Ok, so let's say that I was quite surprised when my fiance came home the other day and showed me her new book; The Low Carb Comfort Food Cookbook. The conversation went kind of like this:

Honey: Look what I bought. I am so excited! I cannot wait! We are going to start eating a low carb diet in order to look great in our wedding pictures.

Me: ^!&$)*&^@$#!!!!! Ah, honey, ah, I am not going to be chowing down on tofu and eggplant for the next three months. Are you nuts?

Honey: Well dear, it is not just tofu and eggplant.

Me: Ok, so there are plenty of veggie burgers and hummis pancakes? Much better. Much better.

Honey: Work with me here. I promise you will like some of these recipes.

Me: Fair enough, but if you even try to sneak eggplant or tofu on my plate I reserve the right to cancel the wedding. Oh, and I am not giving up my beer.

Honey: Which I already thought of (As she pulls out Michelob Ultra Low Carb beer) and already took care of it.

Me: *^*!%$#@!!!!! Is this what marriage is?!?!?! Help!!!

Yes, that really happened a few weeks ago and we are still engaged. No eggplant or tofu invasions as of yet. Thankfully. Actually, I have been quite surprised by the meals that the book provides recipes for. Sure, there are some meals that most guys will never even think of eating. But there are also some meals that taste quite good.

The key to the book is that you can make substitutions, rather than cutting out carbs altogether. For instance, a pizza is loaded with carbs and we all know that. But, how do you enjoy a pizza and not get all the carbs? There is a way, thankfully. The book essentially goes through 300 different recipes and a great number of them are pure substitutions for the high carb equivalent.

There are lots of bread recipes, pancakes, crepes, mock mashed potatoes, eggplant parmigiana (Not going in this body), and low carb cheesecake. There are also meals that fit the needs for those on the super-low-carb induction diet, as well as many meals that are great for those on a lifetime maintenance of their health and weight.

One minor annoyance that I have noticed (Ok, the fiance has noticed) is that the book lists carbs, but not fiber content. In fact, the authors really do not much of a breakdown of any of the nutritional components. While this annoys the fiance to no end, I could care less. A caveat that you may want to aware of and that makes me happy- the authors are not fans of soy. While I haven't the slightest idea what soy is, I usually associate it with something akin to melted rubber. In other words, I would rather eat hummis. The recipes tend to substitute bran for recipes that may require soy as a substitute for something else (i.e. soy as a sub for pizza dough, would be bran instead).

One thing you will discover with this cookbook is that you will suddenly become a frequent shopper at Whole Foods grocery stores. Yikes!!! I have made this trip once and swear that I will never do it again. There is virtually nothing in this store that looks or sounds even remotely appetizing. You will also find that shopping at Whole Foods (Or a similar health food store) will add some cost to the weekly grocery bill.

So, will you lose weight with the low carb diet? While this is another epinion altogether, I would guess that the answer is yes. Too many people have written books, sold videos, started magazines, etc. to not have the diet work to some extent. Whether or not this cookbook will result in lost pounds is open to discussion. We have been using it for about a month and that is not long enough to make a determination.

The bottom line is that the recipes are surprisingly good. Yes, there have been a few where I have gotten a third of the way through and said enough. Yet, 90% of the meals that my fiance has fixed have been quite tasty and, obviously, healthy. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone who is interested in a low carb diet and food that is edible.






Recommended: Yes