What's Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy: Recipes for Zero Stress Deliciousness

by Gaby Dalkin, Matt Armendáriz (Photographer)

In What’s Gaby Take It Easy , New York Times bestselling author Gaby Dalkin returns with her signature Enjoy your life by eating the food you love. But this time around, she also emphasizes a no-fuss attitude, offering 100 new delicious and stress-free recipes suited for any and all occasions.

Everything we cook right now—whether it’s for a potluck picnic with friends or a solo night in binge-watching reality TV—needs to be crazy simple, easily pulled together from those lasting pantry items, still shockingly delicious at room temperature, and not requiring that one random ingredient you drove 45 minutes to get and will never use again. We want food that tastes like it took hours to prepare but doesn’t actually require anything too exact. Give us the forgiving Out of shallots? Try an onion. The more fail-proof the better.

If this low-maintenance approach sounds like your kinda thing, Dalkin has got your back. With 100 easy ideas for dishes to serve wherever you go (or don’t go!), make-ahead dressings and sauces for lazy last-minute dinners, and of course—give the people what they want!—big, crunchy, fresh salads and rich, chocolatey, you’re-in-sweatpants-anyway desserts, Take It Easy is Dalkin’s first book bringing her tasty, crowd-pleasing concepts to quicker, simpler meals.

Includes Color Photographs

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Foodie, Food

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review on my blog

https://storeybookreviews.com/2022/10...

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of simple recipes across all your daily meals. Great balance of meat and meatless.
Most excited to try the korean bbq-inspired meatloaf, chorizo fontina basil pizza, and s'more pizookie.

[Rhiannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.




"Take It Easy: Recipes for Zero Stress Deliciousness" is the third "What's Gaby Cooking" cookbook, but my personal introduction to all things Gaby Dalkin. A blogger since 2009, Dalkin has a large social media presence across multiple platforms, with a focus on what she calls the "California Girl Life." This lifestyle/vibe is evident in the super colorful photos filling "Take It Easy." Not only is there a photo to accompany almost every recipe (exception is sauces section) but there are multiple additional photos of the author entertaining. The overall layout of this cookbook is aesthetically pleasing and very approachable: ingredient lists offer both US imperial and metric measurements, instruction steps are sectioned with clean page breaks, and most recipes are fitted to a single page. I recommend this cookbook to cooks of all skill levels and highly recommend it to those who may be just starting to entertain guests. In addition to most recipes serving 4-6 people, there are also 4 sections specifically geared toward entertaining (Peak Summer Vibes Dinner Party, Italian Dinner Party, Al Pastor Dinner Party, and Spring Roll Party.)


Table of Contents:
Introduction
Kick-Start the Day
I Need Dinner + I Need It Now
Salads + Other Things to Eat in Bowls
Peak Summer Vibes Dinner Party
The Ultimates
Pizza, Pasta + a Few Other Carbs
Italian Dinner Party
Sides
Al Pastor Dinner Party
Decadent Things
Spring Roll Party
Sauces + Things
Acknowledgments
Index


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[Mandelin319 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything is accessible and delicious, another Gaby home run.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid set of recipes. All look tasty, don’t look like they take too much time, or call for fancy/ridiculous ingredients. My kind of cookbook.

Also, the tequila aperol spritz will be made in my household this weekend.

[Pattie Tierney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaby Dalkin is one of my favorite cookbook authors, and that is high praise indeed. A good many of my favorite cookbook authors are legendary women who have been honing their craft for decades. Gaby, in comparison, is just a girl. But she is my kind of girl. She recently gave birth to a darling daughter, Poppy, and that proved to be a big awakening for her (as it does all of us who have been there). She knew that she still wanted to have healthy, filling, and nourishing food, but didn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen to do so. So she started to rethink her ideas about food, focusing on ingredients that can “…pop on their own without necessarily needing a lot of handholding, and dishes that shine in their simplicity…”

I think this is her best cookbook yet. After my initial page through, I can honestly say that there was not one recipe in this book that I didn’t want to try; there was not one recipe that isn’t perfectly doable for cooks of all levels of experience.

The subtitle of this book is “Recipes for Zero Stress Deliciousness.“ If that isn’t appealing, I don’t know what is. The book has special sections for recipes to start the day, quick dinners, salads (and other things to eat in bowls), sides, a large section of sauces and dressings, desserts, as well as menus, recipes, tips, and ideas to help you plan and prepare an Italian Dinner Party, Al Pastor Dinner Party, and a Spring Roll Party. There is also a section of acknowledgments in the back and, bless you Gaby, an index!

