The Minimalist Kitchen: 100 Wholesome Recipes, Essential Tools, and Efficient Techniques

by Melissa Coleman

Overview

The practical art of making more with less--in the kitchen!

Melissa Coleman, the creator of the popular design and lifestyle blog The Faux Martha, shares her refreshingly simple approach to cooking that delivers beautiful and satisfying meals using familiar ingredients and minimal kitchen tools. The Minimalist Kitchen includes 100 wholesome recipes that use Melissa's efficient cooking techniques, and the results are anything but ordinary. You'll find Biscuits with Bourbon-Blueberry Quick Jam, Pesto Garden Pasta with an easy homemade pesto, Humble Chuck Roast that's simple to prepare and so versatile, Roasted Autumn Sweet Potato Salad, Stovetop Mac and Cheese, and Two-Bowl Carrot Cupcakes.

While The Minimalist Kitchen helps tackle one of the home's biggest problem areas -the kitchen-this book goes beyond the basics of clearing out and cleaning up, it also gives readers practical tips to maintain this simplified way of life. Melissa shows you how to shop, stock your pantry, meal plan without losing your mind, and most importantly, that delicious food doesn't take tons of ingredients or gadgets to prepare. This streamlined way of cooking is a breath of fresh air in modern lives where clutter and distraction can so easily take over.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780848757212
Publisher:	Oxmoor House
Publication date:	04/10/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	49 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Melissa Coleman is a home cook and baker, designer, wife, mama, and minimalist. Her popular blog, The Faux Martha, was named a Huffington Post Top 10 Food Blog and was selected as a Better Homes and Gardens Top 10 Baking Blog nominee and a Saveur Blog Awards Style & Design finalist.

Editorial Reviews

03/15/2018
For full-time blogger and former graphic designer Coleman (thefauxmartha.com), a minimalist kitchen has only the essentials. After advising readers on how to pare down clutter-prone areas and streamline shopping, the author shares 100 recipes (e.g., pesto garden pasta, quinoa burgers, roasted banana cream pie) well suited to omnivore families. These can have anywhere from three to 20 ingredients and include many make-ahead and weeknight-friendly options. Colorful full-page photos and practical tips accompany all recipes. VERDICT Coleman's concept of minimalism—underscored by images of her immaculate home—will interest cooks who dream of a functional, organized, and stylish living space. Though it may strike some as paradoxical, particularly when calls to own less are followed by urges to acquire a cloth tortilla warmer and name-brand storage containers.

Library Journal

02/05/2018
In her first cookbook, Coleman, creator of the food blog The Faux Martha, exhibits an easy approach to organizing the kitchen and cooking. Coleman aims to separate the minimalist from the “stodgy and austere” and largely succeeds, though it is a surprise to discover that a list of “essential tools” for the minimalist kitchen includes items such as tortilla warmers. The author excels when providing tips: a clever dough-stacking method results in extra-flaky biscuits and scones, while scrambled eggs are finished off the burner to avoid overcooking. Ideas for reusing leftovers are also practical: beef tacos are made with the remains of the roast on the following page. Coleman even includes some throwback meals such as pasta with vodka sauce and a chicken Caesar salad. The chapter on drinks features cold-brewed coffee, ice tea, and lemonade, as well as a pair of smoothies, and a margarita and sangria. A dessert chapter covers such familiar though satisfying items as chocolate chip cookies and peach cobbler. Plenty will appeal to those who—like the author—have young children and are on the hunt for swift, simple, palatable fare. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

For years I've been in awe of Melissa's unique ability to maintain a fiercely organized, minimalist style without sacrificing warmth, welcomeness, and creativity. With The Minimalist Kitchen, we now have all of her secrets and I could not be more excited about this!” —MOLLY YEH, author of Molly on the Range

“Melissa helps you bring calm to the chaos of your kitchen. This book is a feel-good, can-do pep talk about how to keep your pantry in order, your utensils from getting out of control, and how to create delicious meals for weekdays and occasions without getting overwhelmed.” —JEANINE DONOFRIO, author of The Love & Lemons Cookbook

“This book is stunning and so clever. My kitchen is the opposite of minimal so it was so inspiring to read handy tips and easy changes to make life simpler in the kitchen! I went straight out and bought food storage containers to get my cupboards in order like a woman possessed!” —MARTHA COLLISON, Great British Bake Off quarter-finalist and author of Twist

“I had the good fortune of sampling some of these recipes before the book was published, and most of our dinners were followed up with a text the next day: Hey Melissa, can you send me that recipe from the book? This book is a game-changer. It not only gives you practical recipes that you will actually make, but it also teaches you to approach cooking (and maybe life in general) with a fresh, modern perspective.” —LINDSAY OSTROM, Pinch of Yum 

“Melissa is the reason my pantry is now filled with tidy rows of lidded glass jars each with a pristine label. My spice drawer now brings me great joy every time I slip it open. In The Minimalist Kitchen, Melissa inspires tidiness and a pared-down kitchen with joy and creativity at the heart of it all. With less clutter we are freed up to enjoy the task of cooking and can then spend more time at the table eating with the ones we love.” —ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ, Not Without Salt

“With a welcoming tone, The Minimalist Kitchen invites readers to choose quality over quantity and gently guides with efficiency. Melissa's book is gorgeous and thoughtful, with a strong focus on wholesome ingredients and simplicity that is often lacking in American kitchen culture. But, most importantly, her book contains recipes that actually make me excited about cooking dinner again.” —SARAH KIEFFER, The Vanilla Bean

“As a new mom I've struggled to find time to cook for my family. I truly miss the time I used to have to make wholesome meals for the people I love. The Minimalist Kitchen is a great resource for simplifying your approach to meal planning so you're able to find the rhythm of your new routine and provide homemade meals without sacrificing quality time with your family.” —KATE ARENDS, Wit & Delight

“A meal planner’s dream tool...this book is for the person looking for quick, weeknight, crowd-pleasers made from ingredients you likely have in your pantry, or will have no trouble finding.”—SARA FORTE, The Sprouted Kitchen

"An easy approach to organizing the kitchen and cooking....plenty will appeal to those who are on the hunt for swift, simple, palatable fare." —Publishers Weekly

“With many make-ahead and weeknight-friendly recipe options, Coleman’s concept of minimalism will interest cooks who dream of a functional, organized, and stylish living space.”—Library Journal 

"Melissa Coleman’s The Minimalist Kitchen shows home cooks how easy and affordable it is to make dinner when your kitchen is pared down to the essentials." —The Wall Street Journal

"Melissa Coleman shares easy recipes that shine with few ingredients." —Woman's Day 


 

From the Publisher