Simple Weeknight Favorites [Paperback]

I'm a longtime fan of ATK cookbooks, and also own "Best Skillet Recipes", "Best Light Recipes", and the 2011 ATK TV show companion cookbook. I was excited to add a new ATK book to my collection.

There are several recipes in SWF that I noticed had appeared in other publications. The same recipe may fall in various categories - it could be a light recipe, it could be made in a skillet, or it could be made in about 30 minutes. So don't be surprised to see an old favorite mixed in with the new.

I have tried four recipes from this book:

Jasmine Rice Cakes with Vegetable Thai Green Curry: This recipe calls for 2 packages of Uncle Ben's Jasmine Ready Rice. When I originally made this recipe in 2010, my grocer did not carry this product, so I made jasmine rice from scratch. This increased the cooking time of the recipe, but sometimes you just have to make do. The flavors, colors, and textures of this dish were a happy surprise. The crispiness of the rice cake, the creaminess of the curry sauce, the beautiful green vegetables against the golden brown rice... Wow. Just be forewarned - you'll need to process some rice in the food processor. Hot coarsely ground rice is sticky!

Orange-Ginger Pork Tenderloin and Carrot Slaw: Beautiful and tasty. The cumin-cinnamon flavored carrot slaw was a happy surprise. To further save time, use pre-shredded carrots. The sauce for the pork called for orange marmalade. I'm not a marmalade fan due to the strips of peel, so I strained the sauce before serving, and it was fine. This dish would be good with roasted broccoli.

Spicy Beef Lettuce Cups (served with suggested side of Sesame-Scallion Noodles): This was really tasty. I bought the suggested Bibb lettuce, although the specimens at my grocer looked rather sad. The lettuce fell apart under the hot filling, so I shredded the lettuce & served it on top of the beef. I should have gone with the sturdier iceberg lettuce. Sometimes you need to make adjustments based on what is available. Bibb lettuce has a delicate texture, so make sure the leaves are well chilled to stand up to the filling. I added extra chili-garlic sauce.

Sopa Seca - a Mexican dish meaning literally "dry soup". Vermicelli noodles simmered in a broth, with tomatoes, chicken, spices, and cheese, this dish nearly gave me a tantrum. I needed to break the vermicelli into 3-inch pieces, then brown them in a dutch oven. I made the mistake of breaking the pasta into a large bowl, instead of onto a flat surface. So when I poured the noodles into the dutch oven, they did not lie flat and every time I tried to stir the noodles into submission, pasta went flying. Ok, so I know for next time. But after all the work that went into it, I didn't like the dish very much. It didn't taste bad at all, it just wasn't my favorite

I am excited to keep trying new recipes from the cookbook. ATK cookbooks are the ones I turn to again & again, and this book will be no different.

I had different expectations regarding this book. The book states `weeknight favorites' so I thought the recipes were in the more traditional category, even kid friendly.

As I flipped through the pages and saw a whole variety of dishes, I thought of one of those buffet restaurants who offer a little bit of everything. This could be good for the person who is trying to expand the palate of the family and they are up for it. The flavors aren't as intense as the original meals so it is not a big stretch -weird- for everyone. But this book is supposed to be simple weeknight favorites, that is, meals that everybody likes any time. I must say, I find it difficult to think that "Chicken with Mexican style pumpkin seed sauce," "Frisee and fried egg salad with lentils," "Glazed Caribbean tofu with rice and pigeon peas," are some of America's favorites.

I have to admit that what I am enjoying the most are the hints and tips they have like: "homemade panko," "keeping scallions fresh," "easy polenta bake," "storing lemons," and other "smart shopping" tips.

It really depends on what you are looking for and for whom you will cook. This book could be great for those who are trying to impress friends with simple but different meals.

I am a fan of quick and simple recipes which are easy to prepare at home. I am also a long time fan of Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen, so I was really looking forward to "Simple Weeknight Favorites". I was sure that once I had gone through it, I would find a lot of things I'd want to try and probably even some I might make on a regular basis.

At first glance, it looked good. It's printed on high quality glossy paper with lots of nice, bright color photography of the completed recipes. There is useful general information about ingredients and preparation also with nice color photos. I especially liked "All about Salad Greens" on page 33, "All about Buying Pork" on page 133, and "All about Salmon" on page 177.

All that said, despite going through this book from cover to cover a couple of times, I didn't really find the kind of recipes I was looking for. I thought from the title, "Simple Weeknight Favorites," that I would discover some new variations on familiar standards, but instead I found what seemed to me unusual preparations or combinations of ingrediants which often didn't really appeal to me. Some examples are "Farfalle with Beets, Arugula, and Blue Cheese", "Frisee with Fried-egg Salad and Lentils", and Chicken with Mexican-style Pumpkin Seed Sauce." How about "Squash, Gorgonzola, and Panchetta Pizza?" Kids usually love pizza but I think that recipe, like many in this book, could be a hard sell to the children in a lot of families.

I can imagine that this book could appeal to adults with a sense of gastronomic adventure greater than mine who are in search of new culinary experiences. I like bacon but wouldn't cook it in maple syrup as one recipe suggests. Likewise I wouldn't cook pork chops in cola as does another.

There are a few things I might try here, but despite the book's title, I don't expect anything I have found in this book to become one of my "Simple Weeknight Favorites." A better source for me has been the Cook's Illustrated book The Best 30-Minute Recipe I keep returning to it as I do to Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times: Featuring 350 recipes from the author of HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING and THE BEST RECIPES IN THE WORLD. Finally, I am also a real fan of The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Delicious Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less along with some of the other cookbooks in the South Beach series.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 62 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars