The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook: Simple Recipes to Make Healthy Eating Delicious

by Toby Amidor

Make healthy meals fast with just five ingredients

Getting balanced meals on the table during a busy day can be a challenge. Simplify your life with The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook. With more than 150 recipes that use only a handful of ingredients, you can create a wide variety of flavorful, nutritious meals. Plus, most recipes are ready in 30 minutes or require just one pot or pan―so you can eat healthy while keeping life simple.

Start by exploring the basics of fast and healthy cooking, including a rundown of pantry and kitchen staples, advice for meal planning, and guidelines for clean eating. Dive into the recipes with shopping tips and easy-to-find ingredient lists that won’t break the bank. With this healthy cookbook, you can find the perfect balance between saving time and providing nourishing food for yourself and your family.

5-Ingredient dishes—You’ll only need 5 primary ingredients to make each recipe, along with a short list of kitchen staples like olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh garlic. Healthy eating tips—Discover tons of tips for customizing recipes by swapping out ingredients, or build on the simple recipes for fancier variations when you have more time. Handy dietary labels—Recipes include nutrition breakdowns and are labeled for any special eating preferences, including gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo-friendly, and vegan.

Serve up delicious, wholesome meals in a flash with this simple clean eating cookbook.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Reference, Ebooks

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2018

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy? Check. Mainly five ingredients or even less? Check. Healthy? Double-check! Very healthy thanks to author Toby Amidor, journalist and registered dietitian. Amidor slashes calories aplenty from recipes by eschewing overly sugared and fatty processed foods and making dishes from scratch with much less fuss than you’d expect. Delicious recipes of every type, so what’s not to love? Five low-calorie stars that taste like full fat anyway.

And, as if you needed an extra reason to love this cookbook, it’s available on Kindle Unlimited.

[Chris From RecipesNow! · Rating 4 out of 5]

With over 150 healthy 5-ingredient recipes, The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook is a no-brainer for anyone who needs to spend less time in the kitchen and still wants to stay healthy. Only recipes which have easy to find ingredients, taste good and are nutritious and are one pot or pan, 30 minutes or less, slow cooker, or freezer friendly are included.

Section 1 of the book is Healthy Cooking Made Simple. This section covers the Clean Eating Guidelines to help you create a more wholesome diet. It then moves on to Making Healthy Cooking Easy which covers the basics of simplifying recipes.

Healthy Cooking Techniques then advises how various cooking methods can create more healthy meals. Next is a section on Meal Planning Basics which runs you through the steps needed to create a good meal plan.

In order to make sure you can create all these wonderful recipes, you’ll want to make sure you have all of the Pantry Essentials. The Seasonal Produce Guide will help you find the fruits and vegetables available in season. The About The Recipes section explains the various labels for each recipe.

The recipe chapters include:

Smoothies And Breakfasts
Hearty Soups And Salads
Easy Appetizers And Salads
Simple Snacks And Mini-Meals
Vegan And Vegetarian Mains
Fish And Seafood Mains
Chicken And Turkey Mains
Beef And Pork Mains
Desserts And Sweet Treats
Sauces, Desserts, And Staples

Each of the recipes includes labels like gluten-free, vegetarian, 30 minutes or less etc. They all begin with a brief description of how the author came to create this recipe or how it works. They also include serving size, time and many include tips as well. The tips sometimes include ideas for substituting ingredients or how to save money with that recipe etc.

All of the recipes also include the calorie count, total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and sodium. If you’re looking for a nutritional recipe is it is important that these details be included.

You Get Exactly What Is Offered

The recipes in this book are exactly as described in the title. They’re all very easy recipes, healthy, with very few ingredients. All of the ingredients are also easily sourced which is very helpful.

I liked how the beginning of each recipe section included a list of each of the recipes with their page number. This would make it very easy to find one that you’ve already tried before and you want to try again.

There are only a few photographs of the recipes throughout the book. Those that are included are only those which are shown at the beginning of each recipe chapter. I was disappointed to find that recipes at the beginning of the chapters are not labeled but was happier when I discovered that the list of recipes at the beginning of the chapter does indicate which recipe is pictured.

After all of the recipes, you’ll find a Measurements And Conversions Chart, References, and two indexes by Type and Title.

See the full review and the recipe for Grilled Steak With Herb Sauce at The RecipesNow! Reviews And Recipes Magazine. This review is written in response to a complimentary hard copy of the book provided by the publisher in hopes of an honest review.

[Wellness Minneapolis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am searching for a cookbook that offers quick and easy recipes that are heavy on vegetables and fruit with minimal inflammatory foods (such as dairy). I think this book is a good step for people who currently eat the 'Standard American Diet' and don't cook much for themselves because the recipes are easy to follow with minimal ingredients. Unfortunately, it's not what I am looking for with my patients. Many recipes contain dairy and there aren't enough vegetables in the dishes.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely worth checking out for quick, easy recipes that your family won't realize are healthy. There are several slow cooker meals here - those were the highlights for me. But I really appreciate the creativity here - most of these meals come together pretty quickly with things you have in your pantry already.

