Reviews

GI News top 10 cookbooks
Cookbooks have to be one of the most popular presents these days. There they are gorgeous and glossy and piled high on the tables at the front of the shop. It’s all too tempting. But if you you think these coffee table cookbooks may be making you (and your family) fat, spiking blood glucose levels and clogging arteries, turn away from the glittering tables because the recipes really do tend to be packed with more saturated fat, salt, added sugar and refined flour than you and your family need on a daily basis. These books and their recipes are in the keep for an occasional treat category.

For cookbooks that will look after your body as well as delight your tastebuds, check out some of our favourites that we have reviewed in GI News. There are delicious recipes packed with naturally low GI ingredients, good fats, and herbs and spices that certainly don’t disappoint in the flavour department. And they are all in print or available online because we have checked, so don’t let the bookseller tell you they aren’t available because he’s too lazy to order it in! In alphabetical order:

• Delicious Living – Peter Howard (available in Australia)
• Eat to Beat Cholesterol – Nicole Senior and Veronica Cuskelly (available
  in Australia and online from www.eattobeatcholesterol.com.au)
• Glycemic Index Cooking Made Easy – Jennie Brand-Miller et al (available
  in the US/Canada from Rodale
• Healthy Eating for Families (Healthy Eating for Australian Families)
  – Rosemary Stanton (available in the UK, US/Canada and Australia)
• Lighten Up – Jill Dupleix (available in the UK, US/Canada and Australia)
• The Low GI Diet Cookbook – Jennie Brand-Miller et al (available in the UK,
  US/Canada and Australia)
• Low GI Gluten-free Living – Kate Marsh (available in Australia)
• The Low GI Life Plan Jennie Brand-Miller & Kaye Foster-Powell with recipes
  by Lisa Lintner (available in UK, US/Canada and Australia)
• The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook – Kate Marsh (available in the UK,
  US/Canada and Australia)
• Zest: The Nutrition for Life Cookbook Catherine Saxelby and Jennene
  Plummer (available in Australia or online from www.foodwatch.com.au)

Want to use herbs and spices to flavour your food instead of salt, then here are two books to help you get started:

• Spice and Herb Bible (Spice Notes in Australia) – Ian Hemphill with recipes by GI News chef, Kate Hemphill. (available in UK, US/Canada and Australia and online from www.herbies.com.au).
• Sticks, Seeds, Pods & Leaves – Ian and Liz Hemphill with GI News editor Philippa Sandall as co-author (available in Australia and online from www.herbies.com.au)

Why not combine a book with a gift certificate for cooking classes?

Lisa Lintner

• In Sydney, Lisa Lintner, who created the recipes for The Low GI Life Plan, runs classes that are all about enhancing your health and improving your cooking skills. Her seasonal, delicious and easy recipes incorporate low GI carbs with a wide variety of organic vegetables and fruit, lean protein and fish, nuts, grains and beans. For more details: www.lisalintner.com.au

• In London, our GI News chef, Kate Hemphill runs small lecture-style and private classes. Kate’s cooking and recipes are modern and relaxed. ‘For everyday cooking I like to be quite spontaneous and adventurous – and having grown up around herbs and spices, they are an intrinsic part of my cooking and recipe development,’ she says. For more details: www.lovetocook.co.uk