Just One Pot: Over 320 Simple and Delicious Recipes, from Hearty Stews to Tasty Tagines
. Reader's Digest Association, $29.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-7621-0683-7
For home cooks on the hunt for simplicity and savor to spare, this handy volume of one-pot suppers is a treat. American classics like a hearty Roast Leg of Lamb with Vegetables mix comfortably with more exotic dishes like Middle Eastern Meatball Soup, a thick, spicy bellyful that begs to be followed up with baklava and mint tea. Most of the recipes are easy to follow; in fact, only a few call for techniques more complicated than chopping and stirring. A Tropical Shrimp Stir-Fry requires a long list of spices-parika, garlic, cayenne pepper-but the dish itself can be prepared in a flash. Bigos, a Polish hunter's stew rich with sauerkraut and bacon, takes a bit longer, but as it cooks it fills the kitchen with an irresistibly heady aroma. Most of the dishes in this collection are unapologetically heavy, but lighter appetites will find some respite in a parsley-flavored Fish and Vegetable Bake or a bright Summer Minestrone. Dieters should note: these recipes have ""hearty"" and ""tasty"" covered, but they get there the old fashioned way; calorie-heavy ingredients like butter, cheese and olive oil grace even the most innocuous-sounding dishes.
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Reviewed on: 01/01/2007
Genre: Nonfiction