Worth checking out if you need to get dinner on the table regularly and are watching what you eat.

[Just Commonly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Healthy Eating Made Easy" (back cover)

I love simple and easy meals, and that is why I'm a big fan of one-pan, slow cooker and easy bake meals. If you add in the "healthy" factor, I'm definitely going to try it out. In comes The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook by Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN. Wow. Now there's some qualifications there. Without all that, I'm checking out this no-fuss cookbook, and just love it.

Let's start from the beginning. This cookbook has a pretty basic cover and the title is really all you need to get me to check it out. It's light, but it's over 200 pages (224 to be exact), so I am surprised by the versatility of it in terms of carrying it around. The first chapter consists of great basic info that I suggest reading over, no matter how well versed you think you are in the "healthy cooking" department. Next the recipes itself. Five ingredients, with straight forward instructions, and then nutritional facts for the dish. In between the recipe name and the recipe, it lets you know if it qualifies as gluten free, vegetarian, dairy-free, paleo-friendly...etc, and also a little note from the author. Personally, I love the tips she gives on certain recipes, which I took full advantage of in the Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken dish. I substituted pineapples with mango and it was delish!

The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook have some great simple recipes and some new ones that I really had an easy time preparing. Some are staples and classic or a variation of classics that spins a healthier version. Some are new with a twist that I have yet to try. Of the handful of recipes I've tried, every one of them gave a passing, if not a glowing score from my family and myself. I will say one area I wish it developed more on is the serious lack of photographs. There was only one for each chapter, and I don't know about you, but I'm a visual person. I love to compare how mine look to the cookbook's. Of course a professionally photographed one will always look more enticing, but it'll give me the reassurance that mine turned out all right.

In all, if you are short on time and still want to prepare a healthy dinner for you and your family, definitely add this to your collection. Trust me when I say, you'll be checking out The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook pretty often!


This review first appeared on Just Commonly

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and have not been compensated for this. This is my honest opinion.

[SOMDReigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of helpful information such as a seasonal produce guide, 3 Indexes (Recipe Type, Recipe Title, and Index), Pantry Essentials, and the Clean Eating Guideline are a few that you’ll find. Each recipe has the total servings and the nutrition information as well as a tip. All recipes contain up to five main ingredients in addition to ingredients that are/should be in your pantry (pantry essentials). All recipes are pretty simple with ingredients that you are able to find in your local grocery store. The directions are easy to follow. Each recipe is labelled if it is Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo-Friendly, Vegan, or Vegetarian. These are also broken down in the Recipe Type Index as well as Freezer-Friendly Recipes, One-Pot/Pan Recipes, Slow Cooker Recipes and 30 Minute Recipes. I found quite a few recipes to try. This one is a keeper.
An ARC provided by the publisher

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded up. A disappointing lack of pictures of the recipes and, most importantly, this should be 5* Ingredients as the title. The 5 ingredients only count if they’re something that, according to the author, you don’t already have in your kitchen. Feels a little bait and switchy but ok…I bring this up because not everyone has the means nor the access to keep their kitchens stocked with so called basics (be it broth or spices), so it feels little disingenuous.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

No pictures but nice ideas that can be used to stimulate the brain. The salad dressing redos are on point. The Rainbow Quinoa Chard was excellent. Seitan, jackfruit, tempeh and other unusual ingredients are used in this book. We you get a strong idea how to use them on your own which is important to me. Teach me something new!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new...

A bit disappointed with this book, I get so much joy from looking at beautifully taken photos of the recipes, but there were hardly any. Hope to try a few of the recipes but was not inspired.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many recipes I want to try. Every one of them are pretty simple to make and you don’t need fancy ingredients. I judge a cookbook by how many recipes catch my interest and I want to try about 90% of them. Time to make a menu and shopping list.

[Carol Tietsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a vegetarian I am always looking for new recipes, and these can be tweaked.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cook book

Looking like a good cook book too try easy directions low ingredients going to trying most of the recipes.
Thanks

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very few photos.

[AnnieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s achievable

Healthy homemade food quick is possible. I read the ebook and the tips and recipes were so good and there are so many I’m going to have to buy the regular book.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

This cookbook, has some really great ideas. I even like most of the recipes. Just wished it had more pictures.

[Wanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cookbook

I was expecting more sinple to fix recipes. However i did find some good recipes i want to fix.
I will be sharing some of these to my favorite dishes list

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice cookbook. Simple meals with lots of flavor. This book shows that healthy meals don’t have to be complicated to make.