recipe book for lazy cooks
January 1, 2025 6:20 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for a physical recipe book with recipes that aren't too high-effort. Prefer meals that are higher in protein and include a protein, carb, and veggie side. Even better if it includes meal prep / plan for the week. Plus if it has some "ethnic"/Asian recipes.
I have way too much screen time and decision fatigue in my daily life, so I'd love to just flip to a page in the book, order the ingredients for the week, and start cooking. Ideally, I also don't have to think too hard about which recipes can be bundled together to make food for the week.
I don't really like making recipes with a ton of steps or hard-to-find ingredients -- ideally these are more like weeknight quick healthy meals.
I didn't really like Blue Apron and those kinds of services, since they usually have meals that are high-effort, sort of unhealthy, and purely Western/kinda bland.
I'm not vegetarian or vegan. Prefer low-dairy.
TIA!
I have way too much screen time and decision fatigue in my daily life, so I'd love to just flip to a page in the book, order the ingredients for the week, and start cooking. Ideally, I also don't have to think too hard about which recipes can be bundled together to make food for the week.
I don't really like making recipes with a ton of steps or hard-to-find ingredients -- ideally these are more like weeknight quick healthy meals.
I didn't really like Blue Apron and those kinds of services, since they usually have meals that are high-effort, sort of unhealthy, and purely Western/kinda bland.
I'm not vegetarian or vegan. Prefer low-dairy.
TIA!
I like "What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking". It doesn't include meal prep/plan for the week stuff but the recipes tend to be pretty straight forward, high protein, and delicious.
posted by kserra at 6:43 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]
posted by kserra at 6:43 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]
Ottolenghi Simple really is simple, and tasty.
posted by jpeacock at 7:21 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]
posted by jpeacock at 7:21 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]
Julia Turshen’s what goes with what is a combination of recipes and heuristics for figuring out how to make things. I don’t own a copy but from following her social media and reading reviews it seems like something you’d get value out of. Plus she seems like a genuinely awesome person.
From the books blurb: Julia Turshen is a home cook’s best friend. Known for her simple, no-frills, yet utterly satisfying recipes―as well as her authentic, relatable, problem-solving approach―hers are the cookbooks we all turn to when we want to know what else we can make with some ground turkey, or if we can pull off dessert with a few basic pantry ingredients. In essence, we look to Julia when we want to know What Goes with What: to understand how we can transform the seemingly boring contents of our fridge into an exciting meal.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:31 PM on January 1
From the books blurb: Julia Turshen is a home cook’s best friend. Known for her simple, no-frills, yet utterly satisfying recipes―as well as her authentic, relatable, problem-solving approach―hers are the cookbooks we all turn to when we want to know what else we can make with some ground turkey, or if we can pull off dessert with a few basic pantry ingredients. In essence, we look to Julia when we want to know What Goes with What: to understand how we can transform the seemingly boring contents of our fridge into an exciting meal.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:31 PM on January 1
Seconding Simple.
River Cottage Everyday by Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall will also get you some of the way. The focus is on simple, affordable everyday food, and since it's British, there are some South Asian recipes in there, and there are also ideas for leftovers. Today Fearnly-Whittingstall is quite veggie-focused, but this is from earlier in his career where he still valued meat highly. The pictures make the food look cheffy and complicated, but the recipes are simple, with few ingredients.
However, there are no meal plans.
Come to think of it, the good cookbooks I have that help with weekly meal-planning and grocery lists all seem to be older, from the days when Home Economy was more of a thing, like my mum's old Betty Crocker or even older, like the books of Édouard de Pomaine. I mean, there are probably dozens of new titles within the genre each year, but I haven't yet seen one I like. They seem to focus a lot on batch cooking, or various fad diets. Or if they are focused on budget cooking, the approach is mostly on cheap ingredients rather than good methods. /end of rant.
Obviously, I haven't seen every new or old book, so here's what I'd be looking for:
- Seasonal plans, so you don't have meals with asparagus in November, unless you are in the southern hemisphere.
- Plans where you can use the same ingredient in several different ways, as in one chicken can become 3-4 very different meals in a single-person household. (One leg oven roast, the other as teriyaki, the breasts in a curry, perhaps chicken noodle soup from the carcass, wings and scraps, if you ask).
- Plans where leftovers are integrated, as in steamed rice on Tuesday become fried rice on Wednesday.
