If you're into grilling, Bobby Flay's Grilling For Life.
Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Get Real Meals.
Neither is "perfect" but both have tons of recipes that minimize the crap, yet still work in ingredients that "normal" people would eat.
Neither is low carb, per se, but both have a lot of low and lower carb dishes, healthy fats, lean proteins, and good tasting food. Rachel Rays, in particular, has dishes that seem pretty normal, yet minimize the rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. without totally ditching it.
Both are at least worth a browse at the bookstore.
I rely mostly on the Cooking Light annual cookbooks. I often have to tweak the recipes to bring them into compliance with my nutrition plan, but that's usually not difficult and they've got some really good stuff.
__________________ "May you live every day of your life." - Jonathan Swift
I haven't read Cooking Light for quite a while. My recollection was that it was fairly militant low fat. Is that still the case?
I can't speak to what the articles recommend, I look only at the recipes. They do tend to focus on low-fat food, although it seems that they are publishing more recipes that approach and even exceed 33% fat.
That doesn't bother me too much since I work to balance the different fats in my diet by eating plenty of almonds and walnuts, and, I also consume 6 1200mg fish oil capsules daily. In addition, I often use higher fat versions of some of the ingredients. As a result, I seldom miss my fat intake goals - either total fat or the mono-/ poly-/ saturated fat split.
__________________ "May you live every day of your life." - Jonathan Swift
Cooking Light has changed A TON over the years. It's still mostly mainstream healthy foods, which is good for the average person. Whole grains, healthy fats, etc.
They've also slowed down on their old obsession with converting bad desserts to less bad desserts. Desserts are bad, plain and simple. If you're going to have one, fit it in and eat a good one (er, bad one). If it can easily be converted to less-bad and still be delicious (i.e., as good and familiar as the traditional one), then I'll take the changes.
If you stear clear of their one-dish meals (casseroles, etc.) then you can almost always find plenty of dishes that can fit your eating style. Good veggie recipes and good meat dishes. Mix and match. Good stuff.
Just use your head and leave out/swap out the stuff you don't like. It's not hard, and their stuff is almost always tasty.
She always has tasty recipes. Her cookbooks Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen and Getting Thin and Loving Food are pretty good. There have been very few recipes of her's that I have tried and didn't like (Roasted Fennel was one that was not enjoyed, but her pork fajita salad recipe is outstanding!)
__________________ It all starts with the mind, but the thoughts, the intention aren't enough. Action needs to come next. Dream it, believe it, plan it, execute it, celebrate it. - Wendy