One Pan, Two Plates: More Than 70 Complete Weeknight Meals for Two

I recommend this cookbook to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen to me. I originally borrowed it from the public library and loved it so much that I bought my own copy. I purchased it in May 2016 and have cooked exclusively from it and the vegetarian sequel ever since.I had found myself in a cooking rut that even Pinterest couldn't pull me out of. Online recipes are great, but sometimes they wouldn't come out like they were intended to, or pairing a main dish and a side dish was a bit of a chore, or the two of us would get tired of eating leftovers for three days straight. At the place I was in my life, I needed a book I could just cook my way through that did much of the planning for me.There are so many good parts to this cookbook. The flavors are creative and very often jaw-droppingly delicious. I love that they're vegetable-heavy and cook with whole ingredients, sometimes with vegetables that I not only tried for the first time, but are now some of my favorite vegetables because of this book. The majority of them have gorgeous pictures, cook in 30 minutes or less, and serve exactly two people, so there is very little wasted food. Since it's one pan, there are no side dishes needed to round out the meal for either flavor or substance. The author included sections at the end of each recipe with ideas to beef up the meal if you're feeling extra hungry and gave wine pairing recommendations. The back of the book groups the recipes into seasons, so you can cook with what's freshest at the moment. I've doubled recipes and served it to guests. I've experimented on guests with completely new recipes not only without issue, but with many compliments. Seriously, y'all. Praise hands and heart eyes every day for eight months and counting.The only downside I feel I must mention is that there is a fair amount of vegetable chopping required for each meal, since you're cooking with fresh produce. However, I view this more as a natural side effect than a downside. The recipes are vegetable-centric, so to me, taking the time to chop fresh produce is such a small price to pay for the nutritional benefit, and for something so flipping delicious. My spouse and I both work outside the home for 45-50 hours a week, and the lifestyle of cooking daily and eating healthfully has been completely sustainable for the better part of a year for us because of this book.One more tip I'd give to new users, in addition to reading each recipe all the way through before starting to cook and keeping in mind that eating fresh produce means a little chopping, is to cook mise en place. Lay out all your ingredients on the counter, chop your produce, prep your meats, measure ingredients into separate bowls, all before you even turn on the stove. Since the average recipe has you cooking something for less than 5 minutes before adding a new ingredient to the pan, and sometimes for even less than a minute, there is very little time to be chopping produce while you're cooking. We bought a set of little glass bowls here on Amazon that have been so helpful.Eating healthfully with minimal food waste can be fun and interesting and sustainable. I cannot recommend this cookbook enough.

Cooking is something I really enjoy and I cook 5-6 nights a week after long days at work. I buy a lot of cookbooks and find that I make one or two recipes out of them and then they get shelved. This book, however, has been amazing. I've basically been cooking through it, choosing one recipe from each section for each trip to the grocery store I make. I also have celiac, and therefore must eat gluten-free, and these recipes are easily adapted if necessary for those with dietary restrictions (she does point out those that are vegetarian or that can easily be made vegetarian). And there's wine pairings. The book is amazing.Things I like about this book:1) Most of these dishes can be made in 45 minutes or less, including prep. I may cook a lot, but it still takes me a while to prepare my mise en place.2) Meat and vegetables. Occasionally starch/carbohydrate. Perfect and healthy.3) Excellent size portions - some can be quite large, so a third portion can be saved for lunch during the workweek.4) Many of the recipes use similar ingredients (carrots, onion, celery, etc.) and you can easily plan to make 3-4 meals to use up all the produce before it goes bad.5) No dessert section. I'm so tired of cookbooks that claim to have so many recipes but 40 of them are for sugar-laden treats. Yay, actual food.This book basically cooks meals like the ones I enjoy at my most frequented, favorite restaurants. The recipes are easy to follow, she offers little tips to increase the ease and for substitutions, and seriously, once you've heated the oil in the pan, delicious food meets your plate in minutes.I really hope more books like this come to market.

This has been my go-to cookbook since we bought it. So far, I've tried the corn cakes, flank steak, Rib-eye Florentine, and several others. They have all been good and not a high degree of difficulty. I wouldn't say this is a beginners cookbook, but if you can follow a recipe then this is perfect. I like how it also gives you tips or other suggestions as well. I will say that it seems a bit intimidating at first when you look at all the ingredients per recipe (5 ingredients or less this is not), but they have all been easy to find and more often than not, they are ingredients I can use in other recipes or things I normally use anyway. Everything so far has been tasty and made me look like more of a cook than I really am..My husband and I aren't big eaters and have found the portions to more than enough. We typically have food left over. (maybe one more serving for a small eater) However, if you normally don't try to eat small portions, then I believe it to be adequate. Again, the book give suggestions for additions if you find the servings to be small for some of the recipes.My favorite thus far has been the corn cakes. I've made this several times, including when we had guests over. I've doubled the recipe or added a side of meat when it's more than just the two of us. YUM.The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that I prefer books that have pictures with every recipe. A small thing, but I like to be able to compare what I made to what it's suppose to look like!

I’m writing this review almost 10 years later. This is my go-to for delicious yet simple recipes. There might be some prep or new ingredients to buy but this has consistently delivered on taste ! It feels like gourmet made accessible. Since there’s only one pan the clean up is quick. Even if I’ve made a mess chopping and measuring !

This book delivers exactly what the title promises. I've made four of the meals so far and they've all been delicious and simple to make.

Bought the book as a present and they were thrilled with it.

great book recipes are well written and measurements really do make just two plates . great idea for not having leftovers. we make it a point to try one new recipe in the book each month. so far everything we have tried has turned out as indicated. only wish they would have had more pictures of finished dish

Good for everyday

What’s in the book does sound nice, but probably only 1 in 10 recipes has a photo - you therefore have to read each recipe thoroughly to work out what’s in it and what it might look like.