One ray of light on the celebrity aisle came from Marilu Henner's new book, Healthy Life Kitchen. While not perfect (it does include some fat and cholesterol in its fish and chicken dishes), it features many healthy, vegan recipes. Also recommended for holiday giving are Rice and Spice—100 Vegetarian One-Dish Dinners Made with the World's Most Versatile Grain by Robin Robertson and The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley.

For a copy of PCRM's cookbook review, contact Ms. Simon Chaitowitz, PCRM communications coordinator, via telephone at 202-686-2210, ext. 309, or e-mail simonc@pcrm.org.

Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine promotes preventive medicine and higher standards in research, education, and practice.

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by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
December 2000

PCRM's reviewers based each cookbook's rating on three criteria: percentage of healthy, plant-based recipes, amount of health and nutrition information, and overall presentation and appearance. The standard for a healthy recipe is one high in fiber, rich in nutrients, low in saturated fat, and free of cholesterol.

In addition to points for recipes, cookbooks could earn 5, 10, or 15 points based on the amount and quality of health and nutrition information they included. Reviewers awarded an additional 5 to 10 points for excellent or exceptional presentation and appearance. The total possible score was 125. Reviewers then translated the points into a final percentage score.

Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food
by Suzanne Somers

recipe points: 23
health & nutrition points: 5
appearance & presentation points: 10
total points: 38
final score: 30%

Despite this cookbook's title, many of Suzanne Somers' recipes fall short of meeting healthy guidelines. Some contain vegetables, but few are low in fat and cholesterol-free. Level 2, or maintenance, recipes are generally high in fat and are not recommended.

The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook
by Martha Stewart

recipe points: 24
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 5
total points: 29
final score: 23%

Martha Stewart's latest cookbook compiles favorites from her magazine from the last ten years. While it includes more than 1,000 recipes, fewer than a quarter of them are healthy, and you'll find plenty of greasy foods such as omelets, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese. The beautiful photography doesn't make up for the unhealthy recipes.

Holiday Food: Family Recipes for the Most Festive Time of the Year
by Mario Batali

recipe points: 15
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 10
total points: 25
final score: 20%

Mario Batali, New York chef and a star on Cable TV's Food Network, gives a brief but colorful offering of holiday menus. Although there are some healthy recipes for appetizers, all of the main items are overly fatty.

Issac Hayes: Cooking with Heart and Soul
by Issac Hayes with Susan DiSea

recipe points: 14
health & nutrition points: 5
appearance & presentation points: 5
total points: 24
final score: 19%

Issac Hayes, the musician, actor, and voice of the chef on TV's South Park, based this book on "making music in the kitchen with family and friends." While he touches on healthy living and even refers to his diet of "rabbit food," the vast majority of the book's recipes are anything but—among them "John Travolta's Hamburger Royale with Cheese."

Can You Take the Heat? The WWF Is Cooking
by Jim "J.R." Ross and WWF Superstars

recipe points: 10
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 5
total points: 15
final score: 12%

Bursting with pictures and quotes from WWF superstars, this cookbook is funnier than it is nutritionally sound. Check out Billy Gunn's recipe for "Grilled Badd Ass-paragus" or learn what "Chyna eats to make her the 9th wonder of the world." Along with its sassy attitude, this cookbook dishes up plenty of fat, cholesterol, and sugar.

recipe points: 14
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 0
total points: 14
final score: 11%

Billed as a Magical Culinary Tour, this witty book models recipe titles after the 27 Beatles songs that mention food or eating, such as "Lovely Linda's Vegetarian Feast" and "I Saw Her String Beans There." Unfortunately, the book is short on healthy recipes and contains no nutrition-related information.

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin

recipe points: 4
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 10
total points: 14
final score: 11%

TV chefs Julia and Jacques invite you to join in their fun in this well photographed compilation as they offer helpful hints, shortcuts, and detailed step-by-step instructions. Unfortunately, the cookbook offers mostly meat and dairy dishes, which are loaded with fat and cholesterol.

Two Fat Ladies Obsessions
by Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright

recipe points: 9
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 5
total points: 14
final score: 11%

These humorous British TV chefs have organized their cookbook around 34 favorite food ingredients, including salt and coffee, as well as such oddities as eels. Amusing, but not at all healthy.

LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About
by Patti LaBelle with Laura B. Randolph

recipe points: 9
health & nutrition points: 0
appearance & presentation points: 0
total points: 9
final score: 7%

Patti LaBelle, the award-winning R&B vocalist, serves up a cookbook she says is inspired by the great Southern chefs in her life. With dishes like "Say-My-Name Smothered Chicken and Gravy," it's not at all what the doctor ordered.

George Foreman's Big Book of Grilling, Barbecue, and Rotisserie
by George Foreman and Barbara Witt

recipe points: 0
health & nutrition points: 5
appearance & presentation points: 0
total points: 5
final score: 4%

While George's book features not a single healthy recipe, it does include some handy tips for grilling vegetables. It's one of the few offering any nutritional analysis.