I tried the Pasta with Pesto and Peas, and loved it! It was a wonderfully tasty meatless meal, light and delicious, while simultaneously being nutritious. It was also beautiful.

As I have come to expect in and all of Gabby‘s cookbooks, there are beautiful, mouthwatering color photos of every recipe contained within (this book should get five stars based upon that criteria alone) photos of parties, and engaging pictures of Gaby and family. As usual, each recipe is preceded by helpful, but brief, commentary. This volume, like all of her others feels like home.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Abrams Books as a participant in their Abrams Dinner Party program.

[Gigi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. Should you add this cookbook to your collection? Not if you are after a cookbook that deserves the title "Take It Easy". The Hash Brown recipe has you grating, soaking, stirring, soaking again, then squeezing tossing then repeat the squeeze/toss 2 more times at least.....THEN you start to cook one at a time, while sprinkling with cheese and salt, repeat....... and then serve with homemade ketchup - recipe on another page.

Don'ts get me wrong, I'm sure they are good, but not "easy" and "stress free".

Her spring roll dinner party for 4 has 33 ingredients that must be pre-prepped, and then the guests get to cook the food themselves on a portable tabletop burner and then roll the spring rolls themselves.

Easy?

Nice pictures, and several good sounding recipes so only read if you want some new ideas for complicated eats.

Also, what editor decides to put text in a cookbook that is so pastel and light you can hardly read it?!? The headings of each recipe are written in a very light font that makes it impossible to read.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be easy everyday recipes; they're actually mostly recipes to help make entertaining easier. That worked for me, because I liked the party menus better than the everyday recipes. Most of them could be made in advance, and included ideas for cocktails to go with the meals.

For the everyday food, she doesn't use a lot of sheet pan dinners or crockpot/slow cooker shortcuts. The easy recipes are generally active cooking, which I don't think of as easy. But once you get over that, the recipes in here are good and the party menus definitely can be used.

Worth checking out for the entertaining ideas and cocktails.

[Miss Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars*

I disliked the format and font size chosen. It makes it extremely difficult to read the recipes, especially at a glance while cooking and checking back.

The recipes themselves were in general not of interest to me save for these six, one of which has made it into the regular rotation already:

Lemon Feta Herby Orzo
Linguine al Limone
Tiramisu Trifles
Cheesy Roasted Mushrooms
Cinnamon Ice Cream Trifle with Mexican Wedding Cookie + Cajeta Mixed with Whipped Cream
Seasonal Spoon Cake


*(In the proper category of "It was ok")

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the title, and the introductory text to the book, I thought the recipes in this book would be easy. I think there are a few that are more simple. I also think that a few of the recipes are easy if you know how to cook, but those recipes also seem more time-consuming. Nothing too groundbreaking here. (Also, I love the chicken meatball recipe, but I make this much more simple by baking the meatballs in the oven. Who wants to stand over a stove and fry meatballs?)

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaby has done it again! I always want to cook every recipe in her books, can’t wait to do it again this time. First recipe I made was meaty marscapone pasta. I’m excited for the baklava granola, Calabrian Chile vin, and so many of the easy meals!

[oohlalabooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect cookbook if you’re looking for an appetizer or dinner. The recipes are easy to follow with easy to find ingredients. Love that there are photos, can’t wait to try! Thanks to Abrams Books and the author for a copy.

[Alex Ludtke · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite thing to do after getting a cookbook is sitting down and reading through the entire thing. I have already marked a ton of pages and can’t wait to start cooking!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciated a lot of the recipes in this book, several felt calorie-laden and heavy. There’s a time and place for that, but not everyday. Overall, a few keepers, but not my everyday go-to.

[Shannon Evanko]

Can’t wait to dig in 🤤

[Addy Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some clear winners, but not as “easy” as the book makes it seem!

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not many things were veg friendly, and while this book is beautifully photographed, didn't feel drawn to many of the recipes.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prefer her website

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some looked good, some looked forgettable. But I can’t wait to try them.

[Daniella Cantu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Recipes

Great recipes, beautiful photos! Easy to follow and I love that recipes contain ingredients that I already at home. The sauces and dressings are to die for