Many cookbooks are organized by ingredient — like pasta, chicken and veggies. Or by dish — mains, sides and desserts. But not the latest offering by Caroline Chambers.
Her book is grouped by how long each recipe takes to cook. “What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking” has sections for meals ready in 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes and an hour, complete with shortcut tips, slow cooker instructions, ingredient swaps and ways to bulk each dish up. It was inspired by the daily grind: She found herself a new mother, working full time as did her husband, facing the nightly freakout about what to feed everyone.
“I think every single person is daunted by the idea of putting dinner on the table every single night for their family,” Chambers says from her home in Carmel Valley, California. “That’s why we text our friends like, ‘Hey, what are your kids loving lately? What’s something you’ve cooked lately that was really good?’” If you have an hour, Chambers shows how you can make Salmon Crunch Bowls or Sheet Pan Sesame-Ginger Steak & Peppers. If all you have is about 15 minutes, there's a fish dish — any fish will do — with cherry tomatoes and saffron, or a skillet dish with ground pork, Brussels sprouts and peanut butter.
Each is a complete meal, so no need to add a vegetable side from another part of the book. Piggybacking off Chambers' popular Substack newsletter, the cookbook comes out just as summer melts into fall, schools restart and the d.
