"New Atkins cookbook attempts to dispel myths about diet"
New Atkins cookbook attempts to dispel myths about diet
Thursday January 29, 2004, Dale Curry http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/inde...59408305670.xml Please, not another steak and salad. If you've ever dined with an Atkins advocate, you may have heard this complaint. Like, who could ever get tired of steak? Well, it's possible, and Atkins Nutritionals Inc. is ready with the answer in its new cookbook, "Atkins, the Complete Cookbook" (Time Inc., $24.95). Featuring hundreds of low-carb dishes, it offers recipes that sound and look high-carb but are stripped of those tempting ingredients such as flour and sugar and made instead with products such as soy flour, Atkins' bake mixes and sugar substitute. "This is the first time that we have presented recipes with photographs," said Olivia Bell Buehl, director of information for Atkins Health & Medical Information Services. The earlier "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" is a bestseller but gives only a few recipes to get you started, and the recent "Dr. Atkins' Quick & Easy New Diet Cookbook" has no photographs and is limited to simple recipes. The new book is meant to dispel several myths, according to Buehl. They are: Myth: On Atkins you just eat steak and lamb chops. Fact: Of the hundred-plus main dish recipes, dozens are for poultry, fish or shellfish. One whole chapter is devoted to vegetarian entrees. Myth: On Atkins you can't eat vegetables and fruits. Fact: The salads and sides chapter rules that one out. Myth: There's nothing to eat for breakfast but bacon and eggs. Fact: Check out the breakfast and brunch chapter for pancakes, muffins and French toast. Myth: You can't exercise your sweet tooth on Atkins. Fact: Cheesecake, brownies and flourless chocolate cake are among a number of desserts. Ethnic dishes include Mexican, Indian and Thai, and recipes range from easy to complex. A chapter on entertaining includes a roast crown of pork with prune stuffing, creamy crab dip, chocolate-orange souffle, Italian pasta and bean soup, Mediterranean tuna salad sandwiches and cherry cobbler. The four phases of Atkins are explained in the cookbook, along with lists of accepted ingredients and a pull-out carb counter. The key to counting carbs with the Atkins diet is determining the net carbs. To do so, you subtract the grams of fiber from the grams of total carbs. Here are some recipes from the book: Avocado-tomato quesadillas Makes 4 servings ½ cup canned pink beans, drained and rinsed ¾ teaspoon chili powder ½ teaspoon grated lime rind 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 teaspoon water 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup) 2 tablespoons chopped red onion 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 8 ounces (2 cups) pepper Jack cheese, shredded 4 low-carb tortillas, any flavor ½ avocado, cut into 8 slices In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse beans, chili powder and rind to combine. With machine running, add one tablespoon oil and water. Scrape down sides as needed. Process until a smooth paste forms. Combine tomatoes, red onion and cilantro in a bowl. Stir in cheese. Heat one-half tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Fry two tortillas for 30 seconds to one minute, until golden brown spots appear on undersides. Place on paper towel, uncooked side up. Spread two rounded tablespoons of bean mixture on half of each tortilla. Top with three-fourths cup salsa mixture and two slices of avocado. Fold tortillas in half over filling. Place back in skillet. Cover and cook 30 seconds on medium-low heat to melt cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas and fillings. Per serving: 13 grams net carbohydrates Italian ricotta cheesecake Makes 10 servings Baking in a water bath gives this cheesecake a creamy texture. Simply place a large roasting pan in the center rack of the oven, put the cheesecake pan in the middle and fill with enough hot water to come at least halfway up the sides of the pan. CRUST 1 ½ cups finely ground walnuts or pecans 2 tablespoons melted butter ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the outside of an 8-inch springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Combine crust ingredients; pat onto bottom and sides of pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden; cool on a wire rack. FILLING 2 pounds ricotta cheese 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 4 eggs 1 ½ cups granular sugar substitute 3 tablespoons Atkins Quick Quisine Bake Mix 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process ricotta until very smooth. Add cream cheese; process until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, processing until incorporated. Add sugar substitute, bake mix, vanilla and lemon rind. Process until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Pour filling into cooled crust; smooth top. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for one hour, until puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted one inch from the center comes out clean. Cool in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then refrigerate until well-chilled. Per serving: 8 grams net carbohydrates |
pink beans? are those kidney beans?
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Thank you. i'd never heard of them.
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You are welcome - I hadn't, either.
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I wonder...
Do all these recipes require some sort of Atkins food like the bake mix or a syrup or something? |
The quesadillas don't. They do call for low-carb tortillas but i don't think Atkins makes those (yet anyway). The wrap was always my least favorite part of most mexican food so if i made these i probably wouldn't get them anyway.
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I refuse to buy a book who is just a disguised advertisement for commercial products. Too many of these recipes are just an excuse to sell the Atkins bake mix and other over-priced substitutes.
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The only reasons I might not buy it (since I've been toying with the idea for a while now) are that a) I already have six (plus DANDR and AfL) LC cookbooksBesides, I'm having so much fun going through Dana Carpender's 500 Low Carb Recipes book and Donna Pliner Rodnitzky's book, The Ultimate Low-Carb Diet Cookbook, that I don't have time for any of my other books. ;) I know there are a lot of books out there that do such shameless plugging like Kraft, Campbell's, and Pampered Chef cookbooks, etc. (where ALL the recipes contain brand ingredients), and was surprised to see Atkins recipes are not like that at all. |
well they plug in their product anytime a recipe list any product that they sell. So if that's not plugging I don't know what is.
I hate when I browse through a recipe book thinking...hmm this looks yummy, only to find it I need to go out and buy a $10.00 box of Atkins bake mix. No thanks. I don't like feeling ripped off. There are so many good cookbooks out there, like the Dana Carpenter you mention that doesn't try to sell you anything. |
The Atkins recipes also plug other products as well.
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Dana Carpender's book (like many others) has a section in the front that talks about different ingredients, without much mention of specific items. A book like this might not be as beginner-friendly, judging from the questions I've seen in various forums and newsgroups (where people are asking "What is...?" and "Where do I find...?"). The Atkins book, on the other hand, by laying out specific ingredients, could possibly be a better choice for someone starting the LC WOL. I am certainly not trying to sell the product, as I have my own reasons for not purchasing the book. I think if we're going to rip articles to shreds for not having all the facts, we need to make sure we're not guilty of doing the same. |
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