About Us
Who We Are
Cooking Light makes healthy eating effortless. Our recipes are nutritionist-approved, easy to make, and delicious to eat. We celebrate healthy home cooking — with a side of expert advice to support nutrition and wellness. Our mission is to inspire readers to cook feel-good food.
Our kitchen-tested recipes are fresh, easy-to-follow, and cover all the bases. So whether you’re looking for weeknight recipes or need a game plan for the perfect party, Cooking Light provides the tools for cooks of all levels to feel confident in creating great tasting, healthy meals, along with a variety of tips and advice for a more balanced diet.
Our History
Cooking Light was founded in 1987 to take the grunt work out of home cooking and help people put healthier meals on their tables. The debut issue featured lighter versions of favorite American desserts like strawberry cream pie and classic apple pie.
Hundreds of glossy magazine issues and volumes of cookbooks later, Cooking Light is a multi-generational mainstay on the kitchen shelves and countertops of home cooks everywhere.
Recipe Development & Testing
Each Cooking Light recipe is tested by our staff of test kitchens professionals and registered dietitians to meet stringent nutritional requirements and high flavor standards.
Nutrition Guidelines
Cooking Light is a trusted source of not only reliable nutrition information, but also delicious ways to put that information into practice in the kitchen. We want people to enjoy a variety of wholesome, nutritious foods that promote health, satiety, and deliciousness.
Our dietary standards emphasize fiber-rich whole-grains over refined starches, oil-based fats more than saturated, and promote a balanced diet low in processed foods and added sugars. Not only do we focus on quality ingredients, but each of our recipes adhere to a rigorous set of nutrition guidelines that govern calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar based on various recipe categories.
Awards & Press
Cooking Light is proud to hold multiple James Beard Foundation Awards for its magazine journalism. We have also received several International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) awards, as well as been a finalist in the 2016 American Society of Magazine Editors Awards (ASME).
Meet the Team
April Walloga
Digital Content Director
April is a wellness editor who’s led food and lifestyle editorial at publications such as Business Insider and Gotham magazine. She’s passionate about making health and wellness content that’s inclusive to all people and all body types.
April has spent 14 years working in both print and digital journalism. In 2015, she was the founding editor- in -chief of Revelist.com, a Webby-nominated digital lifestyle publication for millennial women. Prior to joining Cooking Light, she served as content director for a luxury supplement brand, working closely with a medical review board of MDs and naturopathic doctors.
At Cooking Light, she oversees digital editorial and operations.
Anne Chappell Cain
Senior Content Manager
Anne is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who helped create 25+ cookbooks across her more than two decades-long career at Time Inc.
Cain received her undergraduate degree from Auburn University and master’s degree in both clinical nutrition and public health nutrition from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a member of the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics, the Alabama Dietetic Association, and the Birmingham chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International.
For three years, she was the director of communications for the Southeast Dairy Association. She was also the editor of Successful Living with Diabetes magazine and, in 2007, was named senior editor of Myrecipes.com.
At Cooking Light, she produces our newsstand special edition issues, crafting keepsake magazines full of nutritious recipes for every season.
Leah Scalzadonna
Associate Editor
Prior to joining Cooking Light in 2021, Leah was an associate editor at Food Network, where she managed recipe processing and wrote articles pertaining to recipes, commerce, and food news.
She earned a B.A. in journalism from Seton Hall University and received a publishing certificate from the post-graduate Columbia Publishing Course at Columbia University.
About Dotdash Meredith
Dotdash Meredith, an operating business of IAC, is the largest digital and print publisher in America. From mobile to magazines, nearly 200 million people trust us to help them make decisions, take action, and find inspiration. Dotdash Meredith's over 50 iconic brands include PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens, Verywell, FOOD & WINE, The Spruce, Allrecipes, Byrdie, REAL SIMPLE, Investopedia, Southern Living, and more.
Contact Us
Have something you’d like to let us know? Whether you have a comment on a recipe or an idea to share, we welcome your feedback at contact@cookinglight.com.
Our Archive
We regularly review the quality of our library and periodically remove from our site articles and recipes that no longer conform to our current editorial standards.
Work With Us
Job openings regularly become available. Join our team of top-notch editors, designers, photographers, and others. View job openings.
Write For Us
We’re always looking for new writers and recipe developers to join our team of digital contributors. We’re currently accepting pitches for recipes, health and nutrition articles, and features on the connection between food and wellness.
Please submit pitches or inquire about potential assignments by sharing a short bio and relevant experience and clips in an email to contact@cookinglight.com.