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Keeping it Simple: Easy Weeknight One-pot Recipes
After a long day at work, heading home to cook a fussy, complicated meal is the last thing anyone wants to do. Keeping it Simple is the ultimate collection to have on hand for these moments. Featuring over 60 quick and easy, drool-worthy one-pot dinners you can whip up in the time in takes to have a glass of wine (or two, let's be honest), Yasmin Fahr has got you covered. Inspired by her column for Serious Eats, One-Pot Wonders, Yasmin sets out to arm readers with sneaky gems and low-key showstoppers that work every time, and a promise that they will learn at least one new move (if not a good few) to up their skills in the kitchen. The ultimate goal is to get dinner on the table quickly, but also to create something truly delicious as a weeknight reward. Why order a takeaway when you can throw together Miso-Ghee Chicken with Roasted Radishes or Rigatoni and Broccoli with Crispy Prosciutto in 20 minutes? And when you can cook it all in one pot, clean-up is a breeze. Featuring humorous and relatable anecdotes and musings on cooking and life, in Yasmin's witty and energetic style, Keeping it Simple is the book you'll keep coming back to night after night for inspiration both in the kitchen and out. It's a collection that will remind you why you love to cook in the first place.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 9, 2020
59 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 14, 2020
It is cookbooks which offer streamlined ingredient lists and instructions that I find most useful -- Yasmin Fahr's Keeping It Simple: Easy Weeknight One-Pot Recipes is a recent cookbook that's come into my kitchen offering not only efficiency and time-saving recipes but also how to feel joy while cooking by, you guessed it, keeping it simple.
Without even discussing the recipes within the book, Fahr's cookbook was designed in a way to make it useful. At around 20 x 24 cm, with a flexibound cover (the in-between choice -- not a paperback or hardcover but a thick, flexible cover), it is a great choice for use in a kitchen. And one of the features I appreciate the most, is that most of the recipes are contained to one page. If I'm using a cookbook for quick meals, I want to see the ingredients and instructions on one page. As for the ingredient lists, Fahr relies on ingredients that are easily sourced at any local shop or market and, her pantry leans heavily towards stocking flavour-boosters such as Dijon mustard, curry powder, Thai curry pastes, miso, sambal, soy sauce, fish sauce, as well as other staples such as coconut milk, passata, and noodles/pasta. Her recipes rely on a variety of protiens -- meat, poultry, seafood, as well as beans/legumes. While there are no recipes using tofu, I think home cooks could certainly substitute it into recipes because Fahr's recipe-style is very fluid (another way in which home cooks can be successful in cooking meals).
In her introduction, Fahr emphasizes what Keeping It Simple is for: "The point of this book is to encourage you to cook more at home and enjoy the process."(6) So, for home cooks looking to improve their skills she offers sections on: ingredients, helpful culinary words/phrases, kitchen tips, and what types of kitchen equipment you'll find useful. The recipes are organized into 6 chapters: Oven to Table, Faster than Delivery, Bright Dishes for Cold Days, Gluten, Grains, + Good Stuff, Salad for Dinner, and Look More Impressive Than They Are. With over 60 recipes, I found many that really appealed to my vegetarian family.
A standout favourite in my house is the recipe for Baked Feta w/ Greens and Lemon-Tahini Dressing, where I substitute the feta for halloumi. I love the texture of oven-cooked kale and, I find that the kale in this dish starts to get a little crispy and takes on a rich umami flavour. Paired with the brine-y halloumi and the tangy, rich dressing it really makes a satisfying meal. My daughter loves the cheese-chickpea-greens combo and, I find, baking the kale makes the tough green a bit more succulent and palatable for my 6-year-old. This recipe is also an example of how your oven can become your best friend when making a simple meal. One pan and you're done!
