Book review: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook

September 15, 8:00 AMWeight Loss ExaminerGail Gedan Spencer

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(Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, Rodale, $27.99)

Back in January 2008, Rodale introduced the Flat Belly Diet and the plan took off like a shot, garnering tons of interest.

There's a lot to like about the diet: it's satisfying, there are no weird food combinations or prohibitions, all the meals and snacks have the same number of calories and it's backed by Prevention magazine.

The key component of the diet is making sure you have a monounsaturated fat, or MUFA, at every meal and snack. But there are just so many handfuls of nuts you can toss on a meal. What else can you do? Here's where the new Flat Belly Diet Cookbook comes in. The book features more than 200 breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes that all contain MUFAs and are all around 400 calories per meal (another key to the plan). The book features loads of color photos and the recipes are quick and easy -- not to mention tasty.

Here's an intriguing recipe from the book -- a Mango Surprise Smoothie. The surprise is avocado, which provides the MUFA. I tried this smoothie the other day and it was wonderful:

• 1/4 cup mango cubes
• 1/4 cup mashed ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup mango juice
• 1/4 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt
• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 6 ice cubes

Combine ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and serve. Makes 1 serving.

268 calories, 5 g protein, 53 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 84 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.

Prevention photo