Customer Reviews

30-minute Cookbook: 300 Quick and Delicious Recipes for Great Family Meals

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While this book is said to be recipes for "great family meals", it is full of recipes not geared toward the average family. Recipes included are items such as duck kabobs with honey and orange, lamb cutlets with flageolet beans, and calf's liver with balsamic vinegar. Not exactly items I would put in front of my 4 year-old and say eat up. This book is more geared toward a formal setting than a family meal on a weeknight. Very disappointed.

I was apprehensive about a quick meal cookbook put out by Reader's Digest. My home cooking tastes are eclectic -- I am mostly vegetarian, and cook a lot of Thai, Indian, and Middle Eastern foods. I wanted to get some ideas for flavorful, unique, but less involved meals, but didn't think that these interests would be covered by a 30-minute cookbook. I am happy to say that I was wrong!

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book! It has an extensive introduction to unfamiliar but flavorful ingredients (coconut milk, fish sauce, bulgur, etc). There are some meat main courses, but enough fish and grain dishes to keep this semi-vegetarian full. I was especially happy to see many recipes that could be made out of things I normally have around the house. Last night I made the recipe for mushroom and bean burgers, topped with caramelized red onions. It was delicious, nutritious, and took 30 minutes, as advertised. Color me impressed.

All in all, this is a great book for people who love to cook, but need some ideas for quick meals. The dishes make use of flavorful ingredients from around the world, so quick meals don't equal boring meals. I'm very happy with it.