I enjoy the recipes in this cookbook immensely and I also enjoy adjusting them to what I have in the fridge - they are great inspiration. My sister and mother requested it as gifts and love theirs as well!

I don't love the organization. It is set up with recipes listed by season, Spring, SUmmer, Fall and Winter. I'd rather have them listed by meal course and main ingredient such as poultry, beef, lamb, etc. This set up makes it hard to find and flip easily through my options when planning a week of meals.

Love it, what a great and easy cookbook. every recipe is something that a whole family will love from husbands to kids. and i can not say enough about how easy they are to make. which is so important for a mom like me! i recommend this for an experienced cook or a beginner cook. LOVE IT!

This cookbook is divine. I look forward to giving it as a gift. The pictures are beautifully done. The recipes are easy.

xxoo

I love this cook book!!!

I have been a subscriber to Everyday Food since it's conception and have been wonderfully impressed with the recipes. Both easy and delicious make the recipes a "go to" solution to my chaotic life! When I stumbled upon this cookbook I was thrilled! I ordered it right away and then sat down to read it (yes, I sit down and read cookbooks like a good novel) and tagged recipes (out of 250 recipes I tagged over 200) that interested me minutes after UPS dropped it off.

I am a cookbook fanatic (owning over 150 cookbooks) and an intense foodie. That being said, however, I am a mother of 2 young boys and getting dinner on the table quickly during the week is a priority. I consider 30 minutes prep. time the outside limit.

This cookbook quickly rose to my #2 spot (behind the publications by Cuisine at Home) for everyday recipe ideas. The recipes are quick, most 30 minutes or less, healthful, easy, and delicious. I question some reviews saying the recipes were fussy and fancy. Another plus, which I love in a cookbook, were the full page, full color pictures for each recipe. Those pictures made me hungry just looking at them!! The layout is wonderful with the recipes organized seasonally.

Really, I cannot say enough about this cookbook. I would certainly recommend it without reservation to anyone. Quick, easy, healthful, and delicious....what more could anyone ask for?

I've probably cooked about half of the recipes in this book as well as being a subscriber to the magazine. Aside from my COOKs Illustrated books, I could throw all the other cook books out. The recipes are easy to make and flavorful. My husband and I have this book on heavy rotation for week night dinners when there isn't much time. I only wish they offered a LIGHT version of some of the recipes... the nutritional value on some of our faves have sky-high caloric content but boy are they yummy!

Truth be told, I really don't care much for the PBS series upon which this Martha Stewart Living cookbook is based, as a cast of robotic, interchangeable hosts push through a battery of recipes in a shared kitchen set-up. However, this 250-recipe cookbook focuses specifically on the often appetizing dishes they produce and the comparatively easy-to-follow recipes necessary to create them. As a result, it's a winner. Though not as definitive as The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, this one is fast becoming the one I use the most for fast dishes with a healthy orientation along with Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life.

The first thing you notice is the first-class graphic quality commensurate with Martha Stewart's premium brand. Each recipe has a full-color photo of the meticulously presented dish and the general prep time which is rarely more than thirty minutes. But unlike Rachael Ray's belligerent mantra, it's only the prep time which follows that parameter as total cooking for some of the recipes can take well over an hour. The benefit is a more interesting variety of dishes than Ray could possibly make. I have to admit my favorite section is toward the end, the twenty pages that make up the Basics section (pages 345-363) - quick recipes for vinaigrettes, dry rubs, herb sauces and beginner's chicken, as well as the proven fool-proof techniques for perfect pasta, tomato sauce, polenta, risotto, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Among the main recipes divided rather arbitrarily into the four seasons, my favorites have been the simplest to make - the Garlic-Roasted Chicken Breasts (page 275), Thai-Style Steak Salad (page 50), Roasted Salmon with Lentils (page 228), many of the quick seasonal side dishes. For dessert, I have made the Strawberry Shortcakes and Lemon Custard Cakes to great acclaim. I have even been able to make great egg salad sandwiches by following their procedure for boiling eggs, far different from the years-ago information from my mother. My complaints with the book are relatively minor - a heavy reliance on heavy cream in some recipes where skim milk would likely be fine; nutritional information is relegated to an index rather than presented with the recipe; my preference for a ring-bound binder rather than a clothbound book for easier shopping and cooking. Otherwise, this is a great addition to any kitchen library.

