Enlightened Chocolate

If you're not a baking expert, straight forward and easy-to-follow recipes are a must. That's why we love Camilla Saulsbury's Enlightened Chocolate: More Than 200 Decadently Light, Lowfat and Inspired Recipes Using Dark Chocolate and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder.

The style of Enlightened Chocolate is different than her other book, The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book, yet every bit as valuable as a resource for baking and cooking with chocolate.

Saulsbury finds unique ways to use heart-healthy unsweetened cocoa powder and antioxidant-rich dark chocolate in baked goods, savory dishes and everything in between.

Thanks to her background in fitness and personal training, Saulsbury tries to make each recipe a healthy way to incorporate chocolate into your diet (she even provides nutrition information on every recipe).

The book is divided into five chapters: Chocolate, Morning to Noon; Chocolate Cookies & Other Petite Treats; Let Them Eat (Chocolate!) Cake; Chocolate Dessert Decadence; and Savory Chocolate. It also includes low-cal and low-fat recipes and a guide to online chocolate and cocoa powder resources.

Though the sweet recipes are all fantastic (we made mouth-watering Strawberry-Cream Cheese Brownies), the savory recipes are particularly interesting.

Saulsbury adds just a hint of cocoa or dark chocolate to recipes like Slow-Cooked Char Siu Pork Roast or Tejas Meatloaf for depth and complexity of flavor.

If you're a chocoholic but would like to find some less fattening ways to keep it in your diet, Enlightened Chocolate is a wonderful choice.

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, skip the obligatory box of chocolate and make the perfect meal for your loved one with Saulsbury's expertise.

$17.21 from Amazon