Please, I Need Cookbook Recommendations! (I'm in a major rut!)

[ramama]

I'm looking for a simple cookbook for weeknight dinners. We are on a budget and a lot of the cookbooks seem to call for a list of 18 ingredients or some fancy cheese that we don't have and can't afford LOL! Plus, a lot of the organic, farm-to-table, cookbooks seem hoity-toity and holier-than-thou. But that's kind of what I'm looking for, without the attitude LOL. We just moved to an area with a large assortment of local produce and products, so I want to give them a go. I'm looking for fresh ingredients, kind of a rustic feel. I do not buy cookbooks that don't have pictures I am desperately trying to get my DH and DDs to eat more healthfully! We are not vegetarian, so meat recipes are cool, but we also like to try vegetarian recipes, so an all-vegetarian cookbook would help too.

Please help, I am in a major cooking rut, but when I go to the bookstore I drool over the pretty cookbooks, but there are so many of them and none seem to be "the one" I'm looking for!

[cristeen]

I don't know that there is just 1. I'd suggest checking out used book stores for cookbooks. They tend to get a ton of them and sell them cheap. And I dont think ive ever seen a modern cookbook without pictures.

Without knowing what kind of food you like, it's kind of hard to recommend something. Lately, i've been cooking a lot of Indian cuisine, but I also love Vietnamese and Russian is comfort food. Each one requires it's own cookbook.

[ollyoxenfree]

Donna Hay. She has many, but if I'm cooking a quick weeknight meal, then Off the Shelf has lots of simple, tasty meals. She has many more recent titles though.

Bill Granger also has several cookbooks, with a focus on fresh ingredients and fairly simple techniques.

They are both Australian, so they lean toward Asian, Mediterranean and some Middle Eastern influences. You won't find many Eastern European or Mexican recipes from either of them.

[kittynurse]

The "Simply in Season" cookbook is fantastic!

[Chamomile Girl]

Moosewood's Simple Suppers has good easy stuff using fresh foods. Honestly though the pictures are sort of meh. Its all veg except for one chapter that has some seafood.

[la mamita]

I would highly recommend any of the Moosewood cookbooks, despite the lack of pictures. Healthy, delicious, fresh food and a minimum amount of yuppie ingredients.

Also, if you don't have How to Cook Anything or the Joy of Cooking, get one of those. Again, no pictures though... I'd lean towards the Bittman book, because his meals are also fresh, lots of variations so you can vary depending on the produce available.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Here are the cookbooks that are my most used, with lots of everyday simple good recipes.

America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
(And it looks like they just made a "healthy" version of the book, which I will absolutely be looking into!)

Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (an updated classic!)

The New Best Recipe (Cooks Illustrated)

[Mackenzie]

Originally Posted by kittynurse

The "Simply in Season" cookbook is fantastic!

And it's parent book More with Less... And sister Extending the Table.

All are wonderful books. The two I mentioned have a lot of stories from around the world too...

[jimblejamble]

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home! There are no pictures but the amazing-ness of the food makes up for it.

[Jenivere]

http://www.amazon.com/River-Cottage-...6736156&sr=1-3

[Caneel]

Not a cookbook but I really like this cooking blog - http://simplyrecipes.com/

[BetsyS]

I like Moosewood's Simple Suppers. Everything always turns out well from there.

I also really like my Ultimate Southern Living cookbook. It's a great, basic cookbook. You could pick any that you like--Betty Crocker, Joy of Cooking, America's Test Kitchen (if you like lots of instructions). Those basic cookbooks help you with, well, basic meals. If you use good ingredients, then they'll turn out well. From that Southern Living, I get my pancake recipe, chicken marinades, chicken casseroles, gumbo, profiteroles (very easy and very impressive for company), chocolate pie, meatloaf. You name it, it's in there.

[Addie]

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is essential. No pictures, you don't need 'em. The vegetarian version is great as well.

I'd also like to echo another poster's suggestion of food blogs. They're accessible and free, and you can read the comments for further ideas and inspiration. Some of my favorites (just google the names): Smitten Kitchen, Orangette, Simply Recipes, David Lebovitz, 101 Cookbooks, Homesick Texan.

[mamadelbosque]

I *LOVE* bon appetit's FAST EASY FRESH cookbook... everything so far is super good and fairly easy and quick.

I"m also a *HUGE* fan of mark bittman - his books How too Cook Everything and HTCE: Vegetarian are the two books that basicly taught me to cook. Love'm.

[mamakah]

I LOVE this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Six-OClock-Scr...6853334&sr=8-1
and this one:
http://www.amazon.com/SOS-OClock-Scr...6853334&sr=8-2
* Every once in awhile she uses one debatable ingredient like canned cream of mushroom soup, but for the most part it's fresh ingredients with whole grains. Both books are broken up into Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall meal plans for each week. She makes sure to use what's in season for each plan. They are usually one or two meat dishes a week, one fish dish, and the rest vegetarian. She also usually has a vegetarian alternative listed in the ingredients (like mushrooms instead of beef).
All meals have a short ingredients list and it's unusual for a recipe to have a cook and prep time longer than 30 minutes. Of course, that all depends on how long it takes to chop veggies. I always use more garlic and seasoning than recommended.
Here is her meal planning website that basically has the recipes from both books and then some, she comes up with a meal plan and posts it each week complete with grocery list. I have saved so much money since discovering these books and website, and we eat way healthier.
I made her baked spinach and mushroom risotto tonight! Yum!
http://thescramble.com/

[giraffee]

I love Pioneer Woman recipes. There are lots on her website and the book is pretty awesome. And she has pictures for all steps! This is her own cooking http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

And this is shared recipes: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/

[greeny]

I love Joy of Cooking.

[RabbitMoonMama]

Years before I went gluten-free, my favorite was the Low-Fat Pasta Cookbook from Sunset Books. Some of the recipes are meat and carb-heavy, but are balanced by a generous portion of vegs and herbs and are easy as pie. My go-to recipe was onions, garlic, and Italian sausage meatballs sauteed and then simmered with broth, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, flat-leaf parsley and two cups of pasta. Not all the recipes have pictures, but the pics that are there cover a full page.

[Owen'nZoe]

As others have mentioned, if you can get over the need for pictures (which I do understand! I'm always more likely to use my books with pictures when I'm feeling uninspired and bored, too.), How to cook Everything and More with Less are great cookbooks.

If you really need pics and want cheap, I've actually got a bunch of the ethnic cookbooks from Borders, and they aren't bad. Most call for fresh ingredients (except the Four-Ingredient Cookbook, which relies heavily on prepared foods), and while they call for some exotic ingredients, a lot of the recipes in most of the cookbooks do not. And you can't really beat $6 for a cookbook with big, beautiful photos on every page.