December 27, 2016

The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook by Nancy S. Hughes

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 1 in 3 Americans are currently living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. With numbers that high, there’s a good chance that you or someone you love has this condition.

My mother had Type 2 diabetes. When she came to live with us for the last few years of her life, I had to learn how to cook delicious food that would help keep her diabetes under control. I wish I had The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook back then!

The ADA has just released a new updated Second Edition of Nancy S. Hughes’s cookbook, subtitled “Simple, Quick and Delicious Recipes Using Just Four Ingredients or Less!” This easy-to-use cookbook includes over 160 recipes, from beverages to breakfast to snacks to dinner and even desserts. All of the recipes meet the ADA’s nutritional standards, and each recipe has a sidebar with exchanges and choices for people tracking their food intake. In addition to the recipes, there’s a great listing of Kitchen Tools You’ll Really Use and a section called Make the Most of All Your Meals with a breakdown of different meals and foods with Tips, Tricks, and Timesavers. Each recipe also includes Cook’s Tips with extra information or variations on the recipe.

Of course, this cookbook is designed for those with diabetes, but the recipes are so flavor-packed yet simple to prepare that anyone would enjoy having it in their cookbook collection. None of the techniques are too advanced for novice cooks, and the ingredients should be readily available in most supermarkets. The four-ingredient-per-recipe limit doesn’t include water, salt, pepper, or cooking spray, and use of things like canned tomatoes with chilis or frozen vegetable medleys helps streamline the ingredient list, too.

I’ve got several recipes marked to try, including:

Dilled Chex Toss
Panko Ranch Chicken Strips with Dipping Sauce
Extra-Easy Meatballs
Rosemary Rice with Fresh Spinach Greens

I’ve already made the Mashed Cauliflower with Sour Cream (twice!). It was as delicious as it was simple to prepare, and I’m sure I’ll be making it often. The one change I made to the recipe was to use an immersion blender to puree the cauliflower right in the pot, rather than pulling out the blender. However, it took more than twice as long as specified for my cauliflower to get tender.

Mashed Cauliflower with Sour Cream
(Serves 4; Serving Size 1/2 cup; Prep Time 10 minutes; Cook Time 10 minutes)

1 cup water
1 pound fresh or frozen cauliflower florets
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons no-trans-fat margarine (35% vegetable oil)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan and add the cauliflower. Return to a boil, reduce the heat, cover tightly, and simmer 8 minutes or until tender.

2. Drain the cauliflower well and place it in a blender with the remaining ingredients. Hold the lid down tightly and blend until smooth. You may need to turn off the blender and scrape the mixture off the sides once or twice.

Cook’s Tip: Be sure to hold the blender lid down tightly—the heat of the vegetables may cause it to pop off.

Title: The 4-Ingredient Diabetes Cookbook, Second Edition: Simple, Quick and Delicious Recipes Using Just Four Ingredients or Less!
Author: Nancy S. Hughes
Publisher: American Diabetes Association
ISBN-13: 978-1-58040-637-6

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Author: A Bailey