Title: The Minimalist Kitchen
Author: Melissa Coleman
Publisher: Time Inc

[Synopsis]

The practical art of making more with less–in the kitchen!

Melissa Coleman, the creator of the popular design and lifestyle blog The Faux Martha, shares her refreshingly simple approach to cooking that delivers beautiful and satisfying meals using familiar ingredients and minimal kitchen tools. The Minimalist Kitchen includes 100 wholesome recipes that use Melissa’s efficient cooking techniques, and the results are anything but ordinary. You’ll find Biscuits with Bourbon-Blueberry Quick Jam, Pesto Garden Pasta with an easy homemade pesto, Humble Chuck Roast that’s simple to prepare and so versatile, Roasted Autumn Sweet Potato Salad, Stovetop Mac and Cheese, and Two-Bowl Carrot Cupcakes. While The Minimalist Kitchen helps tackle one of the home’s biggest problem areas—the kitchen—this book goes beyond the basics of clearing out and cleaning up, it also gives readers practical tips to maintain this simplified way of life. Melissa shows you how to shop, stock your pantry, meal plan without losing your mind, and most importantly, that delicious food doesn’t take tons of ingredients or gadgets to prepare. This streamlined way of cooking is a breath of fresh air in modern lives where clutter and distraction can so easily take over.

[My Review]

This is a varied, inspiring book designed to pare things down and keep it all a bit simpler whilst cooking, and particularly how to ‘slim down’ your pantry so you don’t have an unnecessary amount of utensils, ingredients and spices hanging around and getting in the way. There are also tips and tricks for ensuring you’re as efficient as possible in the kitchen. I found this interesting but ultimately was more excited about the recipes!

Now, these don’t claim to be super healthy recipes, but they sure are tempting! The breakfast recipes feature a lot of baked goods and some really tasty oatmeal recipes. For me, breakfast is great but I really want inspiration for exciting lunch and dinner options. Enter: the ‘main dishes’ section!

Here you’ll find a range of flavours, styles and complexities to suit various abilities and tastes, from Chickpea Tikka Masala (which I’ve tried and loved!) to Soba Bowls with Peanut Sauce (I’ve tried the sauce part which was delicious), and Butternut Pasta which is high on my list to try when I feel like a carb-heavy meal!

Because my partner is pescetarian I tend to cook just veggie or fish-based meals for both of us, and there’s a good number of those in here. However most of the main-course recipes include some form of meat, and look very enticing! The maple-soaked salmon looks absolutely delicious and temptingly simple (I love a fairly short list of ingredients, it’s far less intimidating!) and there are also some really lovely looking desserts which I’ve added to my ‘to cook’ list!

The photography is lovely and really adds to the book’s elegant and – you guessed it – stylishly minimalistic aesthetic, and it would make a lovely gift for someone too!