Easy-breezy Healthful Eating in So Easy, So Good Cookbook

A Master of Science and Registered Dietician, Kylie Sakaida brings an easy-breezy healthful eating approach to her cookbook, So Easy, So Good

Three Squares Equals Family-Friendly Fare

I would expect a cookbook written by a Master of Science and a Registered Dietician to bring a nutrition-first approach to cooking and indeed, that is what Kylie Sakaida achieves with So Easy, So Good. A digital native, Sakaida balances simple advice about eating (turn off the TV and really focus on your food, or, have a plan for grocery shopping) with recipes that require more than dumping things out of a can.

Sakaida devotes the opening pages of So Easy, So Good to how she figured out her approach to nutrition, balancing her Hawai’ian upbringing and cooking approach with the mores of modern nutrition. The result is an open-hearted cookbook that brings together Asian flavors with the melting pot of flavors that make American food so colorful and interesting. If you want to eat white rice with dinner, she’s not going to say “no.”

Recipes I Made

To cook from So Easy, So Good required little of me, other than purchasing fresh vegetables and proteins. Sakaida’s recipes call for ingredients I have in my fridge or cabinet – chia, garlic-chile sauce, coconut milk, matcha, cacao nibs, maple syrup – for building flavor. Her approach to cooking felt quite similar to mine. I plan a week’s worth of meals for my family on Saturday, for example, then shop at the farmers’ market and the grocery store. My family incorporates Asian flavors into most week’s meals.

The first recipe I tried, Spicy Spaghetti & Turkey Meat Sauce (p. 131) asked for zucchini. Ok, I thought, great! She’s adding more vegetables to a meat-based dish. But zucchini is out of season in early March, right? Wrong. I found a stand at my local farmers’ market with a box of green goodness, the season’s first. Thickened with tomato paste and gochujang, spicy Korean chile paste, the recipe was a winner. It satisfied everyone’s protein needs and, with a salad on the side, offered two servings of vegetables in a single meal.

Chicken Satay Bowls with Peanut Sauce (p. 163) was also a winner, the marinade infusing the chicken with rich flavor, the peanut sauce a hearty addition to the adults’ plates (my kids skipped the sauce). I wondered, though: Why not sear the chicken in cast iron instead of baking it? It would boost the iron and add a nice char to the meat. It would mean swapping out an easy clean-up parchment-lined baking sheet with cleaning a pan. Is that a bridge too for most cooks? Perhaps, but I’ll plan to sear in cast iron next time.

I edited Cilantro Lime Tofu Cabbage Slaw with Peanuts (p. 116) to sear the tofu instead of serving it uncooked as Sakaida suggested. I thought the tofu-eaters in my house would prefer this edit. Alas, this one was met with groans. The adults liked it, though.

Asparagus is just coming into season, so I prepped it with halibut for the Miso Salmon with Asparagus (p. 204). Miso-crusted fish is always a hit in my house and this was no exception – the glaze is great. Next time, I’ll finish the dish by searing them under the broiler for a minute.

Who Would Like This Cookbook

While I did not make any of the breakfast, snacks or anything from the Lightening Lunches chapter, Sakaida offers nutritious solutions for every meal of the day. Though I bookmarked Tofu Scramble (p. 69) and Matcha Chia Parfaits (p. 87), many of her breakfast menus rely on eggs. This is not unusual but notable for a nutritionist – Sakaida is not afraid to put affordable proteins on the table. There is a whole chapter on building bowls which can work for dinner or leftover lunch the next day – but no eggs at dinner, sadly. Family cooks might appreciate the Freeze It! chapter, which encourages readers to prep ahead of time, then take the day’s dinner out of the freezer the morning you wish to finish cooking.

And here lies the heart of Sakaida’s cookbook: The dishes are approachable and easy. The proteins are designed for quick cooking (many dishes call for purchased rotisserie chicken). Shortcuts are taken to make cleanup easier. The flavors are there and a few tweaks by the cook can make them just that much better.

making spicy turkey meat sauce for pasta

I was provided a preview copy of So Easy, So Good.