by: Rocco Dispirito

“My goal for this book was to take the foods we love-no matter how bad they are for us-and make them healthy and flavorful, something I really want to eat,” Rocco Dispirito.

Comfort foods are my favorite things to eat and I love to find new ways to make them healthier. Now Eat This! offers great recipes to do just that. There are recipes for mac n’ cheese, onion rings and so much more.

I have owned this cookbook for years and have made quiet a few dishes from it. The recipes and outcomes keep me coming back time and time again, it is a great cookbook to have in your collection.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I have to admit this was not the first time I have made this recipe. The first time I made it was years ago and it has been a go to recipe for me for years.

Before I made this recipe I was a little intimidated by chicken cordon bleu. It always seemed so difficult to make, however, it’s fairly simple to make. This recipe breaks down every step allowing you to have a great result. The most important thing to remember is the filling needs to freeze for 2 hours in an ice tray before you cook the chicken. A few times I have made the filling the night before and just put it in the freezer. Then when I am ready to assemble and cook the next night they are nice and frozen.

The chicken cordon bleu tasted amazing and as always I forgot how many toothpicks I put in to hold everything together. A good tip would be to count, but don’t worry if you forget you will come across them with your fork and knife before you eat them. It’s been a few months since I made the chicken cordon bleu and after we had it for dinner this week, I always question why I am not making it more often.

Strawberry Graham Cracker Tarts

I love desserts especially ones that are quick to make, like these strawberry graham cracker tarts. For this recipe you need 1/2 of a whole vanilla bean and at my normal grocery store they were $20. I decided to shop around a little and found one for under $6 at our local Whole Foods. The recipe has a lot of components but they all come together very quickly.

It took me about 15 minutes from the time I started until I had a finished dessert. I made this as a late afternoon snack and they were delicious. Even though they seem really small when you make them I was only able to eat one. They are just sweet enough and two would have been too many.

Next time I would add a few more strawberries to the top of each one as I prefer to get a piece of strawberry with every bite. The strawberry graham cracker tarts are a great spring/summer treat when fresh strawberries are in season.

Rocco Dispirito created great healthier recipes for comfort food with his cookbook, Now Eat This! I have made a bunch of different recipes from this cookbook and am always discovering new ones I love. Although my favorite recipe is still the chicken cordon bleu.

Have you made any of these recipes? If so what do you love?