2024 the best simple recipes review

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(as of Oct 21, 2024 00:29:13 UTC - Details)

The Best Simple Recipes offers more than 200 full-flavored easy-to-prepare recipes that can be on the table in 30 minutes or less in an easy-to-read paperback format.

Just because time is short, it doesn't mean you have to settle for a can of soup or a sandwich for dinner, or making one of the many boring and flavorless fast recipes (which often aren't even as fast as they promise). Our test cooks have created more than 200 recipes that keep the ingredients and cooking time to a minimum and offer tons of flavor and plenty of variety.

By combining steps, minimizing pans, and employing a little test kitchen trickery, our test cooks have made naturally fast recipes even faster, and they've made recipes that traditionally take hours ready for the table in half an hour. And while they used a minimum of ingredients, one thing they didn't minimize was flavor.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ America's Test Kitchen; First Edition (March 1, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1933615591
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1933615592
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.44 x 0.88 x 9.14 inches
Reviewer: Margie D.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very easy, quick and delicious recipes
Review: I have had this book for a couple of months now.What I like about this cookbook is that the recipes are easy and fast to make.For someone who isn’t the fastest cook, the recipes are really under 30 minutes prep time.The food has been very tasty as well

Reviewer: Michelle B.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I Love this cookbook!!
Review: A wide variety of easy recipes that are quick to make and delicious! Each recipe has helpful tips and tricks that make cooking fun and, as the title says, Simple! Even picky eaters will find recipes they enjoy and there are no hard to find ingredients!

Reviewer: GravityGear
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The recipe are always fantastical, but definitely take more than 30 minutes
Review: ATK always has fantastic recipes, and these are no exception. This our second ATK book. HOWEVER, make sure to attend to the part where it says COOKS in 30 minutes or less. That does not count prep time. Most recipes take 45+ minutes.

Reviewer: Jackie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: It seems okay
Review: This book seems like an overall good cookbook. It’s The first one I’ve bought so far and so I wanted something simple but solid. However, although I think most people would enjoy the recipes here, it’s not the type of food I was hoping for.It has lots of text and some small demos as well as recommendations for products and dedicated pages for learning how to go about Serrano things like broth or useful things to know about steakIt’s also not a start-from-scratch sort of cookbook. The ones I’ve looked at so far (I just got it 5 min ago so take what I say with a grain of salt) have things like rotisserie chicken witch is the go-to for a fast chicken soup and precooked rice that you get in those small bags at the store.Anyway, I will still be trying some of the recipes and I’m sure they’ll turn out just fine :)Update: I don’t find myself using this book very often as I feel some of the recipes lack seasoning's and are a bit too experimental rather than a classic meal you can feel confident that you’ll enjoy. It’s just not a good book for beginners who are looking for something simple and classic. But if you want to try something new that’s outside of the normal food combinations you usually eat, then I think this book is fine.

Reviewer: Daryn Oliver
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great recipes
Review: This is about my 8th ATK cookbook. So far, I've tried 2 recipes from this book and both were yummy. I love to cook, but sometimes I just don't have the energy to prep and cook something elaborate. Each recipe are simple and easy to follow, with very minimal prep time.

Reviewer: karen hennessy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very good quickie meals
Review: Very nice complete recipe ideas

