Lean Italian Meatless Meals

I borrowed this cookbook from the library and after four home-run meals decided I had to own it. These recipes are pretty straighforward, without long ingredients lists, though some have many steps. The end results are healthy and amazingly "finished" tasting. She has a knack for making dishes taste professional with full, well-rounded flavor. Nothing I have made from this book has tasted "light" at all-- everything seems finished and made to taste the way it does, rather than missing anything. yum yum.

For those who want to eat Italian and diet too, Casale's book offers a glossary of ingredients and an explanation of the nutritional analysis which follows each recipe.Organized by course, recipes emphasize herbs, fresh vegetables, grains and beans. Many recipes are quick - broccoli soup with garlic, rice with fresh herbs or mushroom and parsley, veggie burgers with tomato-thyme sauce, braised Belgian endive. Others are hearty - polenta pie with mushroom filling, winter vegetable stew, white bean with vegetable soup. And some are elegant - lemon couscous salad with spinach, stuffed artichokes with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs, asparagus and yellow pepper risotto.Casale also includes a whole chapter of biscotti and another featuring desserts like mocha mousse, walnut and orange cake, baked pears. Primarily Casale concentrates on dishes that were deliciously healthy to begin with rather than extracting the meat and fat from dishes that depend on them for character and flavor. A practical and flavorful book that should get a lot of use.