Written by a James Beard Award-winning author who's also a writing teacher at the revered Culinary Institute of America, The Low-Carb Cookbook presents a colorful approach to the low-carb, high-protein diet so many people swear by. The author, Fran McCullough, has herself lost 60 pounds by following a low-carbohydrate diet, so you know you're in good hands. With more than 250 recipes, including appetizers, sauces, sides, main dishes, and delectable desserts, it'll keep you cookin'.

She's definitely taken a gourmet approach to the recipes. While they're all tempting, notables include Three-Grain Pancakes with Raspberry-Orange Sauce, Nut-Crusted Swordfish with Romesco Sauce, and Crème Fraîche Ice Cream. Unlike the many other low-carb cookbooks out there, McCullough gives advice for tracking down the best prepared food products and additional tips for healthy food preparation (for example, she recommends organic meat and dairy products whenever possible and cautions that "free-range" chickens are allowed to stick their heads out of their cages--not necessarily given the chance to frolic freely on the farm). There's also an interesting comparison of low-carb books, including Protein Power, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet, and The Zone, which boils down to this: they all emulate many aspects of the Overeater's Anonymous recommended diet. But where the diet books that started the low-carb craze may not be all that original, The Low-Carb Cookbook certainly is, with its wonderfully creative and classy recipes. The perfect choice if you want to rise from a food-boredom rut or entertain for friends--and not let on that you're counting carbs. --Erica Jorgensen


From Library Journal
While low-fat diets may work for some people, others have a quite different problem: an inability to metabolize carbohydrates properly, called hyperinsulemia. After McCullough (Great American Food Without Fuss, LJ 2/15/97) discovered that she had hyperinsulemia, she lost 60 pounds on a low-carbohydrate diet. Hers is not a diet cookbook per se?she refers readers to sources such as Michael and Mary Dan Eades's Protein Power (Bantam, 1996) and Rachel and Richard Heller's Healthy for Life (NAL Dutton, 1995) for weight-loss regimes?but a collection of delicious recipes for those forced to restrict their carbohydrate intake for the long term. After the glut of "fear-of-fat" books, here is a cookbook for those for whom pasta is the enemy, heavy cream an ally. McCullough is a good cook who enjoys food, and others in her predicament will welcome her book. Sure to be in demand, this is recommended for any diet collection.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.