BloggerMag V2

While there's no shortage of recipe-related downloads at the App Store, Cooking Light's first app, The Cooking Light Quick and Healthy Menu Maker -- the No. 1 app in the Lifestyle category -- serves up a handful of well-organized and visually delicious dishes for the health-conscious individual.

The app ($3.99) houses more than 300 handpicked recipes -- divided into entrees, sides and desserts -- that you can flip through with your fingertip. If you'd like to drill down deeper, you can also select different kinds of food. Under sides, for example, you can select beans & grains, bread, pasta, potatoes, salad or vegetables. Entrees are divided into beef & lamb, poultry, pork, fish, pasta or vegetarian.

Swiping up and down changes categories (e.g., chicken, fish), while swiping left and right changes dishes within the same category.

If you see something you like based on its high-resolution photo -- such as black bean soup, apricot lamb chops, mushroom pizza with bacon or chili con carne -- tap the "see recipe" tab for a list of ingredients and cooking instructions. Nutritional information is also provided, including calories, sodium and saturated fat per serving (which are also color-coded for a quick reference).

Unlike most other recipe collections for iPad, you can also tap the "suggested menu" tab for a complete healthy meal recommendation (with recipes bundled in this app). For example, if you like Asian lettuce cups, the Cooking Lighteditors might suggest brown rice with sesame and steamed sugar snap peas as sides and baked apples with chai syrup for dessert.

If there's a recipe you want to try (or one you've tried and liked), you can tap the "save" icon to flag it as a favorite. Or can you share recipes via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter — but there's no wireless printing option, nor can you make notes on a recipe as you can with many other apps.

Another issue: You can't change the number of people you're cooking for (say, from four servings to six) and have the app recalculate the ingredient measurements for you. This would be helpful.

One other beef is that you'll often find a blank white page when you flip left and right through dishes. The small word "advertisement" is at the bottom of the page, so presumably this spot will eventually be populated.

Shortcomings aside, Cooking Light is a great-looking app with healthy recipes for all kinds of taste buds. Nutritional information is handy, and the mealmaker option is a clever addition for those who need some suggestions. Plus, there are a few tips included off the app's main page. Example: To get the most out of tofu, press it between paper towels to remove excess water; a firmer curd absorbs flavors better during the cooking process without falling apart.

Also available for iPhone and iPod Touch, this Cooking Lightapp proves to be a tasty kitchen companion