Another recipe where I found an excellent use for kale is in the Curried Butternut Squash Soup w/ Kale and Quinoa -- vegetable-filled and bright, this soup was perfect during the cool early spring days and, even just thinking about it now makes me want a bowl (despite the 30c weather)! Making soups is another way to enjoy one-pot cooking -- I really appreciated that I could chop up a bunch of vegetables, put them in a pot, add some liquid and just let it cook up some magic. Not to mention the comfort factor that a warm bowl of soup offers. Part of feeling the joy of cooking and keeping kitchen routines simple is feeling nourished by the result. There's still a few more soup recipes I'd like to try from this chapter (the Tomato and Bread Soup w/ Spinach is at the top of my list) but I'll wait until the cooler autumn days return.
In order to really keep it simple, Fahr returns to ingredients and combinations throughout the book -- take her Lemon-Tahini Dressing. Perfect drizzled over the bake halloumi dish, even better paired with her recipe for Curried Vegan Quinoa w/ Broccoli. I found it helpful to make a big batch of the dressing to use throughout the week when I would make these different recipes. Instead of having multiple sauces or dressings, to offer the home cook one great dressing is genius because it means you'll need fewer ingredients in your pantry. How simple is that? (Also, the combination of lemon and tahini is so delightful -- bright and tangy but smooth and rich).
While cooking can be lively, unstructured, and spontaneous, I really look towards the structure that a familiar cookbook can provide. Keeping It Simple offers a straightforward way for me to add structure into my cooking routine without making that routine too complicated. I find that Fahr's recipes are ones that I return to. After cooking from Keeping It Simple, I find that this cookbook really lives up to it's aims. Recipes that any level of home cook can make and achieve success with.
Please note that this is an excerpt of a longer review posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hardie Grant Books and Raincoast Books for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Without even discussing the recipes within the book, Fahr's cookbook was designed in a way to make it useful. At around 20 x 24 cm, with a flexibound cover (the in-between choice -- not a paperback or hardcover but a thick, flexible cover), it is a great choice for use in a kitchen. And one of the features I appreciate the most, is that most of the recipes are contained to one page. If I'm using a cookbook for quick meals, I want to see the ingredients and instructions on one page. As for the ingredient lists, Fahr relies on ingredients that are easily sourced at any local shop or market and, her pantry leans heavily towards stocking flavour-boosters such as Dijon mustard, curry powder, Thai curry pastes, miso, sambal, soy sauce, fish sauce, as well as other staples such as coconut milk, passata, and noodles/pasta. Her recipes rely on a variety of protiens -- meat, poultry, seafood, as well as beans/legumes. While there are no recipes using tofu, I think home cooks could certainly substitute it into recipes because Fahr's recipe-style is very fluid (another way in which home cooks can be successful in cooking meals).
In her introduction, Fahr emphasizes what Keeping It Simple is for: "The point of this book is to encourage you to cook more at home and enjoy the process."(6) So, for home cooks looking to improve their skills she offers sections on: ingredients, helpful culinary words/phrases, kitchen tips, and what types of kitchen equipment you'll find useful. The recipes are organized into 6 chapters: Oven to Table, Faster than Delivery, Bright Dishes for Cold Days, Gluten, Grains, + Good Stuff, Salad for Dinner, and Look More Impressive Than They Are. With over 60 recipes, I found many that really appealed to my vegetarian family.
A standout favourite in my house is the recipe for Baked Feta w/ Greens and Lemon-Tahini Dressing, where I substitute the feta for halloumi. I love the texture of oven-cooked kale and, I find that the kale in this dish starts to get a little crispy and takes on a rich umami flavour. Paired with the brine-y halloumi and the tangy, rich dressing it really makes a satisfying meal. My daughter loves the cheese-chickpea-greens combo and, I find, baking the kale makes the tough green a bit more succulent and palatable for my 6-year-old. This recipe is also an example of how your oven can become your best friend when making a simple meal. One pan and you're done!
