The Cure for Boring Food: Review of Sally Bee Cookbook

Mom! What is that heavenly smell?!

Are you making another Sally Bee recipe?

My daughter was right on both counts. I was making Sally Bee’s Healthy Spring Vegetable Risotto, and the aroma was incredible. This summer I cooked my way through Sally’s cookbook, The Secret Ingredient, and what a delight it was.

I often tell my audiences, “Don’t eat boring food.”

Think about it.

How often do you eat something which lacks variety and interest instead of something delicious just because it is easy? Does cooking something healthy seem like too much effort for too little reward?

Not if you know about Sally Bee’s Secret Ingredient!

It is common practice in our household for my husband and kids to go through any new cookbook and mark recipes they would like to try. Most of the time this results in a few pages being marked with sticky notes. As you can tell from the picture nearly every page in Sally’s book is marked – and we tried many of them, all with great results and happy tummies!

Not only are the recipes healthy and delicious, the instructions are easy to follow and specific enough to guide anyone to success.

In addition, along the way you are treated to lovely photos of Sally’s beautiful family and her incredible story.  Sally is a fellow spontaneous dissection survivor – she suffered three heart attacks in one week following the birth of her daughter!

Her love of life and food is evident on every page. No boring food to be found!

This is hands-down the best cookbook I’ve seen in years.  Congratulations Sally!

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. You won’t be sorry!

To get you started here is one of our family favorites (it works on the grill too!)

(Oh, by the way – Sally’s from England, so there is a delightful mix of new words in the book too.  Such as “bung” in the recipe below – which I assume means pop or throw!)

Chicken Risotto Parcel

This recipe is so speedy to prepare, blink and you’ll miss it! This is my idea of a ‘ready meal’. Throw it all together in the morning, pop it in the fridge, then after a hard day at work, bung it in the oven while you have a nice relax with a glass of something lovely!

Serves 1 (but of course you can make as many as you like)
1 chicken breast portion
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
4-5 cherry tomatoes
drizzle of olive oil
1 ½ oz (38g) long grain rice
8 tbsp chicken stock
1 glass red or white wine
1 tbsp tomato puree
dash of Worcester sauce
sprinkle of dried mixed herbs
sprinkle of garlic powder
black pepper

•    Pre-heat oven to 400ºF/200ºC
•    Prepare a large piece of foil by folding in half to give extra strength. You do not want the foil to split or you’ll lose the juices.
•    Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
•    Put all the ingredients into the centre of the foil. Fold the sides to produce a bowl effect and fold over the top to seal the edges securely
•    Place on a baking tray and cook for 45 mins.

Check out more recipes and insights on Sally’s Blog.

Eliz Greene survived a massive heart attack while seven-months pregnant with twins, struggled to lose the 80 pounds gained during her pregnancy, and searched for a way to hold on to the perspective and passion she found in her near-death experience. Drawing on her background as an adaptive movement specialist, Eliz developed simple strategies and tips to help other busy women be more active, eat better and manage your stress.

As the Director of the Embrace Your Heart Wellness Initiative, Eliz travels the country energizing and inspiring audiences in keynotes and workshops on women’s heart health. She writes one of the top 50 health and wellness blogs. Find more at www.EmbraceYourHeart.com.