cover image Everyday Easy

Everyday Easy

Lorraine Pascale. Ecco, $29.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-230579-4

Pascale breathes a gust of fresh air into the fast-and-easy cookbook category with her thoughtfully developed collection of recipes. Best known in the U.K. for her books and television shows, the British author is an angel for harried home cooks stuck in the trenches of weekday cooking. What you won’t find are lofty ingredient lists that require “a space shuttle flight to the outer reaches of the universe to source.” After surveying her Twitter fan base, Pascale created recipes based on what people actually cook (spoiler alert: we eat a lot of chicken breasts). What you will find are dishes that don’t skimp on flavor or originality, despite their fast cook time. Chicken cacciatore is revved up with harissa, a bold Moroccan spice paste, while a salmon fillet served over lentils gets some added intrigue with chorizo, asparagus, and a balsamic dressing. International influences abound, from Indian tandoori chicken wraps to a Greek spinach, feta, and pine nut phyllo pie. Pascale’s voice is helpful and cheery as she carefully coaches readers through the steps of each recipe, offering tips and encouragement. An added bonus: almost all of the main courses include a side dish that’s seamlessly incorporated into the instructions. Twenty minutes will yield not just a Sri Lankan chicken curry, but a coconut and cashew rice to enjoy with it. Pascale succeeds at making cooking on a Monday night look like fun. (Feb.)