This cookbook is great for both beginning and seasoned cooks. Easy to prepare dishes that look and taste like they took hours! I have not found a bad recipe in the book yet!

I have bookmarked over half of the book, but in all actuality I would make any one of the recipes in this book. Everything looks amazing, and having tried many already, it was worth the money! Martha Stewart knows how to cook good food, and with out a lot of work in the kitchen!

A really practical, great cookbook. I tried several recipes already. They all appear to have been well tested because they have all been successful and delicious. I have many cookbooks and use this one the most.

When, I got this cookbook, I thought I just might throw out all of my other cookbooks! The pictures are wonderful - and my food looks just like it! I love making such beautiful and delicious recipes for my family - with so many interesting, fresh healthy ingredients. The recipes are elegant but not complicated. I have converted all the recipes to WeightWatchers POINTS - and there are many low point options in here. The food incorporates a lot of fresh ingredients and a lot of interesting ways to make vegetables. There are also great salads in it. My family is REALLY happy! Thanks, Martha!

For lovers of cooking and NOT, the directions are easy to follow for quick and tasty meals, not to mention healthy too! Push your other cook books aside.

I have had this book for a while now, and every time I am in a bind and need to whip up something fast that I KNOW will taste great, I reach for this. These recipes are not for food snobs, they use everyday ingredients and are generally not too fancy. But I appreciate recipes sometimes that aren't too fussy. I LOVE the beautiful pictures that accompany every recipe. These recipes are easy to modify to be lower in fat, adjusted to suit your tastes, etc.

And my favorite recipes are... Favorite Turkey Burgers, Chicken Parmigiana, Cobb Salads, Molten Chocolate Cakes (super easy and great for last minute guests, impressive!), and various salad dressings. There are sooo many more that I am planning on making though. Hmmm... maybe tonight! This book can make a beginner look good and a seasoned cook can get new ideas. The recipes for sides are fabulous also. Great How-to and basic recipes in the back.

This book prompted me to subscribe to the magazine and get my sister the gift subscription. She loves the mag so I am planning on buying this for her and also my cousin who is getting married soon.

I like many of the dishes. The photos are wonderful, very inspiring.
My petpeeve is that it says 'fast' in the title, but some of the dishes take 45 minutes to produce. 45 minutes is not fast when you come home from work and need to throw something together! Also, this book is organized by the 4 seasons, which is creative. But, I personally like the traditional categorization better, having all the meat dishes in one section, and so on...

We will be using this book for dinners often. I recognize a few recipes from the magazine - but most were new to me. They are all explained well, they each have photos and they do not appear to be too complicated to make.

Every recipe I have tried from this cookbook I would make again! The recipes are quick, easy, and use ordinary ingredients that create delicious meals. I love that there is a photograph for every recipe, nutritional information for every recipe, and even some basic "how-to" cooking tips. I shared some of the recipes I tried with friends - they enjoyed them so much they bought the book for themselves and have loved everything they have tried. It's a great cookbook for new cooks or gourmet cooks!

If you're a fan of the magazine, you have to buy this book. Many of the meals are simplified versions of longer, harder-to-make recipes, but the results are just as delicious, and you can always "make them your own". Recipes consist of ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry; if you do have to purchase an ingredient, it's generally one you'll be able to use again (instead of it hiding in the back of your refrigerator, causing you to find it well past its expiration date). Perfect for beginners or for someone who is always looking for an addition to their cookbook shelf.

This is a great book for busy folks and those that aren't the most skilled in the culinary arts. Lots of really tasty recipes that don't take much time to prepare and are laid out rather simply. Plenty of great ideas for pretty basic foods and some exotic-ish dishes to liven things up if needed. The accompanying photos are very appetizing and quite beautiful.

The only fault is that it could use more vegetable sides and vegetarian friendly main dishes (although subbing tofu for whatever meat is called for is a quick fix).

All said it's worth the money.

If you love to cook you will really like this cookbook. It is filled with many many uncomplicated and delicious recipes. I am a cookbook collector and this is one of my favorites.

