cover image The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love

The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love

Bobby Deen, Melissa Clark, Jamie Deen. Ballantine Books, $25 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-345-51326-7

Food Network stars The Deen Brothers give home cooks 125 ideas for quick meals in this accessible collection. Emphasizing comfort foods like Cheeseburger Casserole, Mini Meat Loaves and Spaghetti and Meatballs, the Deen brothers give harried cooks plenty of options for getting dinner on the table with a minimum of investment or fuss. A handful of crockpot recipes and a dozen kid-friendly recipes for items like Pecan Catfish Fish Sticks, quesadillas and beans and franks will be welcomed by busy parents. Thoughtful organization-placing suggested sides for for burgers, Honey Mustard Baked Chicken and Grilled Chicken Breasts with Brown Sugar Pineapple Rings on subsequent pages-minimizes in-kitchen page-flipping. Fans of the Deen boys' mom, Paula Deen, will be pleased to see the apples falling close to the tree, as evidenced by Pimiento Mac and Cheese, Grilled Bacon and Cheese Jalapeno Poppers, Shrimp and Grits and Panfried PB & J. An accessible mix of the familiar and gently tweaked standards (Mini Macaroni Pies, Grilled Tilapia Po Boys), busy fans of Deen family cooking will likely devour this latest volume.