The Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook: A Mediterranean Cookbook with 101 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes Paperback – March 1, 2014

Colorful. Good easy recipes

When I watch competitive cooking shows on TV, I am fascinated by the magic the chefs can work. Their dishes look like bold works of 23rd century architecture, and the flavors practically jump off the screen. I think about my own infantile cooking skills and get depressed. Even if I had skills, all the prep and cleanup involved in those fantastic creations would just be too exhausting.But what’s the alternative? Heavily processed Hungry Man dinners? Botched experiments eaten ruefully? No! This is where The Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook comes to the rescue.Chapter One sets up the slow cooker as more of a subculture than a way of cooking food. It extolls the virtues of the long cook – the everything-in, set-and-forget method of making dinner before leaving the house for work. As a homebrewer, I can’t overstate how appealing this idea is for me. I love getting time on my side, and I love flavors battling and intermingling in unexpected ways. I imagine a lot of busy professionals looking to have a healthy dinner ready immediately after a long day would love these things too.Chapter Two gives some background on the Mediterranean diet and the flavor profiles of the different countries and regions. This is helpful for choosing what ingredients to stock, and what recipes to pursue.The recipes are clear and easy to follow. I do imagine there would be an adjustment period to get the timings and preparations down. However, I see the Mediterranean Slow Cook life becoming a healthful, flavorful, olive-oiled machine once one gets it down.Disclosure: I received this book at no charge.

I love slow cookers but often the recipes are not particularly healthy. These recipes are as easy as normal, still allow freedom to do other things while food prepares. But they are more varied than previous such cookbooks and many are adjusted to make them healthier

First I will say that I have not made a single recipe that's in this book.I'd been hearing about how healthful the Mediterranean diet is, so I thought I'd check it out. Because I like slow cooker recipes, I ordered this book. I'm also keenly interested in healthful eating.Upon receiving this cookbook the first thing I noticed was that there are no Nutritional Facts for the recipes. So if you're interested in calorie counting or watching your carbs, this book is of no use. (Unless you want to weigh, measure, and calculate all of it out yourself for each recipe you make.) Since I do watch my calories and carbs, this book will probably get little if any use.Second, I was surprised to see meat and other ingredients in these recipes that do not strike me as "Mediterranean." Italian sausage? Beef roasts? Chicken Thighs? And recipes for chili? Several recipes call for alcohol, so if you're one who doesn't imbibe (as I am) that is another disappointment. From what I've learned of the Mediterranean diet, fatty red meats are seldom used and alcohol is consumed only sparingly.I suppose that most cooks in the Mediterranean region don't really use a slow cooker, so perhaps that's the reason for the variations in ingredients--to make them more suitable for a slow cooker. And I'm not doubting that the recipes are delicious based on what other reviewers have said. But while most of the recipes here do look like they're Mediterranean, several look more like American cooking with a little Mediterranean flair thrown in for show. They certainly do not look healthful!Overall, I was very disappointed in the contents of this book and will probably never use it. If you're just beginning to take note of the Mediterranean diet for its health aspects, do NOT begin with this book! Very disappointing for someone wanting a more healthful diet.

I am a total foodie who is always in search of new dishes or recipes that I haven't tried earlier. I was recently gifted this cookbook on my birthday and totally loved it! I started trying recipes from the very next day and by the end of the week I ended up calling my friend who gifted it and his family to dinner that consisted of dishes from the book. It was my way of thanking him for this thoughtful gift.I own many cookbooks myself but there are quite a few reasons why I absolutely loved this book: It’s not just a collection of recipes. It starts off by delving into the beauty of Mediterranean cooking and outlines the various benefits of slow cooking accompanied by many tips and tricks which are extremely helpful to busy individuals. Also the book describes several flavor profiles within Mediterranean cuisine based on geography. I had tried a few Mediterranean recipes earlier but this book provided me with so much knowledge about the cuisine and the core ingredients that I can now call myself an expert in this area.The book comprises of many chapters classified by the type of core ingredients like vegetables, seafood, poultry, meat etc that make for easy accessibility. There is also a chapter on delectable desserts that I could just not get enough of!!However, I would have preferred it if the recipes were accompanied by some pictures. But apart from that, I absolutely love this book and would recommend it to anyone out there interested in Mediterranean cuisine.