In her inspiring New York Times bestselling memoir, It Was Me All Along, Andie Mitchell chronicled her struggles with obesity, losing weight, and finding balance. Now, in her debut cookbook, she gives readers the dishes that helped her reach her goals and maintain her new size. In 80 recipes, she shows how she eats: mostly healthy meals that are packed with flavor, like Lemon Roasted Chicken with Moroccan Couscous and Butternut Squash Salad with Kale and Pomegranate, and then the “sometimes” foods, the indulgences such as Peanut Butter Mousse Pie with Marshmallow Whipped Cream, because life just needs dessert. With 75 photographs and Andie’s beautiful storytelling, Eating in the Middle is the perfect cookbook for anyone looking to find freedom from cravings while still loving and enjoying every meal to the fullest. – Goodreads
Damn, did I miss reviewing cookbooks. I took a brief hiatus because I kept getting distracted by other shiny objects (gardening books) and couldn’t focus. I’m back.
Fun fact: I used to write a cooking column for my college newspaper. It was titled Hooker in the Kitchen, because, well, my last name is Hooker and I cooked stuff. In the kitchen. I digress.
I was thrilled when I unwrapped this heavy number from its postage wrap. The cover art is gorgeous and the paper is thick — it’s a great quality cookbook.
I love that most of the meals are light and clean, which some not-so-light-and-clean recipes thrown in — after all, the whole theme of the cookbook is moderation and balance.
My one gripe with the book? The insanely long ingredient lists. It’s not very budget friendly to pick up a jar of apricot preserves, some special cheese, etc. if all you need is a tablespoon. I was a little bit disappointed at this (and at my barren fridge).
My new roommate and I decided that roommate dinner needed to happen, so we decided to make the Lemon-Herb Fish with Crispy Oven Fries.
Now, I’ve made oven fries before. Yes, they’re in the shape of fries, but they’re usually limp and meh. According to Mitchell, the secret to these fries is the hot water soak right before baking. I didn’t believe her.
But she was so right. These fries came out AMAZING. Crispy baked fries?! What?! Yes. This alone made the whole book worth it. The fish was pretty fantastic, too.
Overall, I loved the wide variety of dishes to choose from (though I didn’t love the wide ingredient lists). Everything seems relatively simple to make and I’m excited to try more recipes out of this book. Give this one a shot!
I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
lifebetweenreads.com 