cover image Instant Family Meals: Healthy & Delicious Dishes from Your Slow Cooker, Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot

Instant Family Meals: Healthy & Delicious Dishes from Your Slow Cooker, Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot

Sarah Copeland. Clarkson, $22 (192p) ISBN 978-0-59313-972-1

In this winning cookbook, Copeland (Every Day Is Saturday) collects inviting recipes for appliance cooking, a method she admits she embraced reluctantly, but soon became an enthusiastic convert. Copeland writes that using a pressure cooker made her a better cook, not in terms of typical stove-top skills, but rather because it allows her to share meals with her family on a more regular basis, no matter what the day throws their way. She doles out sage advice for novices including accessing online tutorials and learning how each device’s functions work, as well as crucial tips (“mind the maximum fill line”) for successful one-pot cooking. Recipes for diverse palates include hearty breakfast favorites, such as all-purpose crustless quiche, and steel-cut oat porridge. Appetizing mains range from cacio e pepe risotto to coconut salmon, as well as quick Bolognese for a crowd. There are a variety of options for soups, vegetables, and desserts, and Copeland’s notes on which are vegetarian and gluten-free will be helpful for readers with different dietary requirements. Whether home cooks are just opening the box for their new device or masters at appliance cooking looking to expand their repertoire, Copeland provides a tantalizing guide to making great meals on automatic. (Oct.)