Canyon Ranch Cooking: Bringing The Spa Home

I have thoroughly enjoyed every recipe I have tried from this beautiful book, and I have tried several.The baked fish and chips impressed some of my non-healthy eating guests so much they wanted the recipe and plan to never deep fry again. The price may seem high, but was worth it for some of the unusual techniques alone. I never thought of smoking food with tea inside of a steamer basket.There are two reasons I did not give the book 5 stars. One, because I do not like the hardback format - this is a cookbook to be used, not some pretty picture book to lay on the coffee table. Secondly, the book has margarine listed as an ingredient listed in several recipes. The latter is a very small complaint that is actually addressed by the author in the introduction, apparently Canyon Ranch switched away from margarine while the book went to press, and the introduction lists proper substitutions. Maybe both will be corrected if there is to be a second edition.I highly recommend this healthy eating cookbook - for its delicious foods, beautiful photos and layout, unusual techniques, and proper nutritional analysis with each recipe.

We might have turned the corner. So many of us are now buying into changing our diets for the better, and cookbooks such as this beautiful one are great helps.For here is outstanding, healthy and good tasting dishes that look great as well. I especially find here some wonderful main entree type recipes which are "relatively" easy to prepare if one has good sources available: "Seared Ahi Tuna on Warm Potato and Leek Salad with Sun-dried Tomato Dressing"; "Escallopes of Salmon with Horseradish Sauce"; "Mahimahi With Basmati Rice Cakes and Napa Cabbage Slaw"; "Raspberry Cornish Hens"; "Marinated Duck With Blueberry-Maidera Sauce"; "Zenzero Grilled Lamb Chops with Cucumber Sauce";Of course there are yummy salads, soups, appetizers, desserts, shakes and smoothies---all healthy oriented, with complete nutrional breakouts for each recipe, and great color photography. Also included are Menu Ideas and Weekend Canyon Ranch Style Outing.

I recently purchased this book and have been very happy with the recipes I have made. Over the holidays, I cooked corn bisque and teriyaki steak and they were big hits. It was great my family did not know how healthy they were! The Corn Bisque, for example, uses pureed potatoes to give its smooth texture; you only put several tablespoons of cream in at the end for the creaminess.The book gives detailed ingredient information along with calorie, fat, carb counts. There are helpful tips on preparing the dishes as well.The only gripe I have is in the format--it is a hardback book that doesn't stay open while using it. But I will get a cookbook holder and will keep on trying more recipes in this book.

I love this cookbook. T'm always looking for healthy recipes that taste good and aren't too, um, "out there." I checked this book out of the library on two seperate occasions and renewed it each time as well. When it was time to return it again, I decided I needed my own copy to keep. The recipes are tasty and people won't even know its spa food when you serve it to them, unless you tell them. The pictures are beautiful, and the recipes clear and easy to follow.

This is my second Canyon Ranch cookbook and I must say it seems a bit dated. The food is delicious but such an old edition ( even though I bought it new).

Love this book. I live near this establishment but saw this book at a local restaurant and had to have it. Would recommend it to anyone.

The cookbook arrived quickly. It's a little worn, but definately in good shape. Most importantly,I now have a wonderful cookbook! Great for the price!

I like to cook for friends, and I don't mind accommodating their dietary needs. In fact, I consider it a challenge. In that light, the words "low fat" struck fear into my heart.I bought this book with the expectation that the food would at least look good. I didn;t expect that it would rock my gastronomical world.From our first nibble of Canyon Ranch Guacamole to our last morsel of Pears in Phyllo (filo to me) the tastes were amazing.I made:Canyon Ranch GuacamoleFive Onion BisqueHearts of Palm and Endive Salad with Papaya VinagaretteMashed Potato and Shallot CasseroleMustard Topped Rack of Lamb with Spinach SaladPears in PhylloGranted that this might be a bit more, quantity-wise, than would be expected at the Spa, but it was low fat and it left the diners, myself included, in thrall.It also helped that I started with a show-stopper, the guacamole. It had a rich somewhat salty flavor - a good trick with little salt and negligible fat. Here is the spoiler: It is made from asparagus! Nobody could figure it out.The book is no-nonsense and, while stating the benefits of a low fat diet, it doesn't preach. It also assumes a pretty good level of technique and access to decent ingredients.One low fat cooking caveat: Ignore instructions that tell you to spray no-fat cooking spray on baking sheets. Use non-stick sheets or parchment paper. If you really need the spray, spray it on the parchment paper. It took an exhauystin half hour to get this stuff off of my baking sheets.