Easy Wins: 12 flavour hits, 125 delicious recipes, 365 days of good eating

by Anna Jones

#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA brand new and essential book from award-winning and bestselling cook Anna Jones.

Anna Jones gives her golden rules for easy wins in the kitchen with super-simple recipes that are bursting with flavour and kind to the planet.

Anna takes 12 hero ingredients that are guaranteed to make your food taste great, with chapters on lemons, olive oil, mustard, tahini and more. She gives 125 all-new dishes that you will want to cook on repeat, like Double Lemon Pilaf with Buttery Almonds, Traybake Lemon Dhal, Miso Rarebit, and Cherry and Chocolate Peanut Butter Sundae. And there’s practical advice on how to season and flavour, plus plenty of ideas for invaluable vegetarian swaps.

EASY WINS will become your go-to for the most flavourful dishes that come together quickly and promise daily moments of triumph.

‘For when it’s 8pm, you’re starving and you want a Tuesday night triumph. An easy, honest, delicious win’ Yotam Ottolenghi

‘Clever, delicious, heartfelt and wholesome’ Jamie Oliver

‘The culinary equivalent of a pair of faded vintage Levi’s or a biscuit-coloured cashmere jumper – endlessly adaptable staples I turn to again and again and know, without question, will make me feel good’ Hayley Maitland, Vogue

‘Full of beautiful and vibrant vegetable recipes, all of which look so doable as well as packed with flavour’ Bee Wilson

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Cuisine

628 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2024

About the author

Anna Jones is a cook, writer and stylist, the voice of modern vegetarian cooking and the author of the bestselling A Modern Way to Eat, A Modern Way to Cook and The Modern Cook’s Year.

Her books are sold in ten countries and have been translated into five languages. In 2018, The Modern Cook’s Year won the coveted Observer Food Monthly Best Cookbook Award and The Guild of Food Writers Cookbook of the Year. Her previous books have been nominated for the James Beard, Fortnum & Mason and Andre Simon awards.

She also writes a weekly, well-loved column for The Guardian.

Anna believes that vegetables should be put at the centre of every table, and is led by the joy of food – the spritz of freshness when you peel an orange or the crackle and waft of deep savoury spice when you add curry leaves to a pan of hot oil.

She lives in Hackney, east London with her husband and young son.

Reviews

[Eric Dowdle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Anna Jones recipe is a banger. She's like the LeBron James of recipes.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Easy Wins, Anna Jones explains that after having kids, recipe books that have complex recipes with ingredients you don't normally keep on hand can be difficult to make with two young kids. She put together these recipes to be quick and simple, have big flavor, and center around vegetables.

In most of the sections, Anna Jones carefully describes each ingredient and the cultures that they might be important to or regions of the world they come from. The section on peanuts was really lacking in this area though, which was disappointing. She doesn't even explain that they are a legume (like beans) rather than a nut! This seems like important culinary info, since green peanuts are somewhat like fresh field peas. There's also a distinction between green, raw/dried, and roasted peanuts that she doesn't mention. All of the savory peanut recipes have an Asian influence, and although they look really good, it seems like a narrow focus. How someone could have an entire cookbook section on "peanuts" and not include one boiled peanut recipe or West African peanut stew recipe is beyond me. Maafe seems like just the savory, warm, comfort food she would love, and I bet her vegetarian take on it would be great.

[Becky Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not joking when I say this book altered my brain chemistry when it comes to food, cooking and recipes. Anna Jones supremacy!

[cypher · Rating 5 out of 5]

not that i’ve had much to compare it with (i have not read many cookbooks in my life), but the book seemed to have good tips. the recipes are not overly complicated, they are aimed at more plant based eating (so great for people looking to transition in their diet, it still has lots of the dairy and eggs), they are not time consuming, and, important, they are interesting enough and not something i’ve come across (we all now the standard things which come up over and over in online recipe suggestions which make you think the world of cooking might be more limited than you’d expect).
i liked the concept of a few basic ingredients, reusable, an approach which can save on mental space if you’re living in today’s busy world.
“recipes that are a reliable source of joy in a world that is ever-changing” - i liked that.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, I borrowed this from my library and I am glad I didn’t buy it, as it was really hyped and I ended up being disappointed. I do like the look of some of the recipes, and I will make some of them, but I’m not sure that the intriguing premise - that some key ingredients in Jones’ cooking punch above their weight in terms of time-saving flavour hits - really works for me on the page. And, I don’t need to be told what ingredient goes with what other ingredients (I wasn’t convinced by Niki Segnit’s The Flavour Thesaurus approach for the same reason). So, while I can see the originality of Jones’s approach here, and some of the dishes look tasty, it’s not a book I need to add to my cooking library.

[Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cook book read cover to cover which I enjoyed. I havn't cooked anything from yet but I have an extensive list (way more than from any other cookbook) of recipes I'd like to try. Full of great info and tips

Theee gripes though: firstly there is quite a bit of repetitive tips and info within some recipes; secondly although in the intro the author describes how annoying it is for a recipe to ask for an ingredient like sumac that you have to buy and only use once the author then used that very ingredient and other unusual ingredients like pomegranate molasses, sambal oelek, pickled turnips (who has even heard of or seen those in a supermarket), zatar, tamarind paste in many of the included recipes; and thirdly in her seasoning chapter pepper is described as a spice rather than a seasoning like salt but the book is peppered with mentions of 'season with salt and pepper'. Not big deals in an otherwise excellent book but a bit strange and annoying all the same.

[Millie Hooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into how cooking is a complete sensorial experience. I loved the breakdown into flavour profiles and ingredients, it made it feel like “Small Wins” in the kitchen can be achievable when you have the know how. And this book sure gave it. My only improvement suggestion would be more weekday friendly recipes would have nicely emphasised the “Small Wins” concept and potentially would make it easier to pick up during the week to dive into!

[Georgina Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love cookbooks that centre around a few key ingredients! The recipes are simple but interesting and lots are things I’ve not tried before! Bit annoying that more expensive ingredients are lauded against cheaper like suggestions of £32 Olive oil LOL … HOWEVS V excited to cook more this spring / summer ✨✨✨✨✨✨

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this concept, not in the least because I adore most (if not all) of the ingredients Anna Jones wrote her chapters about. And very novel recipes she comes up with. I tried quite a few of them. Not all of them did work for out for me, I will have to experiment a little more to really get a feel for this way of cooking and if it suits me

[Joseph Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed some of Anna's recipes in the past, but was a little disappointed by this book. The cakes and desserts appeared interesting and easy enough to knock together, but few of the savoury menus appealed to me. Also, some of the recipes seemed a little 'london-centric' somehow (in terms of how easy it would be to access ingredients), but maybe that's just me!

[Tim Corbett-Winder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent recipe book. The recipes are accessible, easy to make, fast and of the ones I’ve made - all have been successful and tasty. I’ve never made so many meals from a single recipe book!

[Jayden Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Dad and I would always cook from it like soups and desserts for my family and my cousins so Yes this book is a 5* book I always wanted to cook for the World.

[Beki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of details on different ingredients, like a few recipes.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some delectable recipe ideas! Sustainable, not too difficult and mostly plant based.

[solène · Rating 1 out of 5]

Malheureusement beaucoup trop d'ingrédients et des instructions à rallonge, au secours... Ce livre de cuisine n'est pas pour moi (et pour couronner le tout : je n'aime pas le style des photos).

[Steffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

In ihrem neuesten Kochbuch "Easy Wins" präsentiert Anna Jones 125 Rezepte für die vegetarische und vegane Küche. Im Zentrum stehen dabei zwölf Lieblingszutaten, mit denen man jedes Gericht leicht aufwerten kann. Zu diesen “Helden” gehören zum Beispiel Zitronen, Zwiebeln und Chili, aber auch Harissa und Miso. Jedes Kapitel konzentriert sich auf eine dieser einfachen Zutaten und zeigt, wie diese dazu genutzt werden können, um geschmackvolle Mahlzeiten zu kreieren.

Im Gegensatz zu ihren früheren Kochbüchern sind die hier vorgestellten Gerichte allesamt leicht zugänglich, enthalten nur eine begrenzte Anzahl an Zutaten und sind leicht nachzukochen, was vor allem Anfängern den Einstieg erleichtern sollte. Der Titel “Easy Wins” ist hier also wirklich Programm. Dennoch sind die Rezepte alles andere als langweilig und bestechen durch ihre Kreativität und Vielfältigkeit. Dank der zahlreichen hochwertigen Farbfotos bekommt man eine gute Vorstellung des gewünschten Resultats, was mir bei der Entscheidung für ein Gericht immer sehr weiterhilft. Durch kurze Erläuterungen und Anekdoten vor jeder Anleitung bekommen sie eine persönliche Note, was das Kochbuch und vor allem die Autorin gleich noch sympathischer wirken lässt. Besonders ansprechend finde ich zudem, dass Anna Jones schon seit einer Weile bei ihren vegetarischen Rezepten dazu schreibt, wie man diese “veganisieren” kann. Abgerundet werden die Kapitel durch eingestreuten Fachwissen über Geschmack, Kräuter, Gewürze und nachhaltiges Kochen.

Fazit: “Easy Wins” von Ana Jones ist ein ansprechendes Kochbuch für die vegetarische und vegane Küche, das durch eine gelungene Mischung aus Kreativität und Alltagstauglichkeit überzeugt. Außerdem waren die von uns bislang nachgekochten Mahlzeiten allesamt super schmackhaft!

[Amanda Heenan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and inspiring

As an experienced but sometimes haphazard home cook, this is a treasure trove of inspiration and will help add method to my madness. Thank you 💕