Cookbook Review: Bob Harper’s Skinny Meals

We love just about everything about Bob Harper. We love his workouts, his sense of humor, his blue eyes, his honesty … his everything! But can the man cook? Let’s find out with a review of his new cookbook … Skinny Meals: Everything You Need to Lose Weight—Fast!

Based off of his other book The Skinny Rules, this is pretty much the eat-this companion cookbook. It helps if you’ve read The Skinny Rules before, but in case you haven’t, there’s a condensed version of the 20 rules (eat your veggies, watch portion sizes, swap sweet potatoes for white, etc.) at the beginning of Skinny Meals. That’s followed up with tips to clean out and stock your pantry and fridge with the healthy essentials.
And then the real fun starts: the recipes! Skinny Meals has 100 recipes divided up into easy-to-find-what-you’re-looking-for chapters like Power Breakfasts (Skinny Rule no. 1 is to eat breakfast! Wonder what he thinks of our love of second breakfast … ), Lean Lunches, Thinner Dinners (side note: we’re such a sucker for alliteration and rhyming) and Happy Snacking.
All of his meals and snacks are balanced with a good amount of protein, fiber and healthy fat plus lots of fruits and veggies. There are smoothies, soups, lettuce wraps, salads, fish, tacos, baked potatoes — and they all have nutritional info. The recipes themselves are pretty easy and quick to make. None of them are too complicated or require special ingredients. Most likely you’ve heard of everything in them, making this a good book for beginners in the kitchen. And the directions are short and to the point. No barrier to entry here!
I made Bob’s Dressy Lettuce Wraps, and they were good. They weren’t the most delicious lettuce wraps I’ve ever had in my life or anything, but they were filling, had tons of veggies and protein, and the sauce on them was tasty (a mix of fresh mint, OJ, agave and rice wine vinegar). I also tried his Sweet Potato Baked Eggs and was pleasantly surprised. It was a super simple recipe, but one that had good flavor and a nice mix of sweet and savory to it. And although I haven’t made his recipe for Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce (zoodles!) yet, it looks fantastic and is the next to-do on my healthy cooking list.
Some of the other recipes in Skinny Meals are basic. Like, really, really basic. “Apple with Almond Butter” is actually listed. Granted, Bob even calls out that it’s pretty ridic to have a recipe for it, but he also states a pretty good point: sometimes it’s good to state the obvious. And it’s true. Sometimes we forget basic snack ideas! Another interesting tidbit about these recipes is that they all serve one. So, if you’re wanting leftovers or aren’t dining solo, you’ll need to double, triple, etc. the recipe.
The book ends with a detailed four-week meal plan, with weekly shopping lists and do-ahead details and checklists. We’re never one for regimented meal plans, but if you’re someone who wants to streamline healthy eating meal prep and planning, it could be a good option and Skinny Meals certainly makes it easy!
The fit bottomed line? Bob may not be a chef, but boyfriend knows how to put a healthy meal together that anyone can make!
Have you tried any recipes from Skinny Meals? Which was your fave? —Jenn