What is Reddit's opinion of How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart?

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More of a general suggestion for cooking, but I highly "How to Cook Without a Book". It breaks down types of foods into groups by type/method, and then presents a basic "recipe" for how to do it. For example, it shows you the method behind how to make a basic stir fry or a stew, and then all you have to do is plug your seasonal ingredients into the equation, you don't need to go searching for a specific recipe anymore. More of a "teach a man to fish" approach to cooking.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Without-Book-Techniques/dp/0767902793

A great book for beginners is How to Cook Without a Book. Yes, it's a book, but it teaches you techniques so that you'll be able to cook without using recipes. Right now there are used copies on amazon for 1 cent plus shipping.

Popping in to recommend the book How to Cook Without a Book. Lots of basic recipes covering all the courses and stand-bys, plus the mechanics of cooking, recipes for variations, and pointers for other variations.

First time trying to format a link. Hope this works...

"Amazon.com Review

Learn what makes a recipe tick, says How to Cook Without a Book author Pam Anderson, and you'll serve great food fast. Recognizing that most cooks feel challenged in the face of daily meal making, Anderson provides a game plan: prepare dishes based on available ingredients and simple cooking techniques you've mastered--not on recipes you've got to look up and ingredients you'll need to shop for--and you maximize the potential of kitchen ease. Cooks looking for a way to address the what-will-we-have-tonight quandary definitively, or those who feel they lack the energy or know-how to tackle cooking every night, should find the book essential."

http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Without-Book-Techniques/dp/0767902793

Add your preferences and stir.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned How to Cook Without a Book. While it does have recipes in it, it is more of a technique almanac of sorts that teach you how to look at cooking methods in order to create wholesome, tasty dishes without having to follow the dictations of a recipe.

Hi! Proportions depends on your body and your goals. Here's a typical grocery list in my house:

PROTEIN

• Chicken breast
• ground chicken
• ground turkey
• Tilapia
• Beef (weekly)
• Tuna
• 0% greek yogurt
• Bean pasta (Explore Cuisine has 22g Protein per serving and <$4 a box)
• protein powder

CARB

• quinoa
• brown rice
• white rice (moderation)
• salad
• beans
• onion/ peppers/ garlic (& other accompanying vegetables)
• spaghetti squash (instead of pasta, or in a tuna casserole)
• pasta sauce
• rice cakes
• oatmeal (1-minute & rolled)
• sweet potato
• FRUIT!
• Bananas (yep, deserve a separate line)
• FROZEN FRUIT!!
• frozen veggies (peas & corn mostly)
• bread (in moderate amounts)
• almond milk

FATS

• eggs
• avocado
• nuts (raw)
• peanut butter
• almond butter (MAPLE ALMOND BUTTER)
• half & half (in your coffee)
• cheese (moderate amounts)
• olive oil
• coconut oil
• other oils

RESOURCES

• skinnytaste recipes
• the only cookbook you'll ever need
• simply shredded athlete interviews (they all talk about their diet)

MEAL IDEAS

• bean pasta and pasta sauce
• fillet of chicken (or fish) plus a carb
• enormous salad (beans, green onions, peppers) with chicken
• protein smoothie
• * 1/2 frozen banana (key to smoothieness)
• * 1 serving frozen fruit (I mix kinds for a total of 1 serving)
• * 1 serving rolled oats
• * 1 scoop protein powder
• * almond milk
• spaghetti squash tuna casserole
• * (I literally make this up every time I'm happy to write it out if you like)
• one skillet sweet potato burrito bowl (add chicken, modify the recipe however you like)

TIPS

• portion and bake 3lbs of chicken & 3lbs of tilapia at once. let cool and freeze on baking sheet. Transfer when frozen solid to a freezer bag. Defrost a portion overnight.
• you can replace anything white with 0% greek yogurt (sour cream, mayo, whipped cream)
• pick up a carton of your favorite protein bars and save them for emergencies (when you couldn't shop or prep)
• make perusing recipe resources a regular habit to maintain inspiration
• you can shred chicken with an electric mixer (it's kind of amazing)
• make an enormous salad on Sundays, eat for 4 days
• sweet potato microwaves easily, just throw one in your lunch bag with your fillet and you're set
• chili is your best friend!
• so is mustard! All the kinds
• so are pickles (except for bread and butter pickles... the best kind)
• so is hot sauce!
• anything you make with ground beef you can make with ground chicken or ground turkey (sloppy joes, tacos, chili)
• keep a list of all of your favorite recipes/ meal ideas (things to try) where you can easily review it and build your shopping list. I do it all in one place here and organize my grocery list by department to make shopping happen faster.

That's a lot of info, I got a little carried away. Sorry.

Baby steps. Start with whatever. When you find yourself dreading your meals, spice it up. If meal prep stresses you out figure out how to make it easier (that's how I learned about shredding chicken with a mixer). When you falter (you will) figure out what went wrong and how you can improve.

This cookbook has done more for my cooking than anything else. I have both the meat and vegetarian version.

Well if his only restrictions are no red meat or alcohol, he's got a lot of options! But if he can only eat chicken, fish and vegetables, then he's going to be a lot more restricted.

I'd look into paleo, or Whole30 (paleo, but also no dairy, grains, sugars or alcohol) diets and just ignore recipes with red meat - a friend on chemo has had a lot of reduction in chemo symptoms that she attributes to Whole30, recommended by her oncologist.

I like the blog Nom Nom Paleo and she has a cookbook too. Here's her list of Whole30 recipes to give you an idea of what that's like: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/42057515329/the-round-up-30-days-of-whole30-recipes

And here's the recipe index, you can see you can avoid the ones with red meat, or alternatively just focus on the ones made with chicken and fish: http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex

In general, though, if he has some basic techniques under his belt he'll be able to make lots of meals that meet the restrictions his doctor has recommended - my favourites for that are:

How to cook without a book

How to cook everything

Appetite

All the very best to your dad and hope he gets well soon!

Sure! I poked around and found this recipe online, using the same concept.

http://picturetherecipe.com/index.php/recipes/apple-n-cabbage-slaw-with-a-light-cider-vinaigrette/

When I was first starting out cooking for myself, How to Cook Without a Book was by far the most helpful cookbook. Rather than specific recipes, it has chapters on how to prepare a general type of food (vinaigrettes like this are one, pastas with red sauce are another, and so on). It's a huge help to being able to stare at the fridge & pantry, then come up with something on the spot to make.

How to cook without a book Basically learn how to make random ingredients into meals with zero prep. easy, tasty. Great foundation for elaboration.

How to Cook Without a Book

How to Cook without a Book

http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Without-Book-Techniques/dp/0767902793

How to Cook Without a Book Best instructions to throwing together meals.

Tongs

Mixing Bowls

Ceramic Knives

How to Cook Without a Book

Kitchen Timers/probe thermometer

Plunger style measuring cup

I usually tell people to check out How to Cook Without a Book. It has some recipes, but it's more about giving readers a better understanding of techniques, how to put something together from what you already have on hand, and what things you should just keep around at all times because of their usefulness. As opposed to a lot of books I've seen that give a list of things to buy which will then need to be prepped with tools you might not have.

edit: If you got money to spend and really dig the art and science of cooking there is also Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. At just under $550 USD it's the most expensive and most beautiful cookbook I've ever seen.