The Mediterranean DASH Diet Cookbook: Lower Your Blood Pressure and Improve Your Health

The Mediterranean DASH Diet Cookbook is a tutorial, nutritional guide, and recipe collection utilizing the unrefined grains, olive oils, legumes, vegetables, and other items which comprise the DASH/Mediterranean diet. Released 12 Nov 2019 by Rockridge Press, it's 188 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. 

The book has a logical and easy to follow format. The introduction (~12% of the content) introduces the 'diet which isn't a diet', explains some of the benefits of the diet, what it entails, and how to utilize the cookbook.

The introductory chapter is followed by the recipes arranged thematically: breakfasts, snacks & sides, salads & soups, vegetarian, fish & shellfish, poultry & meat, and sweets/sauces/staple ingredients . Each of the recipes includes an introductory description, ingredients listed in a bullet point sidebar (US measurements only, no metric conversions), and step by step instructions. The nutritional info provided is arranged with most major info given (fats, saturated, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, carbohydrates, etc). Almost none of the recipes are photographed, but the ones which are, are photographed well and clearly. Serving suggestions are attractive and appropriate.  The lack of photography subtracts a bit (but not much) from the overall experience for me personally. (I like pictures, but realize and accept that they raise the production costs a lot on a book project).

The recipe ingredients themselves are mostly easily sourced and will be available at well stocked grocery stores along with some ingredients being found in international/Asian markets (tahini, sumac, za'atar, etc). The book does not include an index or ingredients list, but does have a metric conversion table.


It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.  The book also includes a nice (interactive) links and resources list, and short author bio. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This would be a great selection for folks who like to experiment in the kitchen. The emphasis is on fresh wholesome quality ingredients and simple preparation and presentation. Many of the recipes are easy to double up, making it a good choice for meal-preppers with a little extra effort.

Five stars, definitely worth a look.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.