- And this is the most difficult to find: recipes where they don't lie about the cooking times. I find the vast majority of cookbooks have misleading cooking times, as in caramelized onions cooked in ten minutes...
posted by mumimor at 9:13 PM on January 1
River Cottage Everyday by Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall will also get you some of the way. The focus is on simple, affordable everyday food, and since it's British, there are some South Asian recipes in there, and there are also ideas for leftovers. Today Fearnly-Whittingstall is quite veggie-focused, but this is from earlier in his career where he still valued meat highly. The pictures make the food look cheffy and complicated, but the recipes are simple, with few ingredients.
However, there are no meal plans.
Come to think of it, the good cookbooks I have that help with weekly meal-planning and grocery lists all seem to be older, from the days when Home Economy was more of a thing, like my mum's old Betty Crocker or even older, like the books of Édouard de Pomaine. I mean, there are probably dozens of new titles within the genre each year, but I haven't yet seen one I like. They seem to focus a lot on batch cooking, or various fad diets. Or if they are focused on budget cooking, the approach is mostly on cheap ingredients rather than good methods. /end of rant.
Obviously, I haven't seen every new or old book, so here's what I'd be looking for:
- Seasonal plans, so you don't have meals with asparagus in November, unless you are in the southern hemisphere.
- Plans where you can use the same ingredient in several different ways, as in one chicken can become 3-4 very different meals in a single-person household. (One leg oven roast, the other as teriyaki, the breasts in a curry, perhaps chicken noodle soup from the carcass, wings and scraps, if you ask).
- Plans where leftovers are integrated, as in steamed rice on Tuesday become fried rice on Wednesday.
- And this is the most difficult to find: recipes where they don't lie about the cooking times. I find the vast majority of cookbooks have misleading cooking times, as in caramelized onions cooked in ten minutes...
posted by mumimor at 9:13 PM on January 1
Possibly The Sad Bastard Cookbook?
You can buy a hardcopy but there's a free downloadable version at the link if you'd like to check it out first.
It's geared toward people who may have limited spoons for meals, for whatever reason. There are shopping lists and weekly menus and variations. Includes dishes described as "Kinda like Pad Thai", "Korean-Inspired Pancakes", "Chinese-Style Egg & Tomato", and "Cheater Chana Masala," amongst others.
Not sure as to whether the protein content and specific meal configuration meet your needs. This cookbook is veggie/vegan so apologies if you were saying you don't want that, rather than you don't require it.
posted by to wound the autumnal city at 6:56 AM on January 2
You can buy a hardcopy but there's a free downloadable version at the link if you'd like to check it out first.
It's geared toward people who may have limited spoons for meals, for whatever reason. There are shopping lists and weekly menus and variations. Includes dishes described as "Kinda like Pad Thai", "Korean-Inspired Pancakes", "Chinese-Style Egg & Tomato", and "Cheater Chana Masala," amongst others.
Not sure as to whether the protein content and specific meal configuration meet your needs. This cookbook is veggie/vegan so apologies if you were saying you don't want that, rather than you don't require it.
posted by to wound the autumnal city at 6:56 AM on January 2
I've been following Kylie Sakaida MS, RD, on Instagram, and her meals are simple, healthy, easy, and often Asian-leaning (she's Hawaiian). She's got a new cookbook, which I don't own, but have strongly considered getting. Maybe check out a few of her videos on Instagram and see if that's the right style for you.
posted by hydra77 at 6:58 AM on January 2
posted by hydra77 at 6:58 AM on January 2
Cucina Fresca: Italian Food, Simply Prepared
(largely but not entirely room temperature stuff)
Also Cucina Rustica, though not quite as simple.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:56 AM on January 2
(largely but not entirely room temperature stuff)
Also Cucina Rustica, though not quite as simple.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:56 AM on January 2
I don’t always like him but I find Christopher Kimball’s Cook What You Have to be the cookbook I reach for often to flip through for weekday meal ideas. Simple enough, can be adjusted to what you have, and I’ve made quite a few Asian-inspired dishes from it.
posted by inevitability at 8:27 AM on January 2
posted by inevitability at 8:27 AM on January 2
I find Aaron and Claire channel on Youtube quite inspirational as he makes mostly Korean dishes with simple ingredients, and I'm quite sure he has a cookbook out already.
posted by kschang at 6:15 AM on January 3
posted by kschang at 6:15 AM on January 3
Metafilter’s Own Misha Fletcher’s Cooking Is Terrible
posted by Birds, snakes, and aeroplanes at 11:36 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
posted by Birds, snakes, and aeroplanes at 11:36 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
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posted by knile at 6:23 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]