The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook: Great-Tasting Recipes that Keep You Lean!

by Tosca Reno

With the success of the Eat-Clean Diet came the demand for more recipes, and author Tosca Reno is not only a health and fitness expert, she's also an excellent cook. She's always loved cooking for friends and family, and her Clean-Eating lifestyle inspired her to create fabulous meals that everyone would love. Who better to write a cookbook that would make the whole family happy . . . both at the table and when they shop for clothes a few sizes smaller!

 
•150 beautiful food photographs
• Delectable low-fat beef, pork, chicken and fish dinners
• Protein-rich meat-free recipes
• Gluten-free meals
• Tips on eating clean in difficult situations
• Timesaving one-dish meals for busy moms
• Great recipes on the go
• How to prepare an elegant clean-eating event.

Genres: Cookbooks, Health, Food, Diets, Cooking, Nonfiction, Nutrition

358 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2007

About the author

Former overweight Canadian woman. Now an expert on dieting and an columnist for Oxygen magazine.

Reviews

[Ladiibbug · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent cookbook for anyone interested in preparing highly nutritious real food and eliminating processed, canned and frozen food along with the chemicals, additives, fat, sugar, salt, etc. that are so unhealthy. This is what "Eating Clean" means.

The overall eating plan features lean protein, healthy whole grains, a wide variety of veggies and fruit. Recipes for breads, muffins & desserts are included, using healthy whole grains, low sugar, low fat and low calories.

I am absolutely *thrilled* to have discovered this cookbook, as I've been moving in this direction the last six months as part of a healthier eating plan. The cookbook has opened new windows into a new world of healthy grains, many of which were new-to-me (quinona, buckwheat, brown rice pasta).

Being a *very* unimaginative cook and having relied on frozen or processed foods, it's a big treat to browse the recipes. These vary from basic and easy with a handful of ingredients, to recipes with longer ingredient lists. Some occasionally require a bit of research as far as substitutions, or phone calls to health food stores where some of the less "garden variety" of flours and grains can be easily found.

Simply thumbing through the cookbook looking at the full-page photos of the finished food gives me lots of ideas for ways to jazz up everday meals and get more bang for my nutritional buck.

I buy a cookbook once every 15 years ... it sits on the shelf unopened for years until I find it a new home. I've tried 4 or 5 recipes from this library book (all very yummy!) and my copy should arrive via Amazon any day! I have 15 or so recipes bookmarked to try pronto!

This author has several other "Eat Clean" cookbooks available in this order (I think). The titles are from memory and may not be exact:

The Eat Clean Diet (1/07)
The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook (10/07) this book
Eat Clean Kids & Family Cookbook
Eat Clean Cookbook Recharged

Tosca Reno also has a super informative Eat Clean Forum: Go to www.toscareno.com, click enter, at very bottom of page, click on Forum.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was recommended to me by a personal trainer. I just started browsing through it this weekend, and I'm not sure how much I will even try - there are so many ingredients that I've never heard of, and a lot of ingredients that don't appeal to me. That said, there were some things that looked good enough to try - plus, the overall message of cooking your own food with wholesome ingredients to avoid preservatives and chemicals in prepackaged foods is a good one.
When I try some recipes I'll review again!

My first impression was correct - I haven't made any of these recipes! My life is just too crazy busy to spend 45 minutes on a side dish right now. But I did take away the message of avoiding preservatives and reading labels, which I am still doing consistently. Some day I'll get around to cooking with real recipes again. ;)

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought eating clean was going to be a lot harder than it was. I was never really taught how to cook growing up. As soon as I moved out and asked others how to cook this or that I was told "read the box". For the first time in my life I started getting migraines and had no idea why. Years later I found out that MSG was the main culprit. Along the years I have taught myself how to cook (pretty well I might add) and try to avoid processed foods when possible. This cookbook has some great recipes that are pretty easy to follow and great tasting. I checked this out at the library but I'd say it's definitely worth buying.

[Angieluila Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a love hate book. I either loved the recipe or I hated it. There were quite a few recipes I could not even use do to diet restrictions. Some I was able to use substitutes. The recipes we liked I will for sure make again.

[allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is book was ok. The recipes I tried were good, but I do have a bit of a bone to pick.
First, many of the ingredients were hard to find. I am all for trying new things, but it's a bit frustrating when you can't find the right ingredients.
Second, she included the amount of servings per dish, the calorie count per serving, but not the actual serving size on most recipes. This is rather frustrating.
Third, many of the recipes were seemingly over-complicated (i.e. making yogurt cheese for pancakes requires 24 hours). And had massive amounts of ingredients, which, again was slightly frustrating, especially since the many of the ingredients were so hard to find/pricey.

But it's a fun book with many great ideas and wonderful art to help spark some new healthy eating dishes.

