Sisters' latest cookbook full of healthy recipes

A light-hearted approach to a heavy subject is behind "Eat, Shrink & Be Merry," a new cookbook by Canadian sisters Janet and Greta Podleski.
"We don't teach people how to diet, we teach them how to eat," said Greta Podleski from her office in Kitchener, Ontario, an hour west of Toronto.
The colorful cookbook (Granet Publishing) is a combination of healthy recipes, cartoons and lots of nutrition information sprinkled throughout, great for this time of year with the abundance of New Year's resolutions.
"You almost get sucked in to reading every word. People say they end up reading it like a novel," Podleski said.
This is the third cookbook for the sisters, who use puns for nearly everything. "Beyond Beleaf" is the name of the chapter for salads. "In Cod We Trust" is a recipe featuring cod with a coating of Special K cereal and various seasonings.
"I think we dream in puns," Podleski said, laughing. "We're very friendly and not preachy."
The result is a growing number of e-mails about the cookbooks being life-changing.
"We hear from people who say they didn't really know where to start or where to turn. A woman wrote that her husband had a heart attack and his doctor recommended our cookbook. Others say they or their spouse lost 50 pounds," she said.
All this is done in a very underhanded manner.
"Husbands will ask their wives to make that three-cheese lasagna, not because they think it is healthy but because it tastes good. People like our recipes because of the flavor, and the nutrition is almost a bonus," she said.
This cookbook contains many favorites, such as chicken pot pie, but without all the fat and carbs and a lot more fiber. None of the recipes call for hard-to-find ingredients.
The sisters have a television program on Canada's food network and are often making recipes and having people try them on camera. In one episode, they had a blind taste test of honey garlic barbecue wings with blue cheese dipping sauce from a wing joint famous for its "high-fat, gut-busting" food. They duplicated the wings and dipping sauce, then asked 20 people to sample.
"Our dish won, 19 to 1," Podleski said.
"We teach people how to use spices and ingredients creatively," she said. "Strict dieting only will backfire in the long run. That's why we picked recipes like lasagna and cheesecake and put a healthy spin on them."
Below are a couple of recipes from "Eat, Shrink & Be Merry."