Mollie Katzen - Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to work with some of the funniest, nicest, smartest, most food-passionate/knowledgeable people on the planet. Number one in all of these categories is the inimitable Steve Siegelman, who helps me organize my thinking about the broader project, and then zooms into the micro with his brilliant sense of language. A huge thank-you to Steve for his comprehensive supportin every sense.

Christi Swett is my recipe test accomplice, and Lorraine Battle, my food styling partner. Could I do it without you? Maybe. But it wouldnt be nearly as good, and it definitely would be a whole lot less fun.

Major thanks to Beth Shepard for being here for me, alwaysfor the big, medium-sized, and little pictures, all of them important and insistent.

To Janet M. Evans, graphic designer extraordinaire: I have loved sitting with you at the computer for umpteen hours, and I am thrilled with the results. You are a true example of artistic talent minus the temperament! There should be more of you in the world, but for now, Ill settle for just one. And thanks to Philip Rolph Scanlon for feeding us.

To my wonderful mother, Betty Katzen: Thank you for everything-in-general, and for your brisket recipe in particular.

To my children, Sam Black and Eve Shames: Thank you for your inspiration and advice, and for your great taste in food (and in everything else). And thanks to my terrifically helpful, unofficial focus group for your great input: Steve Troha, Sarah Goodin, David Havelick, Becca Hunt, Laura Mead, and Cooper Reaves.

To Ted Mayer and everyone at Harvard University Dining Services, and to all the many incredible Harvard students who have so generously shared meals, stories, and helpful feedback over the past number of years: Much appreciation for the honor of collaboration and friendship.

Thanks to Ken Swezey for providing consistently excellent pragmatic support; to Will Schwalbe for your generosity of spirit and your dead-on sense of context; and to Robert MacKimmie for being my garden-and-photo guru and champion.

Bob Miller is a publishing visionary, and a one-man cheerleading squad who has helped me stay buoyant throughout the past more than a dozen years. Big thanks to Bob, and to the gang at HarperStudio: Debbie Stier, Sarah Burningham, Julia Cheiffetz, Katie Salisbury, Kim Lewis, Nikki Cutler, Lorie Young, Leah Carlson-Stanisic, Doug Jones, and Mary Schuck (cover maven). Youre the best!

Much appreciation to Kathie Ness, who is a most respectfully submitted copy editor, and to Elizabeth Parson for building the index.

Special thanks to Lara Gish and the Kashi Company for their support of get-cooking.com, and for their impressive work in making healthy products taste singularly delicious. However you do it, please keep it up.

We all love food, and we all know what we like. But for many peoplesadly, frustratinglythe love of food doesnt necessarily translate into happy, good eating on a daily (or even weekly or monthly or any kind of regular) basis. Somehow, as our options have increasedfrom restaurants and takeout to more and more frozen heat-and-eat options of every kindthe fine, ancient craft of cooking has become something of a lost art. Why it that? What bridge is out?

I truly believe the missing link is pure knowledge: learning how to cookfor realand then falling in love with it so much that we find ourselves making the time for it. Over and over. And then it becomes part of our lives.

Heres the irony: Interest in cooking is at an all-time high. We love everything from watching cooking shows and competitions on TV to blogging about where to get the best banh mi sandwich. But thats not what Im talking about. I mean, I wonder how many people are munching junk food (or just plain not-very-good food) while watching gourmet cooking on a screen. Weve kind of become a nation of nutrient-and flavor-challenged food voyeurs. Lets change that. Im here to help.

For starters, Im exceedingly happy to present you with 150 delicious, doable recipes that even the most inexperienced person can walk into any kitchen right now and make for dinner tonight. The cuisine is what I like to call Big Tent, accommodating a broad base of tastes and needs, vegetarian and meat-loving and everything in between. Im talking about soup-from-scratch, pastas that are light and well seasoned, salads you can make quickly and well, classic meat dishes with vegetable and potato sides to round them out, and plenty of vegetarian recipes (many of them vegan) that will please just about everyone. Youll find this food to be boldly seasonedtheres absolutely no need for beginning to mean blandwith lots of ethnic influences and flavors to keep things interesting.

These recipes are written in a way that I hope you can grasp in a single read-through, with a list of ingredients that isnt overwhelming and step-by-step instructions that really walk you through the process. The key phrase is read-through, which I hope youll take literally, as a thorough grasp of the tasks at hand will make all the difference between driving the boat and drifting around at sea. I want to stand beside you (in spirit and in information, if not in person) as you cook, letting you know what to expect and what things should look like as your meal goes from idea to reality.

Along with the recipes, I have also included many handy skills for learning how to cook the food you love in your own (possibly first) kitchenin your own way and often. I hope these recipes and advice will give you both the knowledge and the confidence to find the link between your appreciation of food and your ability to prepare it with your own two hands. Joy and pleasure and fun (and a newborn sense of accomplishment) can be yours all along the learning curve.

IS THIS YOU ?

Does this sound familiar? You find yourself eating pizza or fast food more nights a week than you wish. Higher-end takeout is an occasional option, but its expensive. You regularly crave a home-cooked meal at the end of the day instead of that slab of pizza. Youd really rather be eating a healthier, tastier, and more balanced diet. Youre curious about flavor combinations and interesting cuisines (ethnic and otherwise), and youd like to experiment. Youd also like to know what the heck youre doing in the process. And most of all, youd like to have what you really enjoy, rather than settling for someone elses idea of whats good.

Youd like to think of yourself (and have your friends and family think of you) as someone who knows how to cook.

Youd like to share the pleasure of food and drink with your friends, without spending a ton of money at a restaurant. You fantasize about everyone getting together to shop, cook, eat, and hang out till all hours at your place without using up your entire months entertainment budget in a single evening.

But youre not sure where to begin. You leaf through cookbooks, surf the web, pick up a food magazine at the grocery storeand end up reading it in bed rather than cooking from it (or not reading it at all because its too slick, and youre sure its been written for someone else).

YOUR NEW COOKING LIFE