Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals

By Caroline Cummins

April 23, 2007

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Title

• Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Author

• Moosewood Collective

Publisher

• Clarkson Potter

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Ever since the researchers behind the Women’s Health Initiative announced last year that their longitudinal study of women on a low-fat diet indicated few, if any, health benefits from cutting out fat, the skinny has been: Fat’s not so bad after all.

Right? Well, that depends on the type of fat. Butter, lard, olive oil? Pretty darn good. Hydrogenated oils? Nope.

First published in 1996, the Moosewood Collective’s Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites dates from the End of the Low-Fat Era. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth its weight in monounsaturated fat. As the subtitle suggests, the book is full of flavorful dishes that don’t taste like pale imitations of rich originals. And the authors insist that eating a low-fat diet isn’t about just eating lower-fat versions of fatty foods, but rethinking diet entirely.

“Despite their conflicting views on types and percentages of fat in our diets, all of the experts agree that we should be eating more fruits, vegetables, and grains — nourishing foods that help protect against disease and provide a delicious base for a low-fat diet,” write the authors. “Nonfat cheesecake just can’t do the same thing.”

To that end, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites is all about enjoyable, not sanctimonious, food. The book is largely vegetarian (with a fish chapter thrown in) and completely easygoing. After all, if it tastes good, who cares about fat percentages?

Caroline Cummins is the managing editor of Culinate.