Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet

In her columns for The New York Times and in her books (Jane Brody’s Nutrition Book and Jane Brody’s Good Food Book), this sensible writer has tried to set us straight on what we should and shouldn’t eat and why. Having done that, in Jane Brody’s Good Food Gourmet, she now devotes this follow-up to recipes that have passed her test as company fare without violating her precepts about health. Of these, the most important is moderation. The cumulative impression is more responsible than dashing. Brody removes the skin from chicken; substitutes ground turkey, no-fat yogurt, or brown basmati rice for less salubrious ingredients; and allows so very little cooking fat that you need a nonstick skillet to avoid disaster. This isn’t really gourmet fare-unless her penchant for fruited chicken dishes makes it so-but it is good food, palatable and wholesome. B+