Bare Minimum Dinners: Recipes and Strategies for Doing Less in the Kitchen

A hassle-free guide to healthy cooking arrives from Real Simple food director Helwig (The Multi-Cooker Baby Food Cookbook), who encourages readers to do “the bare minimum, and it tastes delicious.” She addresses the issues home cooks face on weeknights and provides practical solutions—for example, instead of pre-prepping homemade sauces, she recommends good quality supermarket products, such as the Maya Kaimal brand tikka masala simmer sauce featured in her cauliflower and chickpea tikka masala. She devotes a chapter to recipes that are prepared in a single pot or baking sheet for minimal cleanup—including a skillet pizza and one-pot bacon and zucchini pasta—while showcasing dishes that require seven or fewer ingredients (including salt and pepper), such as balsamic-soy strip steaks, “a flavor bomb of beef.” Naturally, as a weeknight cookbook, there are several dishes that can be made in under 30 minutes—some notable examples include Korean sloppy joes and turkey enchilada bowls—as well as recipes for slow cookers, such as a crowd-pleasing shrimp boil. Throughout, Helwig shares suggestions for turning meat dishes into vegetarian-friendly fare, such as by swapping out chicken for cremini mushroom caps in chicken fajitas. This is a motivating volume for those who dread cooking weeknight dinners. Agent: Sharon Bowers, Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)