The images are horrifying and hilarious. They depict all manner of culinary atrocities committed, it seems, in the name of healthy eating. I'm talking about the treasure trove of ill-conceived, scary sounding Weight Watchers recipe cards circa 1974 that Wendy McClure stumbled upon in her parent's basement.

From the “fluffy mackerel pudding” to the “liver pate en masque, “which appears to be an angel food cake made of dog food glazed with gravy, the cards take us back to the bad old days of dieting, when fruits and vegetables were imprisoned in molded salads, their cries of indignation muffled by gelatin.

Then there are the “Slender Quenchers,” which McClure describes as “the saddest diet beverages ever.” One consists of skim milk and orange pulp; the other, water, sherry extract, two beef bouillion cubes, served with a stalk of celery. Maybe they help you lose weight by making you throw up.

Thankfully, some thirty years later, we've come a long way, and so has Weight Watchers. I use several Weight Watchers cookbooks regularly; in fact, last night's dinner was an Indian lentil and vegetable curry inspired by a recipe from Weight Watchers' “Versatile Vegetarian.”

Now, I'm not a vegetarian, nor have I ever been a member of Weight Watchers. I just happen to prefer using cookbooks that emphasize healthy cooking. I don't let the title of a book—or the cover, no matter how ugly—stop me from buying a good cookbook. What matters is what's on the pages. If parts of our cookbook collection read more like a medical directory, e.g.,“The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook,” “The Strang Cookbook for Cancer Prevention,” and the John Hopkins Cookbook Library's “Recipes for Weight Loss,“ so be it. Oh, and there's a half dozen books from Prevention as well.

Do those titles sound unappetizing to you? It's all relative. Go back to Wendy McClure's website and take a look at the bean and mushroom salad. It's hard to say what's funnier: the icky recipe, the bizarre props, or McClure's sidesplitting commentary. She had me laughing so hard I may have achieved a state of aerobic convulsing. I must have burned a hundred calories. Thanks, Wendy! Those diet recipes are more effective than you think.