BookDragon Blog

Forget pillow talk; get in the kitchen with your favorite FWBs – that’s Foods With Benefits, according to Candice Kumai, also known as the Stiletto Chef and co-host of Lifetime’s Cook Yourself Thin.

Thanks to her FWBs, Kumai’s first cookbook is all about “eating well that’s healthy, lean, and budget friendly.” Kumai, a model-turned-chef who’s determined to look “fabulous forever,” argues that “weight loss marketing traps” are expensive and mostly feature “fake food (yes, … as in made in a science lab!).” Given the rampant rates of obesity and other health problems in the U.S., she hardly needs to convince anyone that “we’re making ourselves sick (and broke!).”

So Kumai builds every meal with her favorite FWBs: “the good stuff naturally takes center stage.” She starts by shopping for whole, natural, unprocessed foods, and organic when available. Health – both yours and our planet’s – is worth the investment, she rightfully insists. And with a nod to the homemade Japanese-Polish-American meals her mother made growing up, Kumai cooks with the best ingredients available, as often as she can (enhanced by her Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts training!). She’s figured out what tastes great, and are great for her body, inside and out. And she’s got a whole book to show you how … “no ifs, ands, or butts about it.”

More than just a recipe collection, Kumai offers “7 Slimming Ways to Stretch Food and Save Calories and Cash,” her “FWB Philosophy” with a chart of her favorite FWBs a few pages later with benefits clearly spelled out, and plenty of feel-good, look-good, do-good encouragement along the way.

Her recipes indeed look so simple and delicious, that I’m thinking of breaking out a measuring cup or two (and I hate to cook, but I do love to eat .. !). Better yet, I think I’m going to hand over the whole volume to the far-more-kitchen-friendly-hubby with “try it, we’ll like it!” just in time for the next meal. How about Pear and Onion Flatbreads with Gorgonzola and Walnuts, dished up with Olive-Oil-Grilled Chicken over Quinoa-Spinach Salad? With a couple Lemon Babycakes for dessert? Mmm mmm gooood! Let’s eat!

Readers: Adult

Published: 2011