Patti Labelle's Lite Cuisine

April 7, 2003
Diagnosed with diabetes, LaBelle, bestselling cookbook writer (LaBelle Cuisine) and Grammy-winning singer, has had to find ways to control her diet and make it healthier; this newest is the inspiring result. All 100 starters, entrees, sides and desserts are low on fat, sodium and sugar—but definitely high on flavor. Orange Roughy with Roasted Tomato and Olive Relish and Marvelous Minted Snap Peas are stylishly lean and contemporary, but LaBelle also cooks up old-fashioned Southern comfort food like Crunchy Cajun Catfish Nuggets, Down-Home Pork Chops in Guilt-Free Gravy and Chocolate Pecan Pie. All dishes include complete nutritional analyses, with diabetic exchanges and carbohydrate choices developed and approved by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association; they also come with "Patti's Pointers" (ideas on technique, equipment and ingredients), along with warm reminiscences of meals with family and friends. LaBelle is wonderful company for someone on a diet regime of any kind (as her friendly family photos further illustrate); she is creative, upbeat, knowledgeable and amusing.

June 1, 2003
What sets off " Patti LaBelle's Lite Cuisine" from other celebrity cookbooks is its careful attention to recipes suitable for anyone living with diabetes. Working with coauthor Laura Randolph Lancaster, LaBelle has turned her own struggles with diabetes into a book full of help and inspirational advice for anyone burdened with the same affliction. To accomplish this, the book records dozens of recipes with reduced fats and sugars. Chicken is skinless and ground turkey stands in for ground beef as appropriate. Sugar substitutes make sweet desserts possible. Every recipe has a full nutritional analysis as well as a listing of diet exchanges for diabetics. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)