Each meal plan includes 6 dinners, one weekend breakfast and one weekend treat recipe. Do the meal plans have shopping lists? The book includes 100 brand new recipes, each of those was tested at least 5 times. Then cooked again for the book photography. When we received the books to review, we were all drawn to her cookbook first. From the striking cover to the beautiful photographs, along with a well-organized and visually pleasing layout filled with helpful tips and techniques throughout, this cookbook received top marks for presentation, teachable moments, voice, and appearance/engagement.

Needing to give her sheet pans a rest, Judith decided to try out two of the skillet recipes. Using only one pan to cook the Pan-Seared Paprika Salmon With Spicy Green Beans, the recipe came together in minutes—and left a mess-free kitchen. It was clear that the recipe had been tested, with specific notes to use smashed garlic instead of minced so it wouldn’t burn, and to sauté the green beans first before adding water to steam them (charring the beans and preventing them from getting too mushy from over-steaming). She also enjoyed the Crispy Tofu With Warm Cabbage Salad, which to her delight was easy to adapt to one serving.

We also felt that her recipes had the strongest flavors, with purposefully chosen ingredients strategically layered throughout the cooking process. We especially appreciated her relaxed approach to cooking, creating recipes that, as she notes, “leave the cook ample time to visit with dinner guests.” We aren’t having over any dinner guests just yet, but we still appreciate the sentiment. If carbs and vegetables aren’t included in the main cooking dish, you should be able to serve with a no-cook side dish (a salad, a bread or, at a push, microwaveable rice!). Michelle made the Classic Pasta Carbonara and found the recipe easy to follow. When it came to the results, Michelle thought it was an easy-to-make dish that was “cheesy, eggy, porky, and herby.” She had equal success with the Spring Mushroom & Pea Risotto, and was pleased because this was her first time making risotto. She was initially worried that the process would be “labor-intensive,” but found Snyder’s instructions to be clear and simple to follow.

So, in each weekly meal plan, you’ll find two recipes that offer a no-cook side dish alongside the main. Michelle’s second dish was the Steamed Chocolate Cardamom Pudding. As with the other dishes tested, this one also resulted in confusion and frustration. The recipe calls for the seeds from 8 cardamom pods, without clarification on if the seeds should be ground. It also indicates that there should be enough batter for six 3/4-cup ramekins, but she only had enough batter for three 3/4-cup ramekins. When it came to the final product, though, Michelle enjoyed the dark flavor of the chocolate mixed with the cardamom, despite the occasional crunch on a seed. Judith made the Curry-Roasted Carrots & Lentils With Orange-Yogurt Sauce, and despite being pleased with the amount of curry powder used, found Snyder was not clear on what size to cut the shallots, which burned before the carrots fully cooked. For her second recipe, the Roasted Broccoli With Peanuts & Brown Rice, she appreciated the idea of using peanut sauce to entice kids to eat their vegetables, but would execute it differently if she were to make it again (by following her instincts and cutting broccoli into florets instead of lengthwise into slices, the directions for which she found slightly unclear). Michelle put her sweet tooth to the test, making both the Pear-Ginger Crisp and Pour-Over Peach Cake. She appreciated the extra step of toasting the cornmeal in the latter, finding the flavor helped balance the sweetness of the peaches. Her only complaint was that it didn’t call for whipped cream as a topping, something she found only made the recipe better!Taste & Execution: Did the recipe taste good? Were they something we’d want to make again? Were the directions easy to follow or did we have any missteps? I wanted to write the book so that home cooks, and people who aren’t confident in the kitchen, could get good food on that table with relative ease, so a good time could be had by everyone, including the cook.” —Diana Henry Who’s the author? One of the most influential voices in the food industry, the much-loved Jamie Oliver is a bestselling author, chef, restaurateur, and campaigner. Jamie is a household name and is often credited with revolutionising home-cooking in Britain and beyond. Nope! Every slow cooker recipe has an alternative cooking method included (apart from the Slow Cooker One Pan Lasagne, as the other version of that is in my first book, What’s for Dinner? In 30 Minutes!)