Rating: 
Summary: Superb!!
Review: "The Healthy Kitchen" is a fantastic collection of delicious recipes that also features Dr. Weil's wise and helpful thoughts on the connection between good food and good health. It's a book that I plan to pull of the shelf and use on a regular basis. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Mix of Healthy Culinary Advice.
Review: 'The Healthy Kitchen' by holistic medicine expert Andrew Weil, M.D. and professional chef Rosie Daley promises to be the very best union between expertise on food and health. It is not limited to simple weight reduction or to curing any other specific medical problem. It is true to the holistic doctrine of treating the whole person.The book generally takes the form of a dialogue between the two authors. The contributions of the two different voices / areas of expertise are clearly delineated by printing them with a header indicating the speaker and differently colored pages to signify which voice is speaking. Regarding the good doctor's contribution, I believe it is all sound, reflecting a synthesis of the most recent conventional wisdom on health and food. The value of this material will depend much on how much you have read in this area before reading this book. If you have read any of Weil's earlier books, especially the title 'Eating Well for Optimum Health', you will have already read almost all of Weil's material reproduced on the his green pages in this book. Much of this information has also appeared in other recent books on nutrition; however, I believe there are several tips in the book on kitchen practices which are unlikely to appear in a book general nutrition. One example is Weil's comments on cooking oils, especially the recommendation to never heat oils to the smoking point and to never breath the smoke of heated oil, as it is highly toxic. This is why he recommends grapeseed oil, as it has a very high smoke point. I am especially happy with Weil's bringing out the distinction between simple and complex carbohydrates and that in spite of the current low carb diet fads, one should not avoid all carbohydrates. Even more important is his discussion of the glycemic index of foods, which is a measure of how fast a food is converted from the gut into glucose in the blood. High glycemic index foods such as most sugars and starches have the undesirable effect of quickly raising blood sugar, triggering the production of insulin. This also has the effect of making you feel hungry again, soon after eating. Low GI foods remain in the stomach longer and maintain satiation longer. The culinary half of the partnership is shared by the two authors, with Ms. Daley providing the recipes and Dr. Weil providing 'color commentary' and comments on the health benefits and risks of various cooking techniques. All recipes include a nutritional analysis, giving the weight in grams of calories, fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, cholesterol, and fiber per serving. The serving size is not indicated directly. Rather, the recipe gives the number of servings in the dish. Given the totally acceptable variability in the practices of home cooks and the variability of nutritional content of ingredients, I would use these figures only as a means of comparing one recipe to another. As usual, portion sizes seem to me to be rather small. The recipes are divided into very familiar headings, giving us chapters on: Breakfast, Beverages, Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Entrees, Accompaniments, and desserts Desserts. The last chapter gives a week's worth of menus with a composite nutritional analysis for the entire day's menu. The selection of dishes fits your expectations for a healthy eating book. There are no beef or veal dishes and the authors flatly state that they are excluded to avoid saturated fat and environmental toxins. On the positive side, there are several pasta dishes. Dr. Weil offers the very wise suggestion that he typically looks to Oriental cuisines for his pasta recipes instead of to Italy, as Oriental dishes have less fatty sauces. There are many fish, shellfish, chicken, and tofu dishes, plus an emphasis on grilling and roasting techniques. Overall, the book borders on but does not enter the world of dietary extremism parodied by a menu of tofu, bean sprouts, and wheat germ. It celebrates things like garlic that many people enjoy and which are also good for you. It devalues carob as a pale imitation of chocolate and endorses chocolate in moderation, especially as an accompaniment to fruit. If you have a limited budget for cookbooks and are concerned about food and health, this is a very, very good book. The list price is lower than almost any other recent hardcover cookbook you are likely to find and the recipes are very good. They are not simple. This is not quick cooking a la Rachael Ray. My only concern with the book's nutritional advice is that it may be just a bit dated. It touts the benefits of garlic; however, I think the nutritional value of garlic has been devalued recently. It is still tasty and quite safe. My main concern with the culinary material in the book is that it does not adequately provide a good substitute for white bread. While bread appears in one chapter title, it does not appear in the index and the closest I can find to a bread recipe is a recipe for blueberry pancakes. This may be too much to ask from a $27 book, but it would have made the book a lot better. Highly recommended, especially if you own no other books on nutrition by Dr. Weil. Requires some preexisting culinary skill. Not fast cooking.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect CookBook
Review: A fine resource for those who hope to make a more healthy diet a part of their lives! Filled with helpful nutritional information from Weil and cooking tips from Daley, even the novice cook could not go wrong with this book. A beautiful, easy-to-read layout packed with information, and incredible full color photography make The Healthy Kitchen a pleasure to read. Each recipe comes with complete information (calories, fat, etc.), and all are delicious foods that everyone can enjoy (no digusting combinations!) Also money-wise...a great bargain!
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly, disappointed
Review: After reading Andrew Weil's Eating for Optimum Health, I was very excited that he was coming out with a cookbook. I thought the recipes in Eating for Optimum health were very flavorful. I bought The Healthy Kitchen the week it came out and have tried about half the recipes. My overall reaction is disappointment. Andrew Weil only contributed a small number of recipes (his greens with Tangy Dressing is fantastic) and they are as excellent as the recipes in Eating for Optimum Health. The problem is with Rosie Daley's recipes. First of all, she doesn't always use healthy ingredients (some recipes include butter, large amounts of sugar, sour cream, etc.) By far my biggest complaint is how careless her recipes are. The measurements are frequently inacurate. Some recipes are so spicey they are inedible and others so bland they need a lot a doctoring. The fish tacos is the only recipe of Rosie's that I haven't had to alter in some way. That being said, I would still recommend this book if you are trying to cook in a healthier way. Just approach Rosie's recipe's with a dose of skepticism and your intincts intact.
Rating:
Summary: Compicated...
Review: All I can say about this cookbook is that so many of the recipes are very complicated, gourmet stlye ones, especially the ones contributed by Ms. Daley. Dr. Weil's recipes are a bit easier and much healthier. I really enjoyed the bits of commentary Dr. Weil adds throughout the book, although I wished it were a bit more organized.
Rating:
Summary: Highly readable and user friendly
Review: Although I approached this title with some misgivings due to all the hoopla on one hand and disparaging remarks on the other, I was happy to find that it is a worthwhile volume after all. Some of the dishes described take a little time to prepare, but they are not difficult to execute. Most of the recipes rely on widely available ingredients, and the calorie and nutritional breakdowns provide an added bonus. Dr. Weil's advice is sensible and helpful without being extreme, and since many readers of this book may be unfamiliar with his other works, I see nothing wrong with his dietary philosophy being promoted through this particular medium, where it can reach a different audience. As Dr. Weil writes, he is a champion of the Mediterranean diet. You cannot go wrong by following his suggestions while making use of some of the many Mediterranean cookbooks on the market. One that I would never be without is "Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen," by Sonia Uvezian, which offers recipes for a multitude of wholesome and delicious dishes along with a fascinating narrative that places the food in a cultural context.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Andy Weil does it again! He gives sensible and achievable ways to get yourself in better shape. He makes you realize that eating well isn't about denial but about choosing good ingredients and sharing them with friends.
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the Naysayers
Review: Be sure to read the text and not just the recipes. There are a few contradictions, which seem to be a result of each author's attempt to safeguard his or her reputation. The dishes are truly imaginative, delicious, and healthful. What I found disappointing were the reviews from people who admittedly skimmed the recipes. Every one of their chastising complaints is refuted by Dr. Weil somewhere in the text--in some cases on the same page (e.g. the recipe that called for butter).
Rating: 
Summary: Look at the authors
Review: Both authors look to be at least 20 pounds overweight. What does that tell you about their advice? Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: The Healthy Kitchen
Review: Don't waste your time or money. There is nothing new or exciting about this cookbook. Nor is there any valuable new information. For those, like myself, who are interested in the relationship of food to body, mind and spirit, and who are hoping to see some new wisdom on "health in the kitchen", you will be disappointed. If you are even vaguely knowledgable about food combining and eating healthy, this book will blow your mind. To make matters worse, there are photographs of Dr. Weil throughout the book and he is overwieight and looks physically out of shape, as if he never exercised a day in his life. It wouldn't bother me except that his book is so specific to creating a better body...I got lost in the oxymoron of the visuals. It's actually laughable. The book reads and looks like Dr. Weil is a guy pushing a friend's cookbook . It's conflicted.
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