[Kimberly Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a signed copy, Tosca is a very fit and beautiful lady. I love the book, although I think she adds far too many ingredients to foods/ recipes with the goal to 'make them healthier'. I love a 5 ingredient recipe, there are probably only a hanful of these in this cookbood. Clean eating doesnt have to be this involved. If I were new to the fitness world and picked up this book I would give up. But having a good idea what to eat and not to eat already, I can take the recipes with a grain of salt!
That being said, the book has some good tips!

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to cook more (Ok... cook period. I am not a big maker of meals.) and eat less processed foodstuffs. This book has some really good recipes and big colorful photos of each dish. I need photos - I'm very visual.

It's also not all common-sense recipes (salad! salad with chicken on it! salad with tuna on it!) like some "eat healthy" cookbooks. She has creative ideas for getting more protein and veggies into things.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a surprise to me. I have been trying to cook with more whole grains and with less processed ingredients. I entered "natural foods" at my library's database and this book popped up. It sounded a bit odd to me. Eat clean? But, I checked it out and was so pleasantly surprised. I have little post-its on about 20 pages to try out some new recipes. I've tried two within the last week and have loved them! I'm going to have to renew this one.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

This cookbook was okay. Glad I just checked it out from the library & didn't buy it, though. The recipes were a bit complicated from other clean books I have. Also the recipes seemed to contain an awful lot of ingredients! Last, some of the ingredients were difficult to find & I live in a huge, unique city surrounded by all types of different grocers! I think the recipes can no simplified, I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

[hissi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few cook books that teach you how healthy eating isn't boring as everyone might think. I tried the biscotti recipe and it was a success. I dont encourage white flour or sugar in my recipes so i have to say I'm a little surprised when I see them listed in the ingredients. I suppose she's trying to ease people into healthy eating. Your pallet needs to adjust to real good and real flavor which might take some time. Nevertheless this is a precious book to be sure

[Ajoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kind of cookbook exactly! I honestly believe that a cookbook should have pictures of what you are making. And in this book all 150 (or more) recipes have pictures! COLORED PICTURES!! Amazing! Not only that but the pictures are so vivid and enticing that it makes eating healthy look so good. Which makes you want to try everything, and when you do you'll love it.

[Joni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some decent looking recipes but I think some of the author's logic or research is flawed. For example, she talks about avoiding refined sugar, but then calls for brown sugar (a refined sugar) in several recipes. She also seems to rely a little too heavily on soy products and has a strange aversion to egg yolks (which current research does not support).

Not one I'd buy...

[Erin]

I'm trying to change my eating patterns to become a little more energy efficient. The food looks pretty good (although definitely different than what i'm used to!) so I'll try a few recipes and see how it goes.

[Smdc · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, I've tried 4 recipes in the book, and they are all great! Even DD likes them. I've tweaked them a little here and there according to our taste, but overall, they are very tasty recipes! (And, BTW, a good way to use lots of food storage items!)

[kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome cookbook! Would recommend to anyone! I never cooked before and have found the recipes fairly easy and mostly tasty. Based on this lifestyle of eating, I have lost 10 pounds and dropped my cholesterol over 50 points! Enjoy!

[Supachick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it - its my number one cookbook - epitomises everything I look for in healthy eating.
There is now a clean eating magazine too - which I have subscribed to so I can be inspired with new recipes regularly - but I've been waiting for nearly 3 months for it too arrive!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I collect cookbooks and bought this for the recipes before learning anything about the actual DIET. It is basic recipes that use fresh ingredients with few preservatives and chemical substitutes for flavor. I am a huge fan! One of my favorite in my collection of over 20 cookbooks.

[Carolyn Ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a great book for those who want to eat healthy and don't mind eating meat or fish, but it's too meat-heavy for this vegan. However, all the friends I've loaned it to have loved it and gone out to buy their own copy. However, none of them are vegans.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The food in here actually looks good, and I'm excited to actually cook this stuff. It seems like everything has so many ingredients but maybe having too few ingredients is why my cooking tastes so bad.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some (not a lot) recipes that looked good. I tried a few but wasn't impressed - I'd never make them again. I don't intend to try any more.

It really didn't describe the diet - seems like it assumes you read the earlier books.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes! She has some really great ideas for healthy eating....and they taste good.

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of my meals come from clean eating techniques and this book makes me find new and creative ways to integrate the many foods I love.

[Tanya]

Just bought this book, it has a lot of good tips and great recipes. The recipes are easy and almost follow a macrobiotic diet.

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

great vegetarian recipes---I happened upon this book by mistake and I was quite impressed!

[Beth K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cookboooks must have pictures! This one did, and lots of good, healthy recipes.

[Jocelyn Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I tagged 85% of the recipes in this book to try. so far everything I have made has been delicious!

[Siona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great healthy recipe ideas.

[Nancie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great yummy recipes! Our favorite is the turkey sloppy joes!

[Rasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some pretty good recipes in here that will definitely be making their way into our meal time rotation.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes. Anyone can do this.