Cooks' Books by Lisa Messinger

"The 10 Things You Need to Eat: And More than 100 Easy and Delicious Ways to Prepare Them" by Dave Lieberman and Anahad O'Connor (William Morrow, $19.99).

If you have a history of overeating, you probably feast on more than 10 foods. However, Dave Lieberman and Anahad O'Connor advise that if you stick to their 10-item list, you'll be well on your way to crushing those cravings and to glowing health.

Lieberman's and O'Connor's grouping is nothing new. We've been told for years that tomatoes, avocados, beets, spinach, quinoa, lentils, cabbage, fish, nuts and berries are our friends when it comes to superb nutrition. However, the imaginative and tasty way they chronicle their subjects is well worth the read.

A chapter is devoted to each star ingredient. Background information and tips are loaded onto the plate, such as studies that show the melatonin in walnuts just may help bring about better sleep and the links between tomatoes and prostate cancer prevention. Co-author O'Connor is a sleuth at ferreting out helpful facts since he's a reporter for the New York Times who writes the "Really?" column in the Science section of the newspaper.

Co-Author Lieberman is equally a revelation in the kitchen. He hosted the Food Network's "Good Deal" and "Eat This," is a contributing editor at Saveur magazine and works as a recipe consultant to private and corporate clients. He peppers the book with spotlights on cooking techniques that make these ingredients spring to life.

His more than 100 recipes are imaginative and unique takes on the ingredients. Yellow beets and apricots emerge as a wonderful curry. "Refried" lentils fill chicken quesadillas smothered in homemade salsa. Meringues can be bland, but his vanilla-, cinnamon-flavored ones are the opposite, and nutritional powerhouses, too, packed with 2 cups of pecan halves.

Many of Lieberman's tour de forces are the dishes where he combines more than one of the featured ingredients, like spinach and walnuts in a linguine and pesto meal, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach in a Mediterranean baked eggs presentation and seared salmon with blackberry sauce and olive oil-braised fennel.

Lieberman and O'Connor stress at the beginning of the book that theirs will be that "intersection of two polar, opposing forces that every American tries to balance — the desire to eat food that tastes great and the desire to eat food that won't kill you." They fulfill that promise many times over by splashing their blander ingredients with "treats," such as the juicy and sweet Italian sausage that mingles with cabbage in a pasta dish, their mouthwatering "Better Burgers" that happen to hide a bit of lentils, and the big kiss of sugar that accompanies their nuts in these standout meringues.

PECAN MINI-MERINGUES

3 egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups pecan halves, roughly chopped

Yields about 15 meringues.

Preheat oven to 200 F.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and salt to soft peaks.

Beat in the sugar 1/4 cup at a time, allowing a minute or so between additions. Once all the sugar has been incorporated, add the vanilla and cinnamon and beat the mixture for about 5 minutes longer, until thick and glossy.

Fold the pecans into the egg white mixture and spoon onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper to form meringues 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the meringues are dry and crisp. Allow to cool fully before serving.

SPINACH LINGUINE WITH SPINACH ARUGULA AND WALNUT PESTO

3 ounces baby arugula

5 ounces fresh spinach, microwave-blanched (see Note)

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1/2 cup walnut halves

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 pound spinach linguine

Yields 6 servings.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, combine 2 ounces of the arugula with the blanched spinach, 1/2 cup olive oil, lemon juice, 1/2 cup parmesan, walnuts, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Add a little water to the mixture if blending is troublesome.

Add a little salt to the boiling water and cook linguine until al dente. Drain and toss with the pesto.

To serve: Divide the pasta among 6 bowls, top each with a small handful of the remaining arugula and use a peeler to shave more parmesan over the top of each portion. Finish with a drizzle of the olive oil.

Note: Stovetop blanching of spinach can result in lost nutrients. Microwave blanching is better, faster and easier. Rinse the spinach to be blanched and shake off as much of the excess water as possible. It shouldn't be completely dry, though, because this remaining moisture will essentially steam the spinach in the microwave.

Place the rinsed spinach in a microwave-safe bowl or container large enough to comfortably hold the amount of spinach at hand. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or a large plate. Zap for 2 to 3 minutes on high power (depending on the quantity of spinach), stirring once in the middle of cooking time. When the spinach has wilted into one soft, wet, bright green lump, it's ready.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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