"The Art of Simple Food" by Alice Waters. It's an amazing book and has a TON of superb recipes that are far more natural/wholesome/incredible than any other cookbook.
The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Simple-Food-Revolution/dp/0307336794
Good starter book and keeps ingredients to a minimum while focusing on taste. I love Americas Test Kitchen books and highly recommend them. But they do love long ingredient lists which can be expensive when you want to cook many recipes.
Also would recommend learning to bake bread. It's not hard with some practice and is wonderful addition to any meal. Both these books are favorites of mine. The first is a great starting point. The second gets more technical if you want to learn more.
The Complete Book of Bread
And
The Bread Bakers Apprentice