Bob Harper: @MyTrainerBob

Jillian Michaels: @JillianMichaels

Self Magazine’s Diet-Friendly Thanksgiving Recipes

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Cherry-Cranberry Sauce (Serves Eight)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 piece ginger (about 1 inch), peeled
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup amaretto
1 bag (15 oz) frozen or fresh cranberries
1 bag (10 oz) frozen cherries
1/4 cup sugar

Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook ginger and cinnamon until ginger becomes fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully add amaretto and cook until liquid thickens and reduces by half, about 1 minute. Add cranberries, cherries, sugar and 1/2 cup water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until cranberries break apart and sauce thickens, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Pear, Mushroom and Pomegranate Stuffing (Serves Eight)

1 tablespoon olive oil
10 oz. cremini mushrooms
2 large celery stalks, chopped
8 large sage leaves
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 demi whole-wheat baguette (about 8 oz), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large Anjou or Bartlett pear, cored and cubed
1 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup pomegranate juice

Heat oven to 350°. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cook mushrooms, celery, sage and thyme, stirring often, until mushrooms and celery soften, 6 to 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl; add baguette cubes, pear, prunes, broth and juice. Mix well and let rest until bread absorbs liquid. Transfer to an 8″ x 8″ baking dish; cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes, remove foil and bake until stuffing puffs up, about 5 minutes.

Green Beans With Blackened Sage and Hazelnuts (Serves Eight)

1 tablespoon. unsalted butter
1 tablespoon. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh sage
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 lb green beans, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon. salt
1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Heat butter and oil, then cook sage until it begins to blacken, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add beans and salt; toss to coat. Carefully add 1 cup water. Steam until beans are fork-tender and most of the water has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle hazelnuts on top and serve..

The skinny: 92 calories per serving, 6 g fat (1 g saturated), 9 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein


Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips With Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese (Serves Eight)

1 tablespoon. olive oil
3 large white onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
3 baking potatoes (such as Yukon gold, about 2 lb), peeled and cubed
6 parsnips (about 1 lb), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, heated
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
3 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat; reduce to medium. Cook onions with sugar and salt, stirring occasionally, until onions brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Add a few tbsp water as you cook to keep onions from sticking or burning. Fill a medium stockpot 3/4 full with cold water. Add potatoes and parsnips; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes and parsnips are fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes, then drain. Beat 1/4 of potato-parsnip mixture and 3 oz broth in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Repeat, alternating between potato-parsnip mixture and broth, until you’ve incorporated all. Fold in onions, cheese and thyme, and serve..

The skinny: 209 calories per serving, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 41 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 5 g protein.


Roasted Squash With Balsamic Sauce and Apples (Serves Eight)

2 large butternut squash (about 4 lb), halved, and seeds and membranes removed
1 piece ginger (about 1 inch) peeled and finely chopped
1 cup. balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 Gala or Golden Delicious apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped

Heat oven to 400°. Slice a small piece off the skin side of each squash half, so halves sit flat. Microwave on high in a covered bowl until flesh begins to soften, 2 minutes. Gently simmer ginger, vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until liquid decreases by 1/3, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Line 2 large baking sheets with foil and coat with cooking spray. Place squash halves skin side down on baking sheets. Arrange apple slices in cavity of each half. Bake until apples soften, 25 minutes. Remove squash from oven, drizzle with balsamic sauce, return to oven and bake until apples brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Cut each squash half into quarters and transfer to a serving platter with any extra juices. Sprinkle with cherries and serve immediately..

The skinny: 166 calories per serving, 0 g fat, 42 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 3 g protein.


Sweet Potato Biscuits (Makes Eight)

1 medium sweet potato (about 5 oz)
1 1/4 cups. whole-wheat biscuit mix
2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/4 teaspoons ground allspice

Wrap sweet potato in a paper towel. Microwave on high until soft, 4 minutes. Scoop flesh into a bowl and mash; set aside. Heat oven to 400°. Place biscuit mix and butter in a bowl; rub butter into mix with fingertips until large pea-sized crumbs form. Add sweet potato, buttermilk and allspice; mix until just combined. Transfer dough onto a cookie sheet and form into a 12″ x 4″ rectangle. Cut into 8 rectangles with a serrated knife and separate slightly. Bake until biscuits are firm to the touch, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days..

The skinny: 124 calories per biscuit, 5 g fat (3 g saturated), 15 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Thanksgiving and Christmas don’t HAVE to destroy your diet or clobber your willpower.  Thanks to healthy recipes like the ones above, you can still look forward to a beautiful and delicious meal and not have to dread the scales the next day.

Well… not toooo much.

If you want to make the stuffing recipe above (or any dressing or stuffing recipe, for that matter) completely vegetarian, use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.  I do it every year for my daughter Brittany and her dressing is always outstanding.  Granted, you’ll want to get creative with the spices – sage, pepper, and onion powder compensate for the flavor you lose when you avoid chicken broth.

Thanks to Self Magazine for sharing these recipes and images with our readers!