Our favorite thing about Robyn Webb's The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection: Nine Essential Recipes You Need to Create 90 Amazing Complete Meals is that each entree recipe is accompanied by one to three dish suggestions to create a whole meal.
Our least favorite thing? Still feeling hungry after eating a meal. Most of the main dishes with their accompanying sides total 300 calories or less.
For example, the meal we created -- a taco dinner with two sides and fruit for dessert -- totaled 285 calories.
Webb does note in the introduction to the "Master Proteins" (tofu, fish, shrimp, pork and chicken) that the nine essential recipes mentioned in the title are really more like side dishes when their nutritional profiles are taken into account. And she suggests adding one of the Master Proteins to "balance your meal." But that only increases the protein. We'd prefer more of everything or larger portions.
That being said, the recipes are solid and tasty and we love the many variations Webb includes with each essential recipe.
For example, the lasagna chapter skips the standard meat and vegetable version and instead offers No Noodle Zucchini Lasagna, No Noodle Cauliflower Lasagna, No Noodle Polenta Lasagna, No Noodle Spinach Lasagna, Lasagna Cupcakes, Lasagna Soup, Corn Tortilla Lasagna, Lasagna Rollups and Skillet Lasagna.
Meatloaf gets several makeovers with vegetable-studded Classic Meatloaf, Pork and Brown Rice Meatloaf, A Better Turkey Meatloaf, Mushroom and Walnut Meatloaf, Lentil and Brown Rice Loaf, Tofu Meatloaf, Mini Meatloaves, Bison Meatloaf, Stuffed Meat Loaf, and Veal and Lamb Meatloaf.
Other chapters include burgers; chicken; pasta and sauce; salads; soups; and stir-fry.
But we were most enamored of the taco chapter.
Beef tacos. Chicken tacos. Pork tacos. Blackened fish tacos. Shrimp and Fruit Tacos. Tofu Tacos. Black Bean Tacos. Portobello Mushroom and Onion Tacos.
All of our favorite tacos are here. And each filling recipe includes a from-scratch seasoning mix and/or sauce.
Basic Beef Tacos
Sauce:
3 pounds fresh tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 Anaheim or other mild to medium chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 large onion, quartered
1 clove garlic
1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Beef:
1 pound lean ground beef (can substitute thinly sliced lean steak)
1 large onion, chopped
1 any color bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Seasoning:
1 1/2 teaspoons hot or mild chile powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Garnish:
1 cup shredded romaine
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt or fat-free sour cream
8 small corn tortillas
For the sauce: In a blender, combine the tomatoes, chiles, onion and garlic and puree until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and add the vinegar, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 1 hour or until thick.
For the beef: In a 12-inch skillet, cook beef over medium heat until cooked through, breaking it up into crumbles. Remove beef to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic to the skillet and saute until onion is soft. Return beef to skillet. Stir in seasoning ingredients and saute 1 minute. Add about 1 cup of the sauce (reserve the remaining sauce for another use) and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
While sauce simmers, heat the corn tortillas in an ungreased skillet for 30 seconds on each side. Keep warm.
To serve: Spoon the beef mixture into tortillas. Top with desired garnishes.
Makes 8 tacos.
Nutrition information: Each taco contains approximately 210 calories, 16 g protein, 6 g fat, 24 g carbohydrate (7 g sugar), 40 mg cholesterol, 220 mg sodium and 4 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 1 1/2.
Recipe from The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection: Nine Essential Recipes You Need to Create 90 Amazing Complete Meals by Robyn Webb, MS (American Diabetes Association, $19.95)
Food on 11/23/2016