This cookbook is laid out in a unique that I really enjoy - all recipes are by season - which is how most people tend to cook. I've already made a few recipes from "Winter" and they've turned out great -- now can't wait for Spring! (after a long Midwestern winter....)

What a great new book to rev up your weekly diet. This is real food that can be prepared easily. The directions tell you how long prep time is and how long from start to finish. All of the meals we have tried so far have been wonderful and look just like the colored picture! My daughter is taking several recipes back with her to college. This book is a great value.

Received this book as a Christmas present since I'm getting more and more into cooking. One thing that caught my eye was that each recipe was accompanied with a picture. As always, this is very helpful when cooking, especially a novice like me. The recipes are plentiful and broken out by season which is great as well. I would personally cook probably 75% of the recipes since I'm not a very picky eater and would try most things once.

My one complaint as other have had is that these meals aren't fast if you don't know what you're doing (making lemon zest is a pain). Since cooking is more of a hobby it takes me a little longer to prepare a meal but I'm getting better. I would say the average prep to table time is 40 minutes and I would say that's on the high end. If you work quicker you can have them done in 25-30 minutes (assuming you don't have to wait for the oven).

I'm 27, male and work 8-5 with no kids so I have extra time in the evenings to make these recipes. My girlfriend and I have started a habit of picking 4-5 recipes on Sunday to cook for the week and head to the grocery store. We buy everything fresh or in bulk and generally pick easier recipes with the occasional involed one since they can be a fun challenge.

Since I've had this book, we've used 5 recipes and marked plenty more for the future. Overall, I would recommend it to those who have a little more time at night and who like to be adventuresome in the kitchen as these recipes are little more involved than your normal everyday cookbook.

I use this cookbook at least once a week. My picky kids have loved everything that I have made from this book. I like that all of the recipes call for ingredients that I am likely to have on hand. None of the recipes call for unusual or hard to find items. I also like that the recipes a organized by season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)which calls for ingredients that are in season which makes for a less costly menu.

This is a great cookbook, good food fast...I bought two for gifts and wish I would have bought one for myself!!

I know most women will think, do I really need another cookbook? Well, with this charming edition I would have to say that it's really a pleasure and a worthy investment.

I subscripted to the little fabulous food magazine "Everyday Food" so I felt that I knew most of the recipes, but I was pleasantly surprised with a wonderful melange of useful new dishes I haven't seen before but which were still pretty simple. The real beauty of this book is the easy font, nice photos of each dish - makes picking out what's for dinner that much easier - and the ease of preparation not to mention the simple list of ingredients and finally recipes that work. Everything that I tried from this book was almost picked on a whim, and it turned out beautifully, I felt like a culinary genius as my friends and family thoroughly enjoyed the dishes I made with this book's help. I have collected cookbooks since I was a little girl and some I have because they are fancy and beautiful and I might cook form them one day, but this one is in constant use as I borrow this and that from each page and mix my own meal. Cooking at home is never daunting when books such as this one give so many simple ideas to turn into a hot supper any day of the week. Separated by season the recipes are easy to find, if I'm in the mood for hearty and spicy I pick winter or fall, refreshing and bubbly recipes are from the spring and summer menu.

I have been a proud owner of this book for a few months now and I only review cookbooks that I have actually made food from. Pretty pictures and pleasant sounding ingredients are charming but if I can't make anything form a book and it's not helpful I will certainly make that clear in my review, I also would never recommend or bash a book I have never used - so I can proudly say that this book is nice to look at, everything in it looks tasty and it actually makes me want to get into the kitchen and cook, and after testing large amounts of it I know that it will not fail me during any meal.

