Cookbooks are a great way to learn new recipes, enhance your cooking, and broaden your understanding of the kitchen. However, for beginners, reading through them can be daunting and confusing. They don’t make it easy for you either since you have to do a lot of guesswork and find alternative ingredients if you lack something.
However, there are many options if you want an easy recipe book, too. For instance, “You Can Cook” by Kara Allen contains a wealth of advice, recipes, tips and tricks, and resources to make cooking a breeze. If you want to learn more about it, then continue reading. We will talk about why it may be perfect for you.
About the book and author
At first glance, “You Can Cook” might just be another unassuming title, but don’t judge a book by its cover. The author, Kara Allen, uses all she learned about food literacy at Montana State University to bring you a cookbook unlike any other.
It doesn’t try to sell you some family recipes or make things more extravagant or complicated than they need to be. Instead, the book emphasizes your convenience and budget. Food insecurity is a major problem households and college students across the USA must face.
As such, this book is a godsend to anyone who wants to learn how to cook their own meals, save money, and maintain their health. It is neatly divided into different chapters, making it easy to follow, and the recipes are very convenient. If you want quick meals, then this is the cookbook for you.
Cooking is a life skill, but not everyone is instantly good at it. It takes time and effort to be able to cook well, and this book can make you a chef in no time. If you start small and simple, you can move on to more complicated recipes and make your meal times even more fun.
What makes “You Can Cook” such an easy recipe book?
Now that we know more about the book and its author, let’s review some of its salient features. By the end, you will realize why “You Can Cook” is quite an easy recipe book to follow.
Budget-friendly cooking is the future
Inflation is taking a toll on people across the USA. What used to cost only a few dollars now can run you up to 100 bucks or more. It’s bad, and it only seems to be getting worse as time goes on. This doesn’t leave you with many options to experiment with recipes or purchase new ingredients.
Perhaps that’s why budget-friendly cooking is the hottest trend, and it is changing how people approach meal preparation. This book delves deeper into how you can cook on a budget, with limited resources, without breaking the bank or compromising your health. The recipes are easy, affordable, and, most of all, nutritious.
Cooking and nutrition basics
“You Can Cook” is not just a run-of-the-mill recipe book. It contains a plethora of information about how to prepare foods, what measurements to take, what nutrients to take in, and so much more. The initial chapters walk you through cooking and nutrition basics so you are well-prepared for the journey ahead.
Understanding these basics is essential because you’ll need to know the cooking techniques to make some of the recipes mentioned in the book. Likewise, if you want to adapt a recipe or create your own, you will find using what you learned in those chapters easier. This advice and list of tips make cooking a breeze.
Your convenience is of utmost importance
Most recipe books will have you running around supermarkets to find the ingredients for their recipes. This can cost you not only money but also time. What if you’re hungry right now and want a hot meal to give you the energy you need? Well, this book might have exactly what you need in that case.
The book contains recipes with everyday ingredients, many of which you might already have. Most of us usually have some food left in the pantry, such as potatoes, vegetables, and pasta. Following the directions in this book, you can make something of them and make your meal times fun without sacrificing convenience.
The book is easy to follow
Many recipe books start with a long tale about the recipe, the author, or something else. While adding storytelling elements can make for an engaging read, it can make a cookbook more difficult to follow. Not all of us are well-versed in literature. Besides, we get cookbooks so that we can learn how to cook.
This book cuts to the chase and gives you the information you need in a digestible manner. The different sections are separated, and you will know everything you need about the book by just glancing at the contents. The instructions for each recipe are also easy to follow and include helpful tips to make the recipe your own.
It is perfect for beginners
One of the best things I noticed about this book is how easy it is for beginners. Even if you’ve never held a spatula before and didn’t spend much time in the kitchen, the book can easily make a chef out of you. The book shines the most when it teaches you simple recipes for tasty foods.
The recipes are not complicated, and most meals can be made within as less as 10 minutes. You don’t need to be a master chef or even have experience. All you need is a desire to prepare meals and a hungry stomach. Everything else is easy as pie.
The recipes are quite versatile
Another way “You Can Cook” makes cooking easy is through versatile recipes. What I mean is that even if you don’t have the exact ingredients on hand, you can easily use an alternative to prepare a tasty meal all the same. The book contains possible alternatives for various items in each recipe.
When recipes are versatile, you have more freedom to experiment and not mess up. For example, in chicken salad, you can add raisins if you prefer them or lemonade if you prefer a tangy flavor. Likewise, versatility makes it easier to avoid allergens and prepare food that tastes just as good.
Different recipe types to suit different tastes
Many cookbooks tend to focus on a specific cuisine, like Italian or Middle Eastern, or a particular food type, like dessert or barbecue. However, this book gives you some helpful recipes for different foods so you can have a good start in all areas.
From various breakfast items to salads to pasta, “You Can Cook” is a perfect primer to start you off strong and help you prepare meals to suit your varied tastes. When it comes to cooking, the only limitation is your mind, so don’t worry about sticking to the recipe. If you want to add an extra clove or garlic or use additional white sauce, go for it.
It’s really easy, isn’t it?
Kara Allen does the impossible in “You Can Cook.” She makes cooking welcoming and encouraging. The helpful advice, the important guidelines, and the various recipes make it a treat from cover to cover. If you want an easy recipe book to learn the basics of cooking, then this book is perfect for you.
