Cover Image: Dinner in a DASH

Dinner in a DASH

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This cookbook will be a great resource for anyone looking for healthy Instant Pot recipes. Nutrition facts and health information are included with each recipe. The ARC I reviewed did not yet have photos, but I hope the published book will include plenty of pictures.

Was this review helpful?

I'm always looking for cookbooks that promote healthy eating. The recipes in this cookbook concentrate on the D.A.S.H. (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet using an electric pressure cooker. I likes this cookbook because it provided very detailed nutrition facts which is very helpful when trying to eat healthier. It tries to reach larger audiences by listing the ingredients in standard and metric units. Each recipe contains short snippets of tips to preparing the recipe and detailed directions. The recipes cover a large range of foods. The recipe for Peach-Ginger Salmon sounds yummy, and I look forward to trying several of the desserts also. Unfortunately, I didn't like that there weren't color photographs for the recipes. In spite of the absence of these photos, this cookbook is solid in presenting recipes to help those with high blood pressure.

I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Was this review helpful?

With the popularity of pressure cookers today, cookbooks like Dinner in a DASH are really in demand. Those of us cooking with Instant Pots or similar equipment are looking for more ideas, and healthier meal recipes. The copy of the book I received, however, did not contain any photos and for me this could be a deal breaker. If the final copy contains pictures of the finished recipes, this would be a great addition to the pressure cooking cookbook collection of most cooks. Without pictures, the book will have limited appeal.

Was this review helpful?

Dinner in a DASH is a recipe book based on the DASH Diet, developed at the National Institutes of Health in the US, is a low-salt, low-sugar, low-fat diet that is good for everyone—but especially for people with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, or excessive weight. This book contains 75 recipes. The recipes are designed for an electric pressure cooker (like the Instant Pot) and contain all nutritional information. The recipes are very down to earth recipes with very normal ingredients. However, it does not contain any pictures. I usually am drawn to the pictures,
I would recommend this book to anyone!

* I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

The DASH diet is highly recommended by most healthcare professionals as the diet promotes heart health. I've been interested in the DASH diet, and should probably follow it, but most the recipes I found didn't look all that appealing. Thankfully, I was offered the opportunity to read and review a electronic copy of Dinner In a DASH by Nancy S. Hughes. I found most of her recipes workable with my allergies and I loved how you could use an electric pressure cooker to prepare the recipes.

You will find the following chapters in her book:

Chapter 1: Wraps, Sandwiches, and Tortillas
Chapter 2: Substantial Salads
Chapter 3: Soups, Chilis, Stews, and Bowls
Chapter 4: Pasta and Egg Noodle Dinners
Chapter 5: Grain, Rice, and Bean Dinners
Chapter 6: Protein and Vegetable Combination Dinners
Chapter 7: Fruits and Desserts

Some of the recipes you'll find include:

Shredded Pork Tortillas with Fresh Salsa
Garden Veggie and Two Cheese Soup
Ale'd Chili with Beans
Beef and Burrito Rice
Beer Braised Chicken with Poblano Chiles and Cheese
Smothered Round Steak with Portobello Mushrooms
Apple Cherry Bowls with Ginger Crumb Topping

If you are trying to eat healthier, without spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I recommend buying her cookbook.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

This is a marvelous book to help make your meals healthier...low salt, low fat, low sugar...you would think there would be no tastes left, but Nancy Hughes manages to create tasting means using either an instant pot or electric pressure cooker. Imaginative and convenient.

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and Quarto Publishing and I am giving a voluntary review.
I loved this cookbook as it focus on preparing food and consuming said food for a very Healthy diet to counteract Hypertension. I for one must say I have had to take medication for this for a while and while the medication does it's job a good diet is a must. The many recipes in this book are easy to prepare and have a full nutritional facts guide for each recipe and very tasty to eat. I have tried many of the recipes and can recommend this book to all readers for healthy eating not just for those who have Hypertension. The line drawings that are included are beautiful but I feel a few colour plates of some of the dishes would have enhanced the book. My favourite recipe was Italian Cheese and Vegetable Casserole.

Was this review helpful?

The *dash* referred to in the title doesn't just have to do with the speed of these pressure cooker recipes. It is also an acronym for the DASH diet, which advocates lower sodium choices and high vitamin and mineral content (especially looking at potassium, magnesium, and calcium). The recipes follow the DASH guidelines.

The 75 recipes, from side dishes to main dishes to desserts, are all made in a modern pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot. The front section of the book has a very brief introduction to the DASH diet. If you really wanted to follow this diet, you would need to look elsewhere for detailed information.

The book is divided into seven chapters: wraps, sandwiches, and tortillas; substantial salads; soups, chilis, stews, and bowls; pasta and egg noodle dinners; grain, rice, and bean dinners; protein and vegetable combinations; and fruits and desserts. Some of the recipes use the Saute function to precook aromatics and other ingredients before pressure cooking. Sometimes the Instant Pot is used to prepare one component in the recipe, like grains, beans, or a protein. Other recipes are made entirely within the cooker. Some of the recipes creatively combine ingredients, like Lime Salmon and Maple Butternut Squash. As I am a vegetarian, I appreciated that every section had vegetarian options, and some of them sounded delicious, like Marinated Garbanzo Long Lettuce Wraps.

If you are looking for nutrient-dense, low-sodium recipes that use your Instant Pot or other multicooker, this may be the book for you.

Was this review helpful?

Why is it that no cookbook seems to have both pictures and nutritional facts these days? Sorry, but it's definitely becoming a personal pet peeve. This cookbook had the nutritional breakdown of each meal, which is good given that it's a book of heart healthy meals that fit into the DASH diet plan. They are all pressure cooker recipes, which is awesome in the current age in Instant Pot.

Was this review helpful?

Well, I went into this one blind. I had no idea there was a DASH Diet. I thought the title just meant simple, healthy recipes. Well, it actually is, whether you follow the diet or not. I like this book and will continue to use it. I would have liked more pictures, though. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Was this review helpful?

So much here to get excited about! While other books present the DASH DIET as a job, a chore, something else to feel stressed about, this book brightens up the topic of healthy nutrition in a way that fosters an evolution of eating habits without any shame or fear. We've enjoyed each of the recipes we tried out, and include this in our arsenal against heart disease and other illnesses. Very well done. Lovely presentation, and nice mix and organization of the material.

Was this review helpful?

I have been looking for some good DASH diet recipes and was happy to have the opportunity to review this new cookbook through NetGalley.  

This book gives a good background on the DASH diet and its nutritional parameters.  There are lists of food to aid the the control of high blood pressure and to maintain proper nutrition while decreasing sodium intake, as well as a short section on using an electric pressure cooker.

I have tried a few of the recipes and found them to be easy to cook and pretty tasty.  

(NetGalley ebook -  I received a complimentary advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Was this review helpful?

Considering how much salt is put into the foods we eat from restaurants, cans, or other meals, most of us could probably benefit from cutting back on its use in our own cooking. Besides being a diet recommended by cardiologists, the DASH diet has been rated very highly for weight loss as well as heart health.

In Dinner in a DASH, Nancy S. Hughes has developed DASH recipes that can be cooked in the Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. After looking over these recipes, a lot of them can also be cooked without an Instant Pot if you have the time, and actually there are some I couldn’t imagine using an Instant Pot for, but maybe that’s because I don’t have one…yet.

The recipes run the gambit of meals, from soups, salad, wraps, entrees, to, yes, even desserts! A cheesecake in your Instant Pot!

The other nice things about this cookbook for me is that the recipes aren’t just geared to carnivores. There are recipes for pescatarians, vegetarians, and several are easily adaptable for vegans. And, as I was reading some of the recipes using sausage, I immediately thought about the flavorful vegetarian sausages that would work so well in these recipes.

I also like the variety of foods used throughout the recipes as well as the wide appeal of the recipes.

Each recipe also comes with complete nutritional information, which is handy.

Who would love this cookbook? Instant Pot users of all kinds, even ones who don’t necessarily need to cut back on their sodium intake.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Great recipes! Nice pictures to match with the recipes that makes me you want to go home and make the dishes. I'd recommend to others!

Was this review helpful?

Easy to follow recipes that actually turn out as good as they look. I found myself utilizing this book more than once when planning menus for the week.

Was this review helpful?

Things that I loved:
- the nutritional values, micro and macro nutrients.
- diverse recipes

Things I wanted more of:
- pictures
- not as many repetitive recipes

But as a cookbook is useful for anyone following Dash.

Was this review helpful?

This is a very interesting book. I had never heard of the dash diet and so was very interested in finding out about it in this book.
The recipes are all simple and actually quite delicious looking and I think that's why I like this book so much. I don't think there is any recipe here that I feel I couldn't attempt.

Was this review helpful?

Tasty and healthy recipes, based on the DASH diet, and designed for your instant pot. What could be better? The DASH diet was developed by the National Institutes of Health and is a low-sugar, low-fat, and low-sodium diet that is especially useful for people with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes or excessive weight concerns. But, it’s also a diet that could be appealing to anyone who is interested in healthy living.

Often people think that healthy eating means giving up on taste but Dinner in a DASH focuses on meals that are appealing, healthy and tasty. With 75 recipes to choose from, it won’t be difficult to find comfort food as well as meals with a new or different twist. In addition to easy-to-follow instructions, nutritional information accompanies each recipe, along with cooking tips and suggestions.

Dinner in a DASH is a valuable resource for any instant pot user who wants to make healthy and tasty meals.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Was this review helpful?

Blending several of today's hottest cooking techniques and recipes designed to keep you healthy by limiting the ingredients every doctor says are not exactly good for you, Dinner in a DASH is an excellent reference and guide book. DASH diets were first recommended to me for my husband's high blood pressure and have helped manage his condition while still providing healthy, tasty food. The Instant Pot is the hottest cooking tool right now and I have to admit, I'm hooked too. How to bring the IP into the DASH regime has many wonderful consequences. I have many, many, many cookbooks but I'm glad I decided to add this one to me collection. It has earned it's stars and it's place on my book shelves.

Was this review helpful?

This is a great addition to a healthy cookbook collection. I am one of those who got a pressure cooker and was too afraid to use it. This makes it seem less scary, and less likely to make something go boom. The recipes are health, fast, and easy to use. I did not feel like it was a journey to make one dish. Another thing that I greatly appreciated was the fact it was not expense! That is so important to me, being able to make a healthy, delicious meal without blowing my entire paycheck at one time. I highly recommend this book to anyone hoping to use their pressure cooker to eat fast, healthy, and reasonable meals. I do, however, wish there were more pictures.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?