Review: The Food You Crave

The Food You Crave - Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life
Ellie Krieger
ISBN: 9781600850219 Hard back 2008  

This is the book I got recently with part of my Borders gift card I earned from Gather. Ellie Krieger has a show on the Food Network called Healthy Appetite. I've been hoping she'd do a cookbook since I first saw her show.

Ellie is a registered dietitian and has a master's degree in nutrition. On her show and in the book she shows you how to get the most taste impact from the ingredients you use. Sometimes she uses a smaller amount of a full fat ingredient when she says the low fat version just won't taste satisfying.  

I fell in love with this book the moment I laid eyes on it. It has beautiful color photos throughout. Not only does it include nutritional information, it also tells you what nutrients the recipe is an excellent source of and a good source of. In the beginning she shows the essential nutrients for good health and  their daily values and functions. She shares tips for a healthier way to eat and cook, and also shares her New Way Pantry to help get you started on the right track. There are boxes with tips throughout the book. Each recipe begins with an interesting brief note from Ellie.  

As soon as I got home with this one I read it from cover to cover and was eager to begin cooking from it. I made a list of over 50 recipes I want to try. The first recipe we tried was Apple Cranberry Turnovers. This one was a bit  confusing, at least to Sarita and I, in the instructions. We read it to say the phyllo needed to be cut in long strips (long-wise) but when I did that it was hard to get the fruit on and fold. So the next stack I cut the other way and it worked much better and looked more like the ones in the picture. They were quiet good and Harold even liked them. I also have the ingredients to make the Spicy Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs and will make them soon.  

I like Ellie's philosophy that  recipes and foods fall into three categories, Usually, Sometimes, and Rarely and there is no Never. She says no ingredients are off limits, some just  need to be saved for special occasions or the rare craving.  

Apple-Cranberry Turnovers  

 Flaky phyllo dough makes a perfect golden brown wrapper for tender apple pie filling studded with cranberries. Crushed ladyfinger cookies layered with the dough make it extra crisp and lend a lovely sweetness.  

4 Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
6 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 ladyfinger cookies, crushed
Cooking spray  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  

In a large nonstick skillet, combine the apples, cranberries, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the fruit is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook until the juices in the skillet thicken, another 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.  

 Lay a sheet of phyllo on a large cutting board and brush with the oil. Top with a second sheet and brush with the oil. Sprinkle half of the crushed cookies on top. Add another sheet of phyllo and brush with the oil. Cut the layered phyllo into 4 long strips. Put a small mound of the apple mixture about an inch from the bottom  of one strip and fold the phyllo over the mixture into a triangle shaped pocket. Continue to fold the strip up in the way to maintain the triangle shape so a turnover is formed. Repeat with the other three strips. Repeat the whole process again with the remaining three sheets of phyllo so that you wind up with 8 turnovers. Be sure to reserve a little oil to brush the top of each turnover.  

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, place the turnovers on the sheet, brush the tops with the remaining oil, and bake until nicely browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.  

Serves 8, serving size 1 turnover Per serving: calories 200, Total Fat 6.5G, Mono. 3.5G, Poly 2G, Sat 1G, Protein 2G, Carb 35G, Fiber 2G, Chol 20MG, Sodium 82MG Good source of Fiber  

Joan's notes: I couldn't find ladyfingers so I used vanilla wafers. I also couldn't find unsweetened dried cranberries so I used just a tiny bit less brown sugar.