Reviewer: Mbrobb
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Some Great Recipes...Not 30 Minutes
Review: This is a cook book I'd love to love. As an avid and adventuresome home cook, I'm a great fan of the Cook's Illustrated series. I'm a good cook, but, yes, I use recipes. And I cook for my family every night after work. So when a book claiming "simple" and "30 minutes" came out for ATK, I grabbed it up. I've had the book for about 10 months and made about 8 of the recipes, some multiple times. Here's my take.First, none of these recipes is easy to do in 30 minutes or less. And if you try for the 30 minutes, it's a nerve wracking, intense process. This isn't a Rachel Ray approach, or Gold's Three Ingredients approach. A lot of ingredients, multiple cooking techniques and lots of dirty dishes to clean.So far, I put the recipes into three categories: 1) the surprisingly delicious (e.g., the salmon cakes and the modern twist on the ruben sandwich and bistro slaw; 2) the surprisingly tasteless (penne with tomato vodka sauce); and 3) the tasty, but at a price (what chicken casserole wouldn't taste good with a whole package of Boursin cheese in the mix??)I'm hoping as I work my way through the book that more fall into category 1 than categories 2 or 3. I'll update this review as time goes on. If the book were not billed as simple and 30 minutes, I might have given it 4 stars. We'll see as I get through more of the recipes if they are worth it, even at more than 30 minutes and not so simple.UPDATE: I want to comment on a great and not-so-great recipe. The Oven Grilled Rueben sandwich and the suggested bistro slaw were spectacular. What made them so great was not that they made a traditional Ruben in 30 minutes or less, but that the authors rethought the whole sandwich, changing up the sourkraut and the dressing into homemade varieties. Very easy and so flavorful both adults and kids loved it. (And you dont' have to use the recommended 4 oz of corned beef per sandwich; enough other ingredients are on the sandwich already.) The Bistro slaw, composed of thinly sliced fennel and apple was something you'd find in a high end cafe.On the other hand, we made the Skillet Pastisio last week. It was pasta, lamb, cream and feta. My kids liked it a lot but I thought it was very so-so. Flavors muted. If the kids didn't like it, I wouldn't make it again.And this is the problem, I'm finding, with many of the recipes. They are lack brightness. Fresh, sometimes expensive ingredients are put together with uninspiring results. Other recipes, like the Rueben and the Southwest Salmon Cakes are inventive, fresh, very flavorful and worth the investment of time and money.UPDATE 2: We ventured out: for Meatless Monday we made the Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce. This meal is a winner--completely tasty, especially when combined with the yogurt sauce. It's a real Indian inspired dish, the yogurt sauce being a Raita, and the cakes infused with a bit of Garam Masala spice that made the whole house smell great. BUT, this is not a 30 minute, nor weeknight meal. It required one first to make toasted fresh breadcrumbs, the sauce with its various steps, and the labor intensive cakes. I had to use the food processor, sheet pan, oven, stove, 2 colanders, and about 5 bowls. A very intense 45 minutes was required before we could sit down,and by that time I was too tired to make a salad. Not a big loss as the cakes and sauce are loaded with veg and beans. Great for a weekend family dinner or lunch, but not a weekday dinner.UPDATE 2017: A WINNER--Barbequed chicken sandwiches. A quick saute of chicken breast in butter (we used boneless thighs we had on-hand) and then a braise in same pan in a "doctored" barbeque sauce made a great, taste chicken base. But the slaw was astounding. A bag of slaw (we had a bag of broccoli slaw from wegmans that needed eating) mixed with mayo, buttermilk and a touch of apple cider vinegar was full of great flavor and crunch. I put this recipe in category #1--surprising flavor from a few ingredients and easy to make.

Reviewer: Amy Lynn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Perfect for working families that need quick, simple recipes! Love this book!!
Review: I am not a good cook by any means. I can bake, but when it comes to cooking I either over-cook or under-cook, or it just comes out a mess. This book has been awesome! It has simple directions and gives good detail on timing - which is the hardest part for me!! The way it's written is easy for beginners to understand without being overly wordy or "dummied down" for those that are more of a proficient cook. They use mostly ingredients I already have in the kitchen. If I am missing something, the recipes are usually simple enough that I can swap out an ingredient easily for something I have without ruining the entire dish. So far my husband and I have both been really impressed by these recipes. Now if only there was an easier way for me to have all of this information when I go grocery shopping to generate my list for me...Update: we have now had this for a few months and have been able to try a bunch more recipes out and haven't found a single one we don't like. My favorite so far has been the fish tacos (better than i've ever had in any restaurant!) Plus I was the one who found this cookbook, but now my husband acts like it's his cookbook because he likes it so much. This coming from someone who used to hate cookbooks and he never understood why anyone would use one. Well i think he gets it now. I even recommended a substitute for something we didn't have in the pantry and he had to go to the grocery store to get the exact item because he wanted to make it exactly how the recipe said. My how he has changed his tune.

Reviewer: Gail Holland
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Recipes are easy and quick to make.

Reviewer: Luciana Godri
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Gosto muito desse livro. Tenho vários da ATK, mas esse em especial tem algo muito valioso: receitas práticas, deliciosas e que podem ser executadas num dia de semana com pouco tempo e ingredientes fáceis.

Reviewer: Stephanie Eddy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I work full time and also often have work in the evenings but I still want a homemade dinner on the weeknights. This book has been perfect for me and my boyfriend and the recipes really do get to the table in about 30-40 minutes.My favorites so far have been the Thai Curry and the Chinese Orange Beef. Really great flavor, easy prep, and lots of interesting dishes to choose from. I have a lot of America's Test Kitchen books and I think this one is now my favorite.The only downside is that the recipes are all "full-flavor" which means more fat and calories, it's not excessive but I usually cook from the healthy or calorie reduced books. It's the only thing that prevents me from cooking from it every single night.

Reviewer: XXX
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Easy to understand

Reviewer: CatMi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Gave this to our son and his partner for Christmas, since they are novice cooks. They have been using it a lot and love that it explains the science behind cooking.