There is a recipe for macaroni and cheese in here that made my head spin, I was used to making it one way from my first Nigella Lawson cook book "How to Eat" and I never thought I could improve on it, but improve I did! There is a secret ingredient that sounds out of place but which made my macaroni spectacular, cheesy and yum - simply stuff that comfort food dreams are made of. I also often buy chicken for dinner, raw of course and then wonder of ways to improvise on it on my way home, well the recipe for the Buttermilk chicken was so easy I forgot I was cooking at all, and once it was baked and I was relaxed in from of the TV with a glass of wine with the boyfriend, the dinner was ready. Sometimes I would pick a protein form one recipe and combine with leftovers I had from the night before, missing chicken with warmed up kasha and sautéed string beans were all hot and spiced to perfection, yet I made then by choosing random sides and entrees from the book. I also loved the beef bulgogi - which looks good enough to eat from the picture, cheesy and herbal asparagus and gruyere tart was a show off meal but really not a big sweat to make, flank steak with lime marinade was ridiculously easy but satisfied my craving for something charred and rustic but with a sour kick at the same time, the roasted salmon with lentils is now a staple on my repertoire - I can't believe I didn't cook lentils before, they are easy and taste heavenly, grilled chocolate sandwiches are now a heartbeat away for dessert when I have my panini press out, the gooey dark richness melts with the buttered toasted bread and other things I loved were seasonal soups and pastas. I cant even remember all the things I made from it but they were tasty and certainly I will make them again.

At the end of the book there are some fabulous pages with tips and tricks that make life easier - it's a section called Basics. It discusses vinaigrettes, eggs, chicken, rubs, herb sauces, easy chunky tomato sauce, how to cook pasta, perfect white rice, best couscous, soft polenta, how to cook risotto, chocolate sauce, whipped cream - basically giving a standard recipe and helpful little bits of info that I sometimes would have to look up online before I used other books.

This book is not expensive and not at all pretentious, anyone can make new favorite weeknight and weekend suppers with its help and the ease of preparation makes it worry proof when hungry family member demand them again. It's really good ingredients and books such as this one that remind me about cooking being a hobby and not a chore.

- Kasia S.

This cookbook is THE best cookbook I've ever had! I'm a beginner level cook/ student who does not have much time to spend making amazing food in the kitchen. This book comes with tasty meals that take 10-50 mins to make. Most average to about 30 mins! Every recipe is also accompanied by a picture. For me, the pictures are so helpful in deciding what I will try next. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to make great things in a small amount of time!

This cookbook is a great addition to my collection and one which I actually use very regularly. The recipes are very simple and utilize common ingredients. I like the fact that this cookbook emphasizes using fresh and flavorful, in-season ingredients to simplify cooking rather than requiring pre-packaged convenience foods. I particularly like the fact that the recipes are broken down by seasons and the beautiful, full color photographs of the prepared dishes. The dishes are presented in a very unintimidating, unpretentious and casual manner.

The recipes themselves won't blow you away, but most of them are very good. The soups are particularly good. The Cream of Asparagus Soup, Creamy Parsnip Soup and Curried Carrot Soup are awesome. The Hot and Sour Soup is awesome as well, just as good (or better than) Chinese takeout. The Chicken Caesar Salad is a favorite of mine. The dressing is perfect and is now my standard Caesar dressing. A few other recipes that stand out as favorites are; Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce, Cashew Chicken, Indian-Spiced Chicken Burgers, Tostadas Salsa Verde and Macaroni and Cheese. The Tortilla and Black Bean Pie and Baked Ravioli are now favorites in my house. The desserts I have tried are simple and delicious. The Carrot Cupcakes and Molten Chocolate Cakes are really good.

I have encountered only a couple of real stinkers in this book. The Chicken Chilaquiles were swimming in tomato sauce, we actually had to throw out the dish because all we could taste were the tomatoes. The Chicken Stir-Fry Wraps and Beef Bulgogi were very bland and the Pork Quesadillas were just horrible. The Molten Chocolate Cakes, while very good, made a lot more batter than will fit into four muffin tins (which isn't a bad thing in itself) but I wound up over-filiing some of the tins and they spilled over while cooking. Just be careful and use your judgement.

Overall, this is a great cookbook and will be very well used in my house for years to come.

i'm just starting to branch out into the wider world of cooking, (y'know, beyond those few mainstay recipes and easy dinners that i've made hundreds of times,) and this book is just perfect for me! i love how the recipes are arranged by season; somehow it makes me feel even more homey and comfy that i'm making a "winter" meal in the winter. i love that the prep time and total time is written at the top of every recipe, and i love the beautiful pictures that make EVERYTHING look delicious and gorgeous.
one of my favorite features is the back section that shows a few basics, like how to make a great roast chicken, the best way to cook rice and polenta, an easy tomato sauce, and a few other goodies.
i just hope they make another one of these beautiful cookbooks, and soon!

