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Recommend a low fat/healthy Tuscan cookbook

post #1 of 7
6/9/10 at 8:56am
Thread Starter 
I am really trying to get dh and dd to try different foods. I was really pleased and surprised that they seem to like this kind of food. I need a kind of simple and low fat/healthy cookbook to help me. Any ideas?
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post #2 of 7
6/9/10 at 11:55am
hm.. i have the complete italian vegetarian cookbook..it's not divided by region though. there are some good things in there, though.
we have a book at our library called why italians love to talk about food, and it describes the regional cooking pretty well. it doesn't have a whole whole lot of recipes, but it's a good one to look at to get general ideas about the preparation of regional cuisine from italy.
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post #3 of 7
6/9/10 at 2:29pm
Why lowfat? I thought the whole benefit of Mediterranean eating was the healthy fats...
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post #4 of 7
6/9/10 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
Perhaps I should clarify...I mean "healthy"/lowfat.....as I am sure in any dish or recipe you can go "overboard" dietary wise -- that is why I am looking for ideas.


hildare -thanks for the suggestions..do you have any favorite recipe you would like to share?
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post #5 of 7
6/10/10 at 12:11pm
Quote:
hildare -thanks for the suggestions..do you have any favorite recipe you would like to share?
man.. when i saw your post, i remembered that there USED to be a wikipedia page on cooking for the Tuscan region. There are pages for other regions, which is weird.. can't find that one.

Have you ever tried Ribollita? It's a soup dish that is pretty healthy.
My pop's (grandfather's) family immigrated from that area, from Barga, and i like doing research on the cuisine. It seems like you're good to go with kale, mushrooms, simple things; olive oil rather than butter, rosemary, fennel, asparagus, artichokes.
another of the regional specialties is the bistecca. i've never made that myself, but there are lots of recipes for it, like this one.

my favorite recipes from the italian vegetarian book are just the variations of the frittata recipe. i'm addicted, esp having friends with hens... i'm sure there are/were frittata from every region.

i think i am a little too obsessed with food.
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post #6 of 7
6/10/10 at 5:00pm
The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein is awesome. It's not a traditional vegan cookbook in that it doesn't utilize meat/dairy substitutes, so its full of great recipes for people who may feel turned off by eating "vegan" food (like my in-laws). If you aren't veg, you can easily add a side of something sauteed boneless skinless chicken breast or salmon filets to make your meal feel more rounded out. Each recipe comes with nutrition info for each dish, which is helpful if you're watching fat/calories (although it's really hard to go wrong with this type of diet).
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post #7 of 7
6/10/10 at 7:01pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks so much I am not a sophisticated cook and we are not vegan.....but I am just thrilled that the household is willing to try something different and this seems to what they are gravitating toward. I especially love that oils are healthy we have MS in the family and it is said that olive oil can help give an "anti-inflammatory" effect. Thanks again, I have not had much time explore these options ..thanks for taking the time to answer.

We have had a lot of Polish dishes and Lithuanian....some can be unhealthy and very heavy.
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