Mexican Light: Exciting, Healthy Recipes from the Border and Beyond

By Martha Rose Shulman

Book Overview

Cilantro and chiles, mole and salsa, succulent sweet shrimp and red snapper, zesty tacos, nachos, and quesadillas--no cuisine in the world is more fun than that of Mexico. In Mexican Light , first published in hardcover in 1996, Martha Rose Shulman takes the fat out of America's favorite good-time food, creating mouthwatering and healthy adaptations of Mexican classics. Mexican Light lets you eat all the irresistible foods from south of the border without any of the guilt. Savor creamy Chipotle Dip; luscious Refried Black Beans with Plantain Pancakes; delicious Soft Tacos with Chicken, Corn, and Avocado; smoky Pan-Cooked Salmon Fillets with Tomatillo Salsa; and homey Green Hominy Stew with Chicken. Desserts include delectable fruits and ices, and traditional Mexican rice pudding and flan, adapted for lower fat content. Even snacks are healthier versions of our favorite indulgences: crisp nachos and toppings, soft tacos, green enchiladas, and fabulous quesadillas with wild mushrooms and smoked jalapenos. Each recipe is accompanied by a complete nutritional breakdown, including calories, sodium, and fat. Mexican Light captures the essence of one of the world's greatest cuisines in healthful versions so good you'll never miss the fat Cilantro and chiles, mole and salsa, succulent sweet shrimp and red snapper, zesty tacos, nachos, and quesadillas--no cuisine in the world is more fun than that of Mexico.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688174663
• ISBN13: 9780688174668
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Mexican

This is one of the best of the Mexican cookbooks for people who want to incorporate food more authentic than "Tex-Mex," cheese-smothered dishes into a health-conscious lifestyle. While the dishes aren't meant to be historically and culturally precise, they do in my opinion represent the progression in Mexican cooking that has been overdue. A vegetarian-friendly cookbook, "Mexican Light" was written by a woman who clearly has eaten what she cooks, and has tinkered extensively with her creations to come up with just the right textures, flavors, and spices. The recipes run the gamut and can be made every day or for special occasions. Her approaches for fat-free chips have eliminated store-bought kinds in my household. The tostadas, blackbean-and-tomato soup, quesadillas, and pureed fruit desserts are wonderful. The potato-and-chicken soup with lime is fantastic and simple, easily converted to vegetarian by substituting seitan for the chicken. The chayote-and-yam stew is a favorite amongst my friends, as is the potato-and corn salad. The corn soup dish, while time consuming, is spectacular and makes the best of sweet corn in August. The most-made dish in my house is the green chilaquiles, totally unique and better in her recipe than any I've had in a restaurant.

Flavorful recipes that give "light" a good name.

This is a very useful book filled with delicious recipes that my picky husband and our guests love. Try the chipotle chicken salad! The instructions are simple to follow and most recipes are not too time consuming.

Great set of tasty, healthy, but not authentic recipes

Most of the dishes I've cooked in the last few months have been recipes from this excellent book. If you've used Shulman's other cookbooks, you'll recognize the style: chatty writing, bold flavors (e.g., lots of garlic and cilantro), a mixture of vegetarian and meat dishes, careful instructions in the recipes, a nutritional summary for each recipe, and a separate chapter on unusual ingredients. Many of the dishes in this book can be made in 30 minutes to an hour, though some are more complex. And while the food may be good for you, it tastes terrific.Don't expect this book to be an authoritative survey of Mexican cooking. There's no mole poblano, or even a burrito recipe. Some recipes are fairly authentic, others merely "inspired" by Mexican ingredients. Since the recipes she concocts are often as good as the classics she leaves out, that's a minor drawback.