The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook (DIRTY, LAZY, KETO)

by Stephanie Laska and William Laska

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook: 100 Easy-Peasy Recipes is the newest cookbook and keto tutorial guide by Stephanie & William Laska. Released 8th June 2021 by Simon & Schuster on their Adams Media imprint, it's 224 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

The introduction covers the basics of the keto lifestyle/diet, including a basic primer on ketosis, macronutrients, tips, ingredients, tools, supplies, how-to, pantry lists and shopping tips, along with an inspiring author background bio. She emphasizes that it's not necessary to spend a ton of money and track every mouthful to be successful at weight loss and maintenance. I found her encouraging and you-can-do-it style of writing engaging and fun. There's a very folksy "vibe" which some readers might find a bit much (but I really liked). There's also a short, concise subchapter on food handling and safety, which was welcome. It should be noted that there is some overlap in the introductory and background sections of this book and the others in the series.

The following chapters include the recipes arranged roughly by category: breakfast, soups & salads, snacks, pizza, side dishes, main dishes, and desserts & drinks. The table of contents lists each recipe along with symbols giving a visual guide to different real-life situations (recipes for "hangry" moments, for picky eaters, lacto-ovo vegetarian-ish dishes, superstar keto dishes etc - quite humorous but also *true*).

Ingredient measurements are supplied in American standard measurements only. There are a very few exceptions such as prepackaged sweeteners which come in 1 gram serving packets, but mostly no. There's a conversion chart for metric measures in the appendices. The prep times, net carbs, servings, and tips and options are listed in well laid out sidebars. The ingredients are listed in a bullet list followed by step by step directions. The author does recommend real-world timesavers like using premade Italian seasoning mixes (the recipes rely heavily on premade (often precooked) ingredients - this is *not* slow cooking from scratch). Allied recipes (included) are referenced in the recipes to save time by using leftovers from one recipe in another recipe. The recipes are drawn from a surprisingly broad number of world cuisines - Asian, southwestern, Tex-Mex, Cajun, European, etc. Most of the recipes have cute names (souper douper chicken soup, miso hungry soup, fickle pickles, and more).

Inspiring real life quotes and thoughts are highlighted in yellow in the text, giving readers an extra little boost. Some readers might find the cheerleading over the top, but I found the author's voice encouraging and friendly.

This really felt like a keto-friendly cookbook for me: I'm short on time/money, impatient with impossible-to-source "weird" ingredients, and cooking for myself and a family of non-keto eaters. I found it impressively easy to follow.

Five stars. I really like (and use) this entire series of cookbooks. One codicil, there are relatively few pictures included in the book. About 25% of the recipes are pictured at a very rough count. The dishes and serving suggestions which are included are attractive and appropriate, however.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.