Review: The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook

I think I will start this off with a review of a cookbook that I am currently browsing for recipes. It is The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook and I have to say it has quite a few experiments I cannot wait to take on personally! If you are looking for a cookbook that includes lots of lighter menu options for every meal of the day, this is definitely one to check out.

I do not personally follow the South Beach Diet at this time, but when I first started losing weight this plan taught me a lot about my body and revealed the fact that I have a severe sugar addiction. The first phase of the plan eliminates all carbohydrates except vegetables, which you eat quite a bit of. The second phase allows you to add carbs back in while testing to see how your body responds to them. The final phase offers guidelines for maintaining your weight loss once you have reached your goal weight.

You do not need to be on the South Beach Diet to enjoy the recipes in this book! Not all are low carb. In fact, most of them have quite a few carbs, but they are all healthy carb sources.

What I Liked: I loved seeing a break down of the nutrition information for every recipe. For recipes that include bread, this book gives seperate nutrition counts with and without the bread. This is good because all types of bread have different amounts of calories and fiber and I think the stats will be more accurate if I take the recipe information alone and add in the exact bread info from my packaging.

The desserts and snacks look and sound like some of the best I have seen through most other cookbooks. I could not believe the low calorie and fat content on some of them and cannot wait to get baking. I believe I will find my healthy substitutes for a lot of my favorite sweets using these recipes.

The layout of the book is very easy to follow. The chapters include:

• Breezy Breakfasts


• Cool Soups and Sandwiches


• Sunsational Salads and Sides


• Easy Summer Poultry


• Burgers, Dogs, and Other Meat Dishes


• Vegetarian's Paradise


• Summertime Sweets


• Refreshing Drinks

There are also helpful sections that explain how to follow the different phases of the South Beach Diet for those who actually want to follow the plan.

The pictures are also very nice. I wanted to keep staring at some of them, they were so pretty and gave a sense of hope and peace. Overall, a very well designed book that will make you want to hit the kitchen, even if you don't necessarily know how to cook any of it!

What I didn't Like: There wasn't a lot in terms of actual meals for dinner that will be filling and satisfying. This is likely because the recipes are focused on selections specifically for summertime, when the meals tend to be lighter for most people. I look forward to browsing the recipes in the regular South Beach Diet Cookbook for more substantial (but very healthy) dinner options.

Look out in the coming days as I start to try some of the recipes from The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook. I will be posting pictures of my food as well as all the gritty details on how difficult they are to prepare and how they actually taste. Of course, I will post when I totally mess it up as well, so be prepared to laugh at my lack of cooking skills!