Canyon Ranch Cooking : Bringing the Spa Home

The two Canyon Ranch spas are rated No.1 and No.2 (they alternate positions) over and over by readers of the Conde Nast Traveler. Part of the allure are their stunning locations — in the hills of Tucson, Arisona, and in the Berkshire mountains in Massachusetts — but one of the best parts of a visit to Canyon Ranch is the food.Jeanne Jones developed and supervised the Canyon Ranch menu, and in Canyon Ranch Cooking, she offers everyone a chance to eat the spas’ low-cal, low-fat delicious food.

List Price: $ 42.00

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Cary Gordon

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

A beautifully designed cookbook with really tasty recipes., June 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: CANYON RANCH CKNG (Hardcover)

I know people who go to spas, and they have mixed reactions about the food at Canyon Ranch. Some say that they starve to death because the portions are so small, and others claim that the entire eating experience is out of this world. Although I’ve not been to Canyon Ranch, I must say that this cookbook inspires me to think seriously about it.
First of all the layout is truly a graphic masterpiece. The photographs and information are laid out in a very logical, colorful and exciting way. The visuals make you want to rush out to the store and start cooking as soon as you open the book.

This book truly offers healthy food with real taste. The top choice for menus that we’ve tried in our house were: the duck breasts with blueberry sauce, spaeztle (German noodles) and braised cabbage. Dessert was blackberry cobbler.

Preparation is clearly spelled out, and fairly easy in comparison to other gourmet type recipes in the cookbook market presently. I managed to successfully prepare this menu for 8-10 people, and without any rehearsals!

The duck breasts were amazingly delicious (and very expensive to make – but with a little creativity, you could avoid the additional costs meat-wise), the spaetzle was weird in texture and taste but quite good and a hit — beats the usual rice tenfold! — and the cabbage was a great surprise and the tastiest favorite of all the various foods offered (guests were looking for seconds and thirds). The blackberry cobbler (which could be done with any kind of berry) was light, not too rich, and a huge hit. It has replaced my usual calorie and fat laiden recipes for fast desserts and it impressive to look at as the grande finale!

This menu worked well with the ten and twelve year old taste testers. One hated the blueberry sauce over the duck and the other loved it. However, they heartily ate everything else (especially the cabbage and cobbler!).

Making multiple courses (for 8-10 people)was not a problem for this menu, as the multiplications of the ingredie! nts added up without any problems. If you have a hefty appetite, be certain to make more than you planned to. The final servings are on the small side for such a lengthy prep time. (I believe in leftovers after working in the kitchen for so long!)

The recipes take some time to plan for (many call for elaborate marinades which add the flavor sans fat), and most definitely are not “comfort” foods, although it is a great book to browse while sitting in front of the fireplace as the recipes are perfect for the hot summer ahead!

Note: This cookbook is a 10 except for the convenience of preparation and overall cost of ingredients which caused me to lower my review to a 9.

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Lisa Linnell-Olsen

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Way beyond my expectations, January 22, 2003

By

Cary Gordon (Los Angeles, CA USA) –

This review is from: CANYON RANCH CKNG (Hardcover)

I like to cook for friends, and I don’t mind accommodating their dietary needs. In fact, I consider it a challenge. In that light, the words “low fat” struck fear into my heart.
I bought this book with the expectation that the food would at least look good. I didn;t expect that it would rock my gastronomical world.

From our first nibble of Canyon Ranch Guacamole to our last morsel of Pears in Phyllo (filo to me) the tastes were amazing.

I made:
Canyon Ranch Guacamole
Five Onion Bisque
Hearts of Palm and Endive Salad with Papaya Vinagarette
Mashed Potato and Shallot Casserole
Mustard Topped Rack of Lamb with Spinach Salad
Pears in Phyllo

Granted that this might be a bit more, quantity-wise, than would be expected at the Spa, but it was low fat and it left the diners, myself included, in thrall.

It also helped that I started with a show-stopper, the guacamole. It had a rich somewhat salty flavor – a good trick with little salt and negligible fat. Here is the spoiler: It is made from asparagus! Nobody could figure it out.

The book is no-nonsense and, while stating the benefits of a low fat diet, it doesn’t preach. It also assumes a pretty good level of technique and access to decent ingredients.

One low fat cooking caveat: Ignore instructions that tell you to spray no-fat cooking spray on baking sheets. Use non-stick sheets or parchment paper. If you really need the spray, spray it on the parchment paper. It took an exhauystin half hour to get this stuff off of my baking sheets.

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Anonymous

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

Fabulous, delicious, April 23, 2004

By

Lisa Linnell-Olsen (Fairbanks, AK) –

Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: CANYON RANCH CKNG (Hardcover)

I have thoroughly enjoyed every recipe I have tried from this beautiful book, and I have tried several.
The baked fish and chips impressed some of my non-healthy eating guests so much they wanted the recipe and plan to never deep fry again. The price may seem high, but was worth it for some of the unusual techniques alone. I never thought of smoking food with tea inside of a steamer basket.
There are two reasons I did not give the book 5 stars. One, because I do not like the hardback format – this is a cookbook to be used, not some pretty picture book to lay on the coffee table. Secondly, the book has margarine listed as an ingredient listed in several recipes. The latter is a very small complaint that is actually addressed by the author in the introduction, apparently Canyon Ranch switched away from margarine while the book went to press, and the introduction lists proper substitutions. Maybe both will be corrected if there is to be a second edition.
I highly recommend this healthy eating cookbook – for its delicious foods, beautiful photos and layout, unusual techniques, and proper nutritional analysis with each recipe.

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