Another recipe where I found an excellent use for kale is in the Curried Butternut Squash Soup w/ Kale and Quinoa -- vegetable-filled and bright, this soup was perfect during the cool early spring days and, even just thinking about it now makes me want a bowl (despite the 30c weather)! Making soups is another way to enjoy one-pot cooking -- I really appreciated that I could chop up a bunch of vegetables, put them in a pot, add some liquid and just let it cook up some magic. Not to mention the comfort factor that a warm bowl of soup offers. Part of feeling the joy of cooking and keeping kitchen routines simple is feeling nourished by the result. There's still a few more soup recipes I'd like to try from this chapter (the Tomato and Bread Soup w/ Spinach is at the top of my list) but I'll wait until the cooler autumn days return.
In order to really keep it simple, Fahr returns to ingredients and combinations throughout the book -- take her Lemon-Tahini Dressing. Perfect drizzled over the bake halloumi dish, even better paired with her recipe for Curried Vegan Quinoa w/ Broccoli. I found it helpful to make a big batch of the dressing to use throughout the week when I would make these different recipes. Instead of having multiple sauces or dressings, to offer the home cook one great dressing is genius because it means you'll need fewer ingredients in your pantry. How simple is that? (Also, the combination of lemon and tahini is so delightful -- bright and tangy but smooth and rich).
While cooking can be lively, unstructured, and spontaneous, I really look towards the structure that a familiar cookbook can provide. Keeping It Simple offers a straightforward way for me to add structure into my cooking routine without making that routine too complicated. I find that Fahr's recipes are ones that I return to. After cooking from Keeping It Simple, I find that this cookbook really lives up to it's aims. Recipes that any level of home cook can make and achieve success with.
Please note that this is an excerpt of a longer review posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hardie Grant Books and Raincoast Books for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
February 19, 2021
A great cookbook for beginning cooks looking to step up their dinner game. The author offers witty and relatable stories mixed with simple, yet refined recipes. I liked that some of the ingredients in the recipes, although easily found at grocery stores, are not necessarily common for beginning cooks to use, which is teaching people to be a bit more adventurous in the food they prepare and consume. I would've liked to see more pictures. Ultimately not a cookbook for me, as I already have several similar recipes in my repertoire, but a nice addition for a home cook who has mastered basics and is ready for the next step.
August 24, 2023
It says keeping it simple but most home cooks, at least in rural areas, aren't going to have some of these ingredients. The cover shows a pasta dish that looks good and easy enough to make. And some of these 1 pot meals involve cooking this, then sitting out while cooking something else, then another item, and in a few instances a 4th item being cooked separately before combining them all in the 1 pot. That's more effort than many people have the energy for after a day of work and dodging kids running through the kitchen wanting food. Now. Some recipes look good, some are not ones my family will ever touch, but hardly any of them are incredibly easy to make or assemble.
May 15, 2024
A lot of very good recipes that don't require an entire day to make. I have already tried several and I liked them all. I looked up the author and she has a great blog where I learned she is living the world nomad dream, currently in Spain. No wonder I felt a connection! And no wonder that her recipes are worldly, yet don't require a ton of exotic ingredients (as long as you can get your hands on feta. Alas, the feta here in Chile is decidedly sub-par). I've already downloaded her newest cookbook "Cook Simply, Live Fully" for more good stuff that I can make no matter where I am in the world!
May 9, 2021
Definitely some solid, easy meals though if you're looking for cans of ingredients & dump meals, this is not the book for you. This is a book of homemade meals that are healthy, easy-ish, and made from scratch. I'll definitely be trying a few of them in the near future.
August 15, 2020
Nice simple go to recipes, totally my cooking style & lots of photos!
January 19, 2021
Love this cookbook and love the recipes. Who doesn't dream of less cleanup? Fast and tasty meals to make you look like a gourmet cook with a whole lot less effort.
January 31, 2024
The Baked Feta w/Greens, p60, is delicious!
June 20, 2023
Can't wait to try something in this book :) Reread :)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews