The MediterrAsian Way: A Cookbook and Guide to Health, Weight Loss, and Longevity, Combining the Best Features of Mediterranean and Asian Diets - Hardcover

Thelander, Trudy; Watson, Ric

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470045582 ISBN 13: 9780470045589

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007

Synopsis

Indulge yourself with tasty and satisfying foods like pasta dishes, stir-fries, curries, risottos, noodle dishes, and sushi, all washed down with a glass of wine or beer. Stay active but don't bother with a formal exercise regimen, and set aside time every day to relax and unwind. You may find it hard to believe, but eating and living this way can help you stay lean and healthy, substantially reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, and increase your chances of living longer. People from Mediterranean and Asian cultures have been living like this-and reaping the rewards-for more than 5,000 years.

Now, in this unique cookbook and guide, Ric Watson and his wife, Trudy Thelander, demonstrate just how easy it is to realize the benefits of the MediterrAsian way-benefits that numerous scientific studies have documented over the last half century. They explain the common features of Mediterranean and Asian lifestyles-abundant amounts of plant foods and fish, small amounts of red meat, moderate alcohol consumption, physical activity, and time set aside to relax-and show you step by step how to make them part of your life. When you eat the MediterrAsian way, there's no skimping on taste-or satisfaction. You'll feast on more than 150 delicious recipes, including favorites like Pasta Primavera, Thai Chicken Stir-Fry, and Ham, Mushroom, and Tomato Pizza. You'll savor the intriguing flavors of Vietnamese Shrimp and Vegetable Rice Paper Rolls, Moroccan Stew with Couscous, and Teriyaki Chicken Noodles. And if you're in the mood for a burger or hot dog, Watson and Thelander offer several deliciously healthy versions.

The book walks you through MediterrAsian food basics, shows you how to substitute daily activities for time at the gym, and explains how to take time out to enjoy life and relax. To help you plan your meals, it provides an easy-to-follow five-step MediterrAsian Balanced Meal System. There's even a fourteen-day MediterrAsian plan as well as example lifestyle scenarios to help you get into the swing of things. Complete with 50 tempting color food photographs, The MediterrAsian Way is all you need to enjoy the benefits of MediterrAsian living-starting today!

About this title

About the Authors

TRUDY THELANDER has been passionate about the flavors and health benefits of Mediterranean and Asian cuisines for well over a decade. She is the co-creator of MediterrAsian.com, which launched in 2004, and has received praise from many publications, including USA Today, Parade magazine, Gannett newspapers, Yahoo!, Tufts University's Nutrition Navigator, and Askmen.com.

RIC WATSON has been passionate about the flavors and health benefits of Mediterranean and Asian cuisines for well over a decade. She is the co-creator of MediterrAsian.com, which launched in 2004, and has received praise from many publications, including USA Today, Parade magazine, Gannett newspapers, Yahoo!, Tufts University's Nutrition Navigator, and Askmen.com.

From the Back Cover

Would you like to become lean and healthy, reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, and live longer? It may sound like a tall order, but scientific studies have demonstrated that Mediterranean and Asian lifestyles can help you do just that. This unique cookbook and guide shows you how easy it is to embrace the MediterrAsian way. You'll lose weight, enhance your well-being, and improve your health while you:

• Feast on delicious pastas, fragrant curries, tasty pizzas, and soul-satisfying stir-fries
• Wash down your meals with a glass of wine or beer
• Increase your daily activity and give up your gym membership
• Make time to relax and enjoy life

Ric Watson and Trudy Thelander deliver all you need to embark on the MediterrAsian way more than 150 delicious recipes, a step-by-step balanced meal system, and a 14-day food and lifestyle plan, along with advice, information, and inspiration.

Reviews

Watson and Thelander, creators of MediterrAsian.com, combine the sensible, down-to-earth principles of the Mediterranean diet with those of south and east Asia to create a blend that is about lifestyle as much as cuisine. Their concept is appealing, but the book is more wishful than convincing in delivery. It begins by "unlocking the secrets" of the two diets, examining both regions' nutritional pyramids and citing much research to bolster claims for their superiority, but many subsequent parts emphasize exercise, of both mind and body, with overly obvious suggestions like "dance to the beat" and "go for a scenic walk" for burning calories and "get a pet" and "visit the library" for combating stress. An outline of two weeks on the diet demonstrates Watson and Thelander's "MediterrAsian" balanced meals, heavy on grains and vegetables and sparing with meat and fats. This philosophy lends itself to one-dish meals, which many of the recipes are, from Lemony Tuna, Olive and Vegetable Pasta to Fragrant Chicken Curry. Unfortunately, few rise above their appearance of being stylistic approximations of such dishes as Grilled "Tuscan" Chicken or the inevitable "Greek" salad; the fused cuisine feels both more familiar and homogenous and less lively and life-changing in the way a new diet must be to achieve great results. B&w and color photos not seen by PW. (Mar.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470045582
• ISBN 13: 9780470045589
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320