American Heart Association Quick & Easy Cookbook

In our hectic era, who has time to spend hours in the kitchen creating tasty, healthful meals? Yet when we try to eat fast, we almost always resort to eating fat (think: fast food). This indispensable cookbook from one of the most trusted names in the health field breaks the fast-fat connection. Nearly every one of its mouthwatering, low-fat, low-cholesterol recipes can be prepared in under 30 minutes. Here is the opportunity for millions of Americans to start living the more healthful lifestyle they know they should.

It's easy to fall into high-fat, fast-food habits when we're busy, and who isn't busy? The American Heart Association has a solution: 200 recipes that are tasty, healthful, low-fat, and fast. The recipes--conveniently spiral-bound--take 20 minutes or less preparation time, and most take just a few minutes of additional cooking time. (Some require more cooking time, but you don't have to hover over them.) Don't skip breakfast when you can make Cinnamon-Bran Pancakes (total time: 11 to 14 minutes), Stuffed French Toast (16 to 18 minutes), or a Banana-Kiwi Breakfast Shake (5 minutes) in less time than it takes to pick up a muffin on your way to work. Your family or guests won't guess you whipped up dinner in a hurry when you make Pasta-Crusted Fish with Marinara Sauce (15 minutes), Sherried Seafood Sauté (15 minutes), or Skillet Chicken Thighs with Dried Berries (20 minutes). The book has an assortment of one-dish meals like Salmon and Brown Rice Bake, Black Bean Lasagna, and Chicken with Broccoli and Bulgur. There are also appetizers, vegetables, breads, sandwiches, salads, and desserts. All recipes include preparation time, cooking time, and nutritional information: calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat (total, saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated), cholesterol, and sodium. Yummy photographs decorate the book. --Joan Price