The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook: Simple Family-Friendly Recipes for Everyday Home Cooking Paperback – August 16, 2016

The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook: Simple Family-Friendly Recipes for Everyday Home CookingLet’s cut to the chase: I ** really ** like this book. There are at least a dozen recipes that I will be making over the next few months, and most lend themselves to quantity modification (cutting servings in half or doubling recipe to serve more).The main dishes are divided into three sections: 15-25-Minute Meals, 30-45-Minute Meals, and 5-10-Minute Prep (Meals Cook on Their Own). Then there are chapters for side dishes, condiments, and stress-free desserts. There is great variety (including Asian, Mexican, Mediterranean, and US Regional), and most use ingredients that are easy to find in most supermarkets. Each recipe includes a photo to introduce the recipe. Instructions are clear and easy to follow.I purchased the Kindle version of this, and noticed none of the formatting issues that sometimes plague Kindle editions of printed cookbooks.My usual process when I review a cookbook is to prepare three recipes to check on accuracy, editing, and clarity. Here are my three from this book:1. 15-25-Minute Meals —Sweet and Spicy Salmon with BroccoliThere’s nothing easier than baking-sheet dinners, and this is a particularly good example of one. I started with a side of salmon from our local Lummi Island fishery and cut it into 4 servings. The sauce for this is a yummy combination of oil, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, apricot jam, garlic, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Sweet and spicy is right! The salmon is cooked on the sheet pan with broccoli florets, drizzled with the sauce and popped under the broiler for a total of about 10 minutes. The result is perfectly cooked fish with a nicely balanced sweet/spicy sauce, and broccoli that still has a bit of a “crunch” to it. I served this with jasmine rice. Perfection! Super easy, super tasty, definitely a keeper.2. 30-45-Minute Meals —Green Chile and Cheese Stuffed ChickenAnother easy-to-put-together supper dish. This one uses chicken breasts, with a stuffing of pepper Jack cheese and chopped green chiles (yes, that’s all, and it’s really enough). The stuffed breast is breaded with crushed pretzels, some more of the pepper Jack cheese, and taco seasoning. Assemble everything, coat the chicken with the breading, spritz with a little olive oil cooking spray and bake until cooked through (20-25 minutes). I served this with a corn/black bean/red bell pepper salad. Another winner!3. Stress-Free DessertsLemon Curd Mini CheesecakesThese light lemony cheesecake miniatures are baked in a standard muffin tin, which decreases the baking time. Fairly standard graham cracker crust, fairly standard cream cheese filling that is topped and swirled with lemon curd. This recipe depends to a great degree on the quality of your lemon curd. I’ve made this recipe twice now, once with my own homemade lemon curd, and once with a “good” jarred curd. Both were good, but the version made with my own curd was noticeable better according to two friends who tried both in a blind tasting. Making your own curd will add to the time and effort involved in this, so going for a store-bought curd is perfectly acceptable — just make sure you get a really good quality one. I’m not sure this is special enough to replace another recipe I like to use for mini cheesecakes, but it’s a good recipe.So there it is. As I said, I really really like this book. There are so many tempting recipes here that I plan to make over the next few months (e.g., Pan-Fried Pork Medallions with Creamy Wine Sauce, Bow-Tie Pasta with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts, Crispy Breaded White Fish with Sriracha Aioli — all of these are from the 15-25-Minute chapter, plus another 10 or so from the 30-45-Minute chapter, sides, and desserts). This one is going into my kitchen bookshelf (I keep 5-10 books in my kitchen; the rest of my collection is split among bookcases several rooms).Solid 5 stars — I love it.

I was so excited to hear that this book was coming out - and it totally delivers! I've been a fan of Mary Younkin (Barefeet in the Kitchen) for years. I follow her avidly on Pinterest and FB - and eagerly watch for new recipes. So this was a no-brainer when it came out. In fact, I bought two! I plan to give one to my daughter who's getting married in the Fall and I will buy another one as a giveaway for my Mothers of Preschoolers meeting where I'm a mentor mom. Ms. Younkin's recipes are fresh and healthy and just so darn tasty. As a busy mom of older teens now and a full time Realtor, I still need these quick dinner ideas to feed my family. So thankful for her creativity and thankful she has the time to put these together for those of us who don't. I love that she doesn't use boxed mixes and minimal canned shortcuts if at all possible (a can of beans maybe here and there). I want to try to feed my family from scratch as much as possible. And this is a way to do it quickly and simply. And the pics are so vivid - every recipe has one. I hate "cheap" cookbooks where the cover has beautiful pics - but almost none of the recipes are pictured and it's on cheap paper. Not so - every picture is glossy and good quality. For those of us who are visual, it's awesome.The book is broken up in different meal prep times: 15-25 min meals, 30-45 min meals, 5-10 min. prep meals (that cook on their own), Simple Side Dishes, Condiments & Spices (which is awesome) and Stress-free Desserts (yum)! The only thing I do wonder about is the binding. I hope it will hold up through the many years of (over)use LOL. Only time will tell. Regardless, I highly recommend and give an enthusiastic two thumbs up!

I’ve been cooking for years and I used to love it. These days I find it a chore. Sometimes a few simple ideas are all I need. Nothing brand new here, just simple easy reminders. I actually need those sometimes. Haven’t made anything but I can see that they would be great.

I was looking for a beginner style cookbook to give as a gift at a bridal shower and I have to say that this cookbook was just what I was hoping for. I love the ease of these recipes for beginners, that there are tips for cooking and all of the recipes are fairly familiar to me. Some are unique but I didn't want unique. Beginners need recipes they will use for the rest of their lives and that can be adapted to their liking. I also appreciate that the sections are broken down by time it will take to make the recipe. Perfect cookbook. I may just have to get one for myself!

This is a nicely formatted cookbook, and it's well done. Photos are terrific, the recipes look easy to make, and the organization of the recipes by how much prep time they take is inspired. I was disappointed, however, by the large number of recipes that call for hot spices as seasonings. My husband and I are not able to eat hot-spicy seasonings, and so many of the recipes seem to depend heavily on peppers, sriracha sauce, etc. for flavor. I wanted to have a true every-day cooking cookbook that made the chore of daily supper-preparation a bit easier, but I think I am going to have to give this one to a friend of mine who loves the spicy stuff. I am pretty sure she will be enchanted with this well-done, nicely formatted book. I am very sorry the recipes were not for us.

This book has been really helpful in adding some variety into our diet. We do prep the previous weekend for anything we may need to buy at the grocery store that we dont have handy, and plan out the menu for the week. Recipes are really delicious and easy to follow. Excellent buy!