Simply Fresh - Cookbook Review

Casual Dining at Home

By Jeff Morgan

(Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011)

You probably know the 1960s Rolling Stones hit "Ruby Tuesday," but you may not be familiar with the restaurant chain of the same name. You don't really need to know either one to appreciate the 100 budget-friendly recipes featured in Simply Fresh: Casual Dining at Home, which were inspired by the menu offered at Ruby Tuesday restaurants.

Illustrated with crisp, boldly colored photographs, the book is true to its title, offering "simple," easy-to-do recipes. So often, we find a new cookbook we like only to realize that really only a handful of its recipes are doable on a regular basis. Simply Fresh isn't for special occasion cooking. It's for simple meals that we return to again and again, because they are easy to make, comforting, and the kids will like them, too. This means all-American favorites like mac and cheese, tomato soup, meatloaf and peppercorn steaks; these traditional flavors are balanced with dishes like baked halibut with chile lime butter, quesadillas, Thai Phoon shrimp and spicy sesame noodles.

The book is divided into sections: Drinks, Appetizers & Side Dishes, Brunch, Salads & Soups, Pasta, Seafood, Beef, Pork & Poultry and Desserts. It includes simple tips on muddling, removing avocado pits, making hollandaise and pan-frying steaks. Every recipe includes step-by-step cooking instructions, but we wish the author had given the total prep and cooking times for each dish, which would allow us to gauge our time commitment.

Sure, the recipes in Simply Fresh are neither innovative nor truly representative of our country's great cooking traditions, which certainly go beyond crab cakes and steaks. But while this book may not feature pho, pozole or pierogi, it is still very representative of what most people cook and love: tasty and homey American staples made with fresh, quality ingredients that won't break the bank and don't require specialty food shopping.

Reviewed by Sylvie Greil

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