I recently received a copy of The Perfect Portion Cookbook to review. The Perfect Portion Cookbook includes 150 healthy, easy-to-prepare recipes with a 100-calorie portion system for counting calories and managing portion sizes. The website also offers helpful tips and videos.
As a new mom, I’m not into the “must immediately get pre-baby body back” attitude, but I really appreciate the simple, healthy takes on comfort food in this cookbook. It’s so refreshing to see mostly real, unprocessed food versus something like “three-ingredient protein pancakes” or a healthified version of rich food that uses non-fat, sugar-free “diet” ingredients. The familiar comfort food nature of the recipes offers a good base for making small tweaks or customization. The recipes don’t involve a ton of prep work or active cooking time either, which is great for getting back into cooking as a new mom. I made four of the recipes: blackened cod, 100 calorie biscuits, tuna melts, and cheese crackers.
Blackened Cod
I’ve been finding great cod at Market Basket lately, so I was excited to try this out. My usual go-to cod recipes involve mayonnaise + sriracha + panko bread crumbs or butter + panko bread crumbs, so the blackening spice in this recipe was a much lighter alternative. On the first attempt at this, I served it with some pasta on the side and topped it with a squeeze of lemon and some chives. Overall, the flavor was good (though my husband found it a bit spicy). I wish I’d adjusted the spice amounts more better because the filets were pretty large. The second time I made it, I added some paprika and decreased the cayenne. I also tried to get a better sear on the fish and served it alongside jasmine rice with kale, garlic, and shallots. I will definitely keep this in my repertoire.
100 Calorie Biscuits
I’ve had yogurt biscuits on my to-make list for a while, so I was glad that The Perfect Portion Cookbook included them. I used a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour and Fage 0% yogurt, and served them with butter and strawberry jam. They didn’t turn out as well as the biscuits I have made with grated frozen butter and buttermilk lately, but I’ll give them at least another try to see if I can improve my dough-making or biscuit shaping or tweak the baking time.
Tuna Melts
I really liked these. I used Cabot 3 year aged cheddar, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, whole grain bread, and Bumble Bee light tuna in olive oil. I subbed celery for tomato. The bread I bought was small, so there ended up being enough to make one more tuna melt each the next day. If only I had a toaster oven at work…I’d be making these every day!
Cheese Crackers
I’ve been intrigued by Smitten Kitchen’s goldfish recipe, so I used a goldfish cutter on The Perfect Portion Cookbook’s recipe. I used a screwdriver for the eyes and a 1/4 tsp spoon for the smiles. I also added some Old Bay seasoning to the crackers. I took them to school with me and gave some to my students. Some said they were too salty (too much Old Bay?) but one commented that they tasted “just like pizza goldfish.”
Looking forward to making more recipes from this cookbook!
