Published: 2007 – updated to include Pro-Points values
Author: WeightWatchers
A tasty recipe book for persistent dieters
Yet again I’m on a diet. It seems like I’ve been on and off diets for much of the past ten years. Some have worked, others haven’t. This one is going quite well and that success is partly down to the WeightWatchers Book of Recipes
The book is split into different sections covering almost every kind of eating you can imagine: Breakfast and Brunch; Light Lunches; Meals for One and Two; Quick and Slow; Family Favourites; Classic Dishes; Special Occasions; Tea Time Treats and Festive Fare. There are over 170 pages of recipes and over the past six weeks or so almost all of the evening meals I’ve made have come out of this book. I’ve almost exclusively stuck to the classic and favourite recipes. I’ve not tried any of the cakes or desserts – if I’m baking anything the recipe is coming from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and sod the calories!
Some of the recipes I’ve tried have been absolute joys. My particular favourites are Beef Teriyaki, Pasta Arrabiata, Cajun Combo and Turkey Stroganoff. They taste great and you would never guess you were eating low-calorie and low-fat meals. At first glance the portion sizes seem a bit small but I’m always satisfied at the end of a meal
There is a really nice mix of food in this collection including classics like leg of lamb and traditional fish pie. There’s also quite an impressive selection of vegetarian dishes which I should really get around to trying. The jungle curry and leek & mushroom gratin in particular look delicious – I’ll have to remember not to add a couple of chunks of chicken into the pot! The instructions are clear, simple and easy to follow. Nothing is overly complicated and I’ve got every recipe right first time.
I could suggest some improvements. Each dish has a very helpful calorie count and ProPoints value but I’d find an approximation of fat content quite helpful. I’m also not convinced that the guidance on time is quite right. It would take me about 15 minutes to skin, seed and dice tomatoes, let alone complete the rest of the instructions for the Greek Pasta.
The photography isn’t particularly inspiring. Lots of soft focus has been used rather than nice, clean, sharp images which would tempt me to try the dishes. The artwork is functional rather than exciting.
This book won’t make you lose weight – sadly there’s no magic formula for that, but it is a great tool and good to have a trusty book with plenty of tempting recipes to help keep the momentum going.