Dinner in One

May 1, 2022

New York Times food columnist Clark follows her best-selling Dinner in French with 100 recipes designed to cook entirely in one pot, pan, or dish, in under one hour. These weeknight-friendly dishes are grouped in chapters according to the way they're prepared (skillet; Dutch oven; sheet pan; soup pot; Instant Pot). Readers will find fresh takes on soups and stews, pasta bakes, and plenty of roasted meat and vegetables. Clark also includes blueprint recipes for side dish favorites such as green salad, rice, couscous, and polenta. About half of the recipes are vegetarian, and some offer vegan variations. Clark builds flexibility into her recipes by suggesting substitutions for spices, herbs, vegetables, and cuts of meat. The laid-back dishes featuring roasted or baked fish will have particular appeal for home cooks who might normally be intimidated by preparing seafood. VERDICT As always, Clark has home cooks in mind with this collection of streamlined, crowd-pleasing recipes; perfect for beginning cooks and readers looking to build a repertoire of sure-fire dinner options.--Kelsy Peterson

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 20, 2022
New York Times food columnist Clark (Dinner in French) calls upon her decades of “recipe streamlining” in this excellent guide to weeknight cooking. Guided by two questions—“Is there a way I could make this recipe easier, faster, and tastier? And what’s the minimum number of pots, pans, and dishes I need to dirty to get there?”—Clark offers a pared-down approach to making dinner. A recipe for sag paneer simmers a mix of baby greens in the same Dutch oven as the cheese, while Clark’s Instant Pot chicken and dumplings deploys packaged gnocchi. Sheet pans get a workout, using the method of adding various elements in stages: coriander, cumin, and fennel seeds, for instance, get dry-toasted on the pan first to release the “fragrance and flavor” for her spiced brussels sprouts. Many recipes riff on familiar dishes like tuna casserole—here done in a saute pan with spaghetti, garlic, capers, and tomatoes—and creations from other culinary minds and restaurants including New York City’s Charlie Bird (whose farro salad is a favorite of Ina Garten’s). Occasional veg-friendly “upgrades” offer meat replacements, such as doubling the greens in a crispy spicy lamb dish with avocado, while a tempting selection of one-bowl cakes—including an appealingly simple blueberry coffee cake—round out Clark’s tasty affair. Busy home cooks shouldn’t miss this smart collection.