The 150 Healthiest Comfort Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About How to Make Over Your Diet and Lose Weight While Still Enjoying

“This book tantalizes my taste buds and is everything I love—real comfort food that is as nutritious as it is delicious!” —Holly Clegg, author of the trim&TERRIFIC® cookbook series

Feel good about satisfying your craving for comfort food! You can now savor the taste—and healthiness—of warm, delicious, and comforting classics including mac ’n cheese, lasagna, chicken nuggets, pancakes, potato skins, and shepherd’s pie, thanks to acclaimed nutritionist Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., and whole foods chef Jeannette Bessinger, C.H.H.C.

The two transform 150 comfort food favorites into good-for-you dishes without sacrificing an ounce of taste by:

• cutting back on sugar to lower blood sugar impact

• increasing fiber and protein

• boosting nutrients with added fruits and vegetables

• focusing on higher-quality fats such as olive oil

• reducing calories by reducing overall fat

The result? Delicious new classics such as: Fresh Phyllo Chicken Pot Pie; Higher-Protein, Lower-Cal Creamy Fettuccini Alfredo; Whole-Grain Home-Grilled Pizza; Satisfying Real-Food Pumpkin Pancakes; Lower-Cal Loaded Potato Skins; and Grass-Fed Italian Feta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. Your taste buds—and your health—will thank you!

About the Author

Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., a board-certified nutritionist, is a nationally known expert on nutrition, weight loss, and health. A former member of the editorial advisory board of Men's Health magazine and the health columnist for America Online, he's also written or contributed to articles for national publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Time, Marie Claire, Diabetes Focus, Fitness, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Prevention, Self, and Shape. He is the author of numerous books on health and nutrition, including The Great Cholesterol Myth and The Great Cholesterol Myth Cookbook, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, The Healthiest Meals on Earth, and The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy. A popular, dynamic, and much sought-after speaker, he's appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS, and speaks frequently around the country. He lives in Southern California. www.jonnybowden.com

Jeannette Bessinger, C.H.H.C., the Clean Food Coach (www.thecleanfoodcoach.com), is an award-winning nutrition educator and personal whole foods chef. She is co-author of The Healthiest Meals on Earth and Simple Food for Busy Families, and author of Great Expectations: Best Food for Your Baby and Toddler. Designer and lead facilitator of a long-running and successful hospital-based lifestyle change program, she is a regular consultant and speaker to public and private organizations and coalitions working to improve health in schools and cities in the United States. As co-founder of Real Food Moms (www.realfoodmoms.com), she provides busy moms with quick answers for how to feed their families well. She lives in Rhode Island.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Lean and Savory Sauced Pot Roast

From Dr. Jonny: As a kid, I really liked pot roast even though I had no idea what it actually was. Most pot roast recipes call for “beef chuck,” which is basically mystery meat—not to mention extremely fatty. A simple upgrade makes this comfort food healthier: Just choose bottom round, a leaner cut of meat that will give you all the flavor of the original with fewer calories. It’ll still cook up nice and tender because Chef Jeannette prepares it in a slow cooker and smothers it in a juicy, flavorful tomato sauce, eliminating the need for high-cal gravy. Leaving the skins on the potatoes adds fiber and vitamins, and using a slow cooker saves calories because you don’t need extra “browning” fat. Note: If you really want to make this a healthy dish, choose grassfed beef!

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped

• 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1⁄4-inch (6-mm) rounds (or use a 1-pound, or 455-g, bag of mini-baby carrots to save time)

• 2 stalks celery, sliced

• 3⁄4 pound (340 g) baby new potatoes, halved or quartered if large, unpeeled

• 1 can (14.5 ounces, or 410 g) diced tomatoes in sauce, undrained

• 2 tablespoons (32 g) tomato paste

• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) red wine vinegar

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

• 1 tablespoon (15 g) Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon Sucanat, sugar, or Xylitol

• 1⁄2 teaspoon each salt and fresh-ground black pepper

• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

• 1⁄4 teaspoon cumin

• 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric

• 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• Pinch of allspice

• 2 to 21⁄2 pounds (905 to 1135 g) boneless bottom round roast

Scatter the onion evenly in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Add the carrots, celery, and potatoes. In a medium bowl, mix together the tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, garlic, mustard, Sucanat, salt, pepper, rosemary, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and allspice until well combined. Place the roast over the vegetables and carefully pour the tomato sauce over all. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the meat is tender and cooked through.

Yield: 6 to 7 servings

Per serving: 382.6 calories; 14.7 g fat (34% calories from fat); 36.4 g protein; 24.5 g carbohydrate; 5.3 g dietary fiber; 108.6 mg cholesterol; 344.4 mg sodium

From Chef Jeannette: Even Healthier: for a unique flavor twist with more fiber and vitamin A and less starch, substitute a large sweet potato or half a medium butternut squash for the white potatoes. Peel and dice into 3⁄4-inch (1.9-cm) chunks.