Willis, Virginia. Lighten up, y’all: Classic Southern Recipes make Healthy and Wholesome. Ten Speed Press. 2015.

SUMMARY:
Having grown up in a kitchen cooking with her grandma, Virginia Willis was inspired to purse a career in cooking. Attending culinary school while also incorporating what she learned from her own family, she cooks and eats for pure enjoyment and happiness. Struggling with her weight, she realized that cooking (especially Southern cooking) needed to return to healthy while keeping the traditional flavors. Not a diet but rather a way of life, Lighten up, y’all takes favorite Southern recipes and makes them lighter, healthier, yet tasty for all.

A PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS:
Loving Southern cooking, I was delighted to find a book which combined taste and health in a gorgeous cookbook. Full of corresponding pictures, nutritional values, personal thoughts and ideas, and useful tidbits and skills (when cutting a large squash-roll the squash back and forth into the knife rather than the knife into the squash-who knew?),  Lighten up, y’all  is a wonderful addition to my growing cookbook collection. Easy, practical and delicious, the recipes include salads, seafood, vegetables (lots), soups and other Southern fare, all “lightened up” in ingredients and methods (baking vs. deep frying). Though based on my own preferences for food, I appreciated (and truly enjoyed) the Sinless Seven-Layer Dip with Squash Chips, the Summer Squash Casserole (made with winter squash now), and the Salmon Patties with Lemon-Caper Sauce. Definitely family-friendly and health-conscious, Lighten up, y’all will become a well-used (and recommended) book in my kitchen.

RATING:
5 (out of 5) pennies

*I received a complimentary copy of Lighten up, y’all from Blogging for Books for my honest review*