Cookbook Review: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis, by Melinda Winner

Did you know that September is Arthritis Awareness Month? That was the theme of my work newsletter this month. Instead of going the traditional route and discussing antioxidants, omega 3, glucosamine and chondroitin, I decided to tackle a more offbeat but equally important question - are there limits to the recommendations we as dietitians can give to our patients with arthritis if their pain and fatigue makes it difficult for them to prepare healthy meals?

I was inspired to answer this question after reading about A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis by Melinda Winner in the Calgary Herald. In the book, Winner, who has been diagnosed with five types of arthritis, shares her tips for coping with chronic pain in the kitchen. The 319-page tome reads much like a regular cookbook, with recipes for hors d’oeuvres, entrées, soups, sauces, baked goods and desserts. The only difference is that at the end of each recipe, there is a note for the “physically challenged”, which points to specific techniques described near the end of the book to make preparing the dish easier. Each of these tips are illustrated by photographs of Winner using them in her own kitchen.


Me trying one of Winner's techniques
Winner’s techniques are mainly geared toward people who have arthritis in their hands, but they can certainly speed up meal preparation for people with sore hips and knees who cannot stand for long periods of time. For example, she suggests maximizing the use of kitchen gadgets like food processors, immersion blenders and standing mixers. The food processor alone can chop and shred vegetables, grate cheese, make breadcrumbs, whisk dressings and sauces and mix dough. To help relieve back and leg pain, she suggests purchasing rubber mats to place in front of the stove and counter, or sitting down for as much of the meal preparation as possible.

For cutting and slicing, Winner often suggests using a fork to stabilize the item to be cut instead of putting pressure on the hands. For those who cannot grasp a fork, she recommends holding a serving fork in the crook of your elbow. She also advises using the forearms to apply pressure on top of the knife to push it through the food being cut. I was surprised to find that a serrated knife was actually more effective than my usual chef’s knife for some of these techniques – probably something to do with where the centre of gravity is on the knife.


While I admire the concept behind this book, I must admit that I was disappointed by it. While the Herald showed a relatively healthy recipe, I struggled to find a healthy recipe that also allowed me to try a lot of the tips; ingredients like butter, sour cream, mayonnaise, bacon, shortening and cheese in all forms feature prominently throughout the book. Even recipes that look healthy at first glance have excessively large portion sizes – one recipe in particular worked out to 1 lb of meat per serving!

I know people generally don't judge a cookbook based on nutrition, but there were other elements that I thought could have been improved as well. There were a few repeat recipes making the cookbook unnecessarily long – many of the recipes use marinades and sauces; the recipe ingredients would indicate “one batch” of a sauce, then the recipe for the sauce would follow. One Apple-Mango Chutney was used in two recipes, and was also featured in the Sauce section of the cookbook, with no references to each other! While it could be argued that it saves people with arthritis from flipping back and forth through the book, that is certainly not the case in the section where Winner shares her tips. Although the book is billed as a “complete illustrated guide”, the photographs only appear at the end of each section, which often describe multiple methods, as opposed to next to the corresponding text. I had to read through some of the tips a few times to understand what I was being asked to do.

Despite its obviously amateur execution, A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis does raise important questions about the counsel that dietitians and other health professionals give to their patients given their conditions and how it affects their ability to follow health advice, as well as other aspects of quality of life. However, I don't see myself recommending this cookbook and hope that someone else out there will step up to the plate and help address some of these concerns.


I ended up trying a recipe that requires quite a bit of chopping, but don't be intimidated by the long ingredient list - it's essentially chicken and vegetables with a marinade/sauce.


It was originally named "Japanese Hot Chicken Stir-Fry", but the recipe includes Sriracha sauce (Thai) and five spice (Chinese), and the dish spends more time being steamed than sautéed, so I thought the name "Spicy Asian Chicken with Vegetables" would be more appropriate. It's a little high in sodium, so if that's a concern for you, swap out the Sriracha sauce for a chili sauce with less sodium, or cut back on the soy sauce and Sriracha, which are the main sources in the recipe. Don't skimp on the five spice, however, it gives the dish a very distinctive aroma, reminiscent of Cantonese BBQ duck.

Spicy Asian Chicken with Vegetables
Adapted from A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis, by Melinda Winner
Makes 6 servings

• 6 tbsp (90 mL) rice vinegar
  
• 6 tbsp (90 mL) Sriracha sauce, or hot chilli sauce
  
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) garlic, minced
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) low-sodium soy sauce
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) fresh ginger, grated
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) five spice
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
  
• 680 g (1½ lb) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, pounded flat and cut into thin strips
  
• 1 medium red pepper, cut into thin strips
  
• 1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1 tomato, diced
  
• ½ head napa cabbage (also called Chinese cabbage or suey choy), roughly chopped
  
• 225 g (½ lb) mushrooms, sliced

1. Prepare marinade/sauce by whisking together rice vinegar, Sriracha sauce, garlic, soy sauce, ginger and five spice. Place chicken in a separate bowl and cover with half of the marinade. Let stand for at least 30 minutes. (I suggest doing this step before prepping the vegetables)
   
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add chicken and sauté until browned.
   
3. Add red and green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Stir well and cover for about three minutes. Add cabbage and mushrooms. Stir well and cover for about three minutes. Stir in the remainder of the marinade/sauce, to taste (Careful, it is spicy!) Serve with rice.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 197 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 65 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre, 5 g sugar), 463 mg sodium. An excellent source of niacin (vitamin B₃), folate (vitamin B₄), vitamin C, phosphorus, potassium and selenium. A good source of vitamin A, riboflavin (vitamin B₂), pantothenic acid (vitamin B₅), vitamin B₁₂, magnesium, zinc and manganese.