12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK
Over 200 Delicious Recipes Featuring the 12 Healthiest Foods
By Dana Jacobi

“Dana Jacobi has a true gift for translating nutritional recommendations into pure, delicious food.  She knows how to impart the essential information with inspiration and pleasure, without overwhelming us.  Under her excellent tutelage, we are moved right along into action.  I think this book will become one of the most dog-eared and spilled upon in many a kitchen.”

–Mollie Katzen, author of Moosewood Cookbook

(May, 2005) In recent years, news reports and magazines have singled out the high-powered, health-enhancing, disease-fighting abilities of particular foods.  Much attention has been given to the tremendous health benefits of eating the various micronutrients found in these foods plus essential protein, carbohydrates, fiber and more.  But many people feel daunted by how to include these foods in their diets, particularly as many times a week as recommended.  The answer can be found in a new book, 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK (Rodale, $21.95, paperback original, May 2005).  Award-winning food writer and chef, Dana Jacobi, showcases these vital foods in more than 200 innovative recipes that make eating for health a deliciously easy everyday experience.

Jacobi writes in the introduction, “Growing up in a family of adventurous cooks also devoted to healthy eating, I developed a love of fine food and an understanding of the link between food and well-being long before today’s detailed proof of that connection.  I started writing cookbooks to show others how healthy food and delicious eating truly can go together.” 

In the 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK, Jacobi selects foods that offer the optimum combination of nutrients, versatility, and voluptuousness, then uses them to create recipes that delight the senses.  Picking foods with maximum vitality insures that her choices offer “more nutritional bang for their caloric buck.” 

The first section of 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK identifies the 12 best foods and details their many important health benefits.  For example, spinach protects heart health, eyes and helps avoid birth defects; sweet potatoes are packed with immune system boosting beta-carotene; and chocolate is highest in antioxidants of any food.  It also provides “Everyday Ways” to incorporate the 12 best foods into the diet, such as replacing lettuce with spinach on sandwiches, whirling leftover broccoli with nutmeg for a lovely puree, and adding blueberry juice to give iced tea and lemonade an anti-aging, antioxidant boost.

And then there are the remarkably varied and delicious recipes in 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK.  From breakfast to dessert, appetizers and sandwiches to entrees and sides, they prove that a diet rich in all the micronutrients science has shown to be indispensable to our well-being can translate into a wide range of delectable dishes.  Many of them, suited to today’s hectic lifestyle, are ready in 30 minutes or less.

Stand-outs include delightful breakfast choices such as Huevo Ranchero, an egg nestled on refried black beans seasoned with cumin and oregano and topped with a tasty tomato sauce; tempting sides include Garlic-Roasted Tomatoes, with the full Mediterranean flavors of garlic, parsley and olive oil, Broccoli Balsamico glazed with a flavorful sauce; and main dishes including Roasted Salmon with Fresh Garden Salsa, featuring crisply seared salmon topped with a unique salsa of crunchy green and yellow squash, roasted red and poblano peppers, and Pork Medallions with Wild Mushrooms, a sophisticated dish in which seared pork is topped with a delectable sauce of wine, mushrooms and black beans.  And don’t forget the desserts!  Antioxidant-rich chocolate figures prominently in such treats as The Ultimate Bittersweet Brownie and Hot Chocolate Soufflé with Strawberry Salsa.  40 lush, full-color photographs beautifully highlight many of these recipes.

Achieving Dana Jacobi’s goal of making vital micronutrients accessible through easy-to-prepare and delicious meals, 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK reveals that perhaps the ultimate benefit of eating what’s good for you is how very good it can taste.

For sample pages of 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK, click on
http://images.rodale.com/wcpe/USRodaleStore/pdf/12_best/1579549659CHP.pdf

For the Table of Contents in 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK, click on
http://images.rodale.com/wcpe/USRodaleStore/pdf/12_best/1579549659TOC.pdf

About the Author

Dana Jacobi is the author of three previous cookbooks including Amazing Soy (winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award).  She has written for Food and Wine, Cooking Light, Eating Well, and Natural Health, and her syndicated column “Something Different” appears in over 750 newspapers. She lives in New York City.

SAMPLE RECIPE:

Spinach Salad with Nectarine, Blueberries, and Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette

From 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK by Dana Jacobi

With nectarines available nearly all year long, you can enjoy this salad almost anytime. I actually like it best in the winter, when the tartness of imported nectarines seems to make it even more refreshing. Tossing fresh mint with the spinach adds an unexpected flavor.

Food Fact:
The vitamin C in lime juice can help your body absorb the iron in spinach.

4 cups baby spinach (4 ounces)
1/4 cup mint leaves
juice of 1/2 lime
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped shallot
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil freshly ground black pepper
1 nectarine, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, or 1/4 cup dried

Makes 4 Servings

1. Place the spinach in a large mixing bowl. Stack the mint leaves and cut them crosswise into thin strips. Toss the mint with the spinach.

2. For the dressing, combine the lime juice, vinegar, shallot, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk in the oil. Season the dressing to taste with pepper.

3. Pour the dressing over the greens, tossing to coat lightly. Divide the dressed spinach among 4 salad plates. Fan one-quarter of the nectarine slices on 1 side of each plate. Sprinkle the blueberries over the spinach. Serve immediately.

Per serving:
72 calories, 4 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 1 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber.

12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK
By Dana Jacobi
$21.95, paperback original, May 2005
40 full-color photographs
ISBN: 1-57954-965-9

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