Sophia Rose Reviews: Dash Diet for Two: 125 Heart Healthy Recipes by Rosanne Rush

Today I'm welcoming Sophia Rose back to the blog to share her review of this heart healthy cook book.
Enjoy!

DASH Diet For Two: 125 Heart-Healthy Recipes to Lower Your Blood Pressure by Rosanne Rush

Non-Fiction, Cooking

Publisher:  Rockridge Press

Published: 7.28.20

Pages: 308

ASIN  B08CS2X1XG

Rating: 4.5

Format: eARC

Source:  Callisto Publishing

Sellers:  Amazon

Add To: GoodReads  

 

GoodReads Blurb:

DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is a diet promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that is proven to help control high blood pressure. The 125 simple, tasty recipes in DASH Diet for Two are specifically designed for two people—making it easy for you to keep your household healthy, work together as a team, and avoid food waste.

End the accumulation of half-used ingredients in your cabinets as well as wasted leftovers with delicious recipes like Chicken Piccata and No-Bake Mad DASH Cookies, perfectly portioned to promote two healthy hearts. Discover inexpensive, reasonable, and balanced recipes for two, and improve your diet and your lifestyle.

Inside DASH Diet for Two you’ll learn:

80% Rule—There are no you-absolutely-can-never-eat-that rules in this book. Try sticking to the eating style most of the time (meaning 80 percent or more).
Studies show—The DASH diet has been ranked Best Diet Overall for eight years in a row by U.S. News and World Report.
Even more benefits—A DASH diet plan doesn’t just lower blood pressure; it can also help you control your weight, manage blood sugar, and lower cholesterol.
Team up against high blood pressure with DASH Diet for Two.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

Want to eat healthier, but afterwards not get stuck with a bunch of leftovers or partly used ingredients you'll never need again?  That fit me so I picked up this recipe book with keen interest.

 

The DASH diet has been around for a while.  For those not in the know like myself, DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hyper-Tension not some sort of fast cooking plan though I guess most of the recipes in this book can be dashed off rather swiftly.  So, this diet focuses on high blood pressure, but has the added benies of lowering cholesterol, weight loss, lowering chances of diabetes and arthritis.  It seems to share a lot of features with the Mediterranean Diet, I thought.

 

This particular recipe book is further focused on meals enjoyed for two to four people.  And, aims to make the cooking prep easy and quickly so it doesn't take up a lot of time, that there be few leftovers and much less food waste as a result.  In point of fact, it's perfect for a busy couple who want to eat better. 

 

The author points out that this is meant to be a lifestyle and not just a diet.  There aren't these hard and fast rules that don't mesh with everyday life and events.  The goal is to stick to the DASH at about 80% of the time so no food is off the table.  It is meant to be a gradual eating habit so that it is sustainable over the long haul.

 

Only a chapter is devoted to explanation and then the rest of the chapters are the recipes grouped by meal.  The meals include: breakfast, lunch, snack, meatless mains, fish and seafood, poultry, pork and beef, sides, and then sweets and desserts.  The back of the book has measurements and conversion charts, reference list, and an index.

 

Naturally, I wanted to try a few dishes before leaving my review.  I went for two recipes that I had all the ingredients for:  Breakfast Veggie Frittata so I could use up the rest of the ricotta cheese I got for a lasagna.  Flavorful and filling meal that took less than a half hour from prep to plating up.  And, from the lunch menu I made up Bold Bean Fiesta Salad.  I subbed out the shrimp for chicken and because my husband does not do hot, I subbed out the jalepeno for bell pepper.  Speaking of substitutions... each recipe lists substitutions to help with either other ingredients that might be ready to hand or to make the meal suit a special diet.  Vegetarians and Vegans will find this a user-friendly guide. 

 

Oh, and as a side note, there are a list of pantry and freezer items to keep on hand as well as a list of kitchen utensils and tools that are essential to making the recipes.  These recipes share common ingredients and are fairly easy on the budget.

 

So, in summary, I was well-pleased with this recipe book and can easily recommend it to others who share a need for quick and easy, healthy, and smaller portions.

 

My thanks to Callisto Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Author’s Bio:

Rosanne is a registered, licensed dietitian with 30 years experience in the field of Nutrition and Dietetics (http://www.rustnutrition.com). Rosanne has enjoyed co-authoring several books in the For Dummies® series including DASH Diet For Dummies®, Calorie Counter Journal For Dummies®, Hypertension Cookbook For Dummies®, and Glycemic Index Cookbook For Dummies®. She is passionate about educating consumers about the important role diet has in health and disease management; and to provide them with easy steps, through her written words, to lead them to better health. She has particular interest in cardiovascular health.

Rosanne is a fact-seeker and her writing is evidence-based. In addition to her books, she also guest blogs for several websites, her own Chew the Facts® blog, and has written book chapters.

Rosanne is a wife, and mother of 3 boys. She practices what she preaches and enjoys good food and wine, and lots of activities like running, weight lifting, yoga, cycling, hiking, kayaking, skiing and snowboarding.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RosanneRustAuthor