Rating: 
Summary: Overlaps with How to Cook Everything (HTCE)!
Review: The recipes alone deserve 5 out of 5 stars. However, since I own both HTCE and the two Minimalist volumes, I was chagrined to find overlap between HTCE and each of the Minimalist books. The Minimalist books do not overlap. Save your money-- I recommend only buying HTCE. If you are interested in the other non-overlapping recipes, borrow the book from friends or libraries.
Rating: 
Summary: great cookbooks
Review: These are great cookbooks (this and his other minimalist cookbook). Not only are the recipes fast, delicious, and simple, the flavors are clear, interesting, and distinct. My husband tends to cook dense, stew-like, Moosewood Cookbook concoctions, which I don't like at all. Now he cooks from Bittman's cookbooks, and dinner is much more interesting. We have tons of cookbooks, and these are definately my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: I Misunderstood the Title
Review: This book disappointed me a bit, so I'd offer a dissenting view from the others who enjoyed it. From the title, I took this book to be a "quick, easy, tasty meals that you can whip up after work" book -- for me, however the ingredients were not always those that I usually keep and the techniques required some attention to detail (not a tremendous amount, but some) and not somthing that you can make up when you're tired and hungry. If you buy this book, you may want to keep this in mind.
Rating: 
Summary: best cook book I've bought this year
Review: This book has helped me focus my grocery shopping much more closely, and I actually find myself planning menus in advance! Bittman's greatest help is in this "with minimal effort" addition to each recipe, where he suggests substitutions. I have learned a great deal about how to use what I've got in the pantry and the refrigerator to make things work - and the effort is cumulative. I've found myself making substitutions into old familiar recipes (and even saving an occasional last minute trip back to the market for something I've forgotten!). Good cook book. I'd recommend it for the recent college graduate, the late-comer to regular cooking, and my sister.
Rating:
Summary: Great and easy recipes
Review: This book has the same appeal as Bittman's NYTimes column. It's great when you want a different and quick recipe, but don't want to pore through a thick cooking encyclopedia to find one. This is a handy, small volume in keeping with the handy, small recipes it contains.
Rating:
Summary: Great and easy recipes
Review: This book has the same appeal as Bittman's NYTimes column. It's great when you want a different and quick recipe, but don't want to pore through a thick cooking encyclopedia to find one. This is a handy, small volume in keeping with the handy, small recipes it contains.
Rating:
Summary: I'm a minimalist convert
Review: This book sat on my shelf for awhile, but now that I've started using it, I can't put it away! Mark Bittman has really taught me how to be creative and use what's in the fridge. The recipes are basic yet give you more opportunities to be creative and add different ingredients. My husband who usually despises salad really loved the Pear and Gorgonzola Green Salad. If you are looking for a unique cookbook, this is one to buy.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book for people with little time to spare
Review: This cookbook has provided me with a few extra oompfs of inspiration in the kitchen when I'm making dinner after a very tiring day at the office. Sometimes I'm exhausted and I want to cook, but I don't want to get into a recipe whose ingredient list is a page and a half long (let alone have to do the cleanup for one afterwards!) Most of Mark's recipes are sweet, simple and to the point. I've enjoyed some of the suggestions for add-ins at the end of the recipes. They've worked out quite well and have even inspired other add-ins of their own.
Rating:
Summary: Most Innovative Cookbook I've Ever Found
Review: This cookbook is amazing. The first time I opened it I wanted to try all the recipes immediately. Then I realized how incredibly simple they are. My husband and I cook a nice dinner almost every night and we use this cookbook on a regular basis. This book guides us through the preparation of wonderful dishes with varied ingredients in a minimal amount of time. It is not a cookbook you use for special occasions, although there are several recipes that are appropriate for a dinner party, it is a cookbook you use everyday in this hustle-bustle life that we lead. I highly recommend any one of asian influenced dishes as well as the Honey-Orange Roasted Chicken. I find the recipes very easy to understand and they are all accompanied by several suggested variations. For example, the Linguine with Spinach recipe is originally italian-like, but if you very two or three of the 5 ingredients it becomes distinctly asian and you can prepare it either way in the amount of time it takes to cook pasta. My husband and I will never be accused of eating the same thing night after night, we hardly ever have the same dish twice in one month. We have probably 50+ cookbooks in our collection and this is the one we use most often.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: This cookbook just doesn't do it for me. One of the most important things about a cookbook, to me, is how "reader-friendly" it is. Are the recipes easy to read and follow? Will I be able to keep my place as I whip around the kitchen? I just don't like the feel of this cookbook. The font is too small and is not conducive to my method of cooking with a book. I read through it all and tried the coconut chicken which was okay - nothing great. I just can't get into this book. Does anyone want to buy my copy?
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