Publisher's Weekly Review
For home cooks on the hunt for simplicity and savor to spare, this handy volume of one-pot suppers is a treat. American classics like a hearty Roast Leg of Lamb with Vegetables mix comfortably with more exotic dishes like Middle Eastern Meatball Soup, a thick, spicy bellyful that begs to be followed up with baklava and mint tea. Most of the recipes are easy to follow; in fact, only a few call for techniques more complicated than chopping and stirring. A Tropical Shrimp Stir-Fry requires a long list of spices-parika, garlic, cayenne pepper-but the dish itself can be prepared in a flash. Bigos, a Polish hunter's stew rich with sauerkraut and bacon, takes a bit longer, but as it cooks it fills the kitchen with an irresistibly heady aroma. Most of the dishes in this collection are unapologetically heavy, but lighter appetites will find some respite in a parsley-flavored Fish and Vegetable Bake or a bright Summer Minestrone. Dieters should note: these recipes have "hearty" and "tasty" covered, but they get there the old fashioned way; calorie-heavy ingredients like butter, cheese and olive oil grace even the most innocuous-sounding dishes. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal Review
As with Reader's Digest's other how-to books, its cooking titles aim to offer basic knowledge on a particular topic. Accordingly, this guide to one-pot cooking features delicious, easy-to-follow recipes for soups, stews, stir fries, chilies, and casseroles drawn from a variety of cuisines. Ingredients are easily found at most American supermarkets. Readers will not encounter much beyond the recipes, although a few explanations of technique and particular ingredients are scattered throughout. From Chicken Chili to Aduki Bean Soup to Coq au Vin, there are dishes for cooks who are interested in trying the various mutations of one-pot cooking, and they should find much to like and explore in this book. Recommended for public as well as some special libraries.-Ginny Wolter, West Toledo Branch Lib., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.