This is really a great cookbook! I have had it for several weeks and have made tons of recipies out of it. They are all good, some are awesome! I bought this book for 5 of my friends and everyone loves it. The pictures are wonderful and the ingridients and instruction are simple yet creative. I would really recommend this book to anyone without a ton of time who still wants to make great meals!

I was introduced to this cookbook from a friend and I have bought it for almost all of my friends and we all love it. The recipes are easy to follow and all of the recipes produce great food. I've been writing down comments on all of the recipe's I've completed. It is truly my 'go to' cookbook when I don't know what to make for dinner, or if I need to throw together a quick dinner party.

I used to subscribe to the Everyday Food monthly magazine, but got tired of always searching through them to find my favorite recipes. This puts all the best recipes in one place. If you are not familiar with EVERYDAY FOOD, they are easy to make and quick to make with some simple twists on classic recipes to keep things interesting for your family. If you cook everyday like I do, this is a MUST!!! I purchased one for all my favorite cooks for Christmas!

We have enjoyed about 20 recipes in this cookbook. They've all been fantastic. I plan to buy one for all my friends this holiday. Easy and delicious!

This is a very good book and the photos are wonderful. However, I wish they had some lower fat cooking alternatives for some of the recipes.

Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Looking for the perfect gift! This is it. Makes you want to jump up and start cooking.I have been a subscriber to the magazine since the beginning. Having the book makes it easier to find our family favorites, such as Blueberry Crumb cake.
My ambition is to make and eat everything in this book!

Everyday Food:Great Food Fast is a wonderfully illustrated book. Every illustration makes your mouth water and entices you to try the recipe. The recipes are easy to follow and are not time consuming to make. I

I enjoy how the book is sectioned by season, and also the variety of recipes included. I have found several things to try from the book, however I seem to find more in the Everyday Food Magazines than from the book. If I had it to do over I would have skipped on the book and bought a subscription to the magazine instead.

First of all let me just say, I LOVE this cookbook! All of the recipes are easy to make and use common ingredients. It's also great that every recipe has an accompanying picture so you can see what it's supposed to turn out like. And, it's broken up by season so that you're using the freshest ingredients available. I've made about 1/3 of the recipes so far in the book and only came across 1 I didn't like. I'm buying this book for everyone in my family as a holiday gift- it's perfect!!

This is precisely as billed...great food fast. Clear directions, and lovely pictures of the finished product. Healthy menus that are easily prepared. Love this book, and am giving it as gifts this Christmas.

Maybe not everyone would love the book for the reasons I do, but I really appreciate the vast number of interesting, tasty vegetable dishes using very common market items. There are beef and pork dishes, of course, but those didn't interest me nearly as much as the vegetables, soups, seafood and chicken--which have all been excellent and easy, as promised.

There's a lot in this book--along with some helpful tips at the end, and gorgeous photographs. I was really happy that its not all updated "classic American comfort food" or some variation therein that overwhelms good flavor combinations with too much butter, cream, and salt. These meals have a freshness and flavor that will give them wide appeal, and the preparations are straightforward and easy to make all year long. A very pleasant surprise.

Good recipes, but I seem to prefer my Every Day Recipes subscription.
I've made a few recipes and they're very good. It's organized by season which is nice. Somehow, I thought I'd like having one big volume better, but I miss my bi-monthly recipes more. They felt more inspirational and I can't tell you why....

I found this book very useful. Recipes are correct, not hard to source ingredients, easy to read and tempting to make. Lots of lovely photos. Plus the cover is very hard wearing so it should last well. The perfect book when you are tired and feeling a bit jaded about what to make for dinner!

Unlike many of these other reviewers I am NOT a subscriber to Martha Stewart's magazines and I probably would have shied away from the book if I'd read the cover more carefully.

I'm glad I didn't, though, because I am delighted with this book. I've made a dozen of the recipes so far and only had one miss (we found the flavor of the herb-crusted snapper to be insipid). Our household needs to produce food quickly but won't settle for garbage; we want food that is not only quick but flavorful, using fresh ingredients, and heart-healthy. This book answers all four of those requirements. Food is not only