Lasagne, 469 kcal · was 648

The cookbook series that admits it changed the recipe

Less authentic.
More protein.

The classics you already cook, with the calories cut and the protein kept, and exactly what each change cost you printed beside it. Every number traced to a public database. Every dish that could not be saved, named.

Browse every dish Start with the swap kit

Where the biggest savings are

All 925 dishes

One from each book, the dish that gave up the most without falling apart.

Celeri Remoulade, lightened. 96 kcal a serving.-82%

Celeri Remoulade

Now
96 kcal
Was
532 kcal
Protein
7 g

20 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling · serves 4 · French

Lemon Icebox Pie, lightened. 155 kcal a serving.-77%

Lemon Icebox Pie

Now
155 kcal
Was
676 kcal
Protein
6 g

5 hours (25 minutes active, 4+ to chill) · serves 8 · Southern

Squash Casserole, lightened. 112 kcal a serving.-76%

Squash Casserole

Now
112 kcal
Was
468 kcal
Protein
8 g

1 hour 10 minutes · serves 6 · Soul Food

Baked Yoghurt Flan (which is not panna cotta), lightened. 102 kcal a serving.-75%

Baked Yoghurt Flan (which is not panna cotta)

Now
102 kcal
Was
412 kcal
Protein
10 g

45 minutes plus chilling · serves 6 · Italian

Taramosalata, lightened. 154 kcal a serving.-75%

Taramosalata

Now
154 kcal
Was
609 kcal
Protein
21 g

20 minutes · serves 6 · Greek

Pimientos de Padron, lightened. 33 kcal a serving.-74%

Pimientos de Padron

Now
33 kcal
Was
126 kcal
Protein
1 g

15 minutes · serves 4 · Spanish

Three things this series does that the others don't

Every number is traced

No estimated calories. Every figure is computed from the ingredient list against USDA FoodData Central and McCance & Widdowson, and the appendix prints the exact database row used for each ingredient.

Every swap has a price

Cutting the guanciale in a carbonara costs you crisp salty bits, and the book says so in the same breath as the swap. A change sold as free is a change you'll resent by the third time you cook it.

Some dishes don't survive

Every book has a chapter of dishes that can't be lightened without ruining them, named plainly. Cacio e pepe is two ingredients and both are the calories. Make the real one.

Who's writing this

Danny Vale cooked for the best part of 20 years. First as a civilian cook feeding a forces base, three meals a day for a full hall. Then for fighters making weight, where a dietitian set the numbers and he made the food.

Cook for people on a number long enough and you learn precisely which part of a recipe is the flavour and which part is fat that got there out of habit. That is the whole idea behind these books.

He is not a celebrity, he is not your nonna, and the books don't pretend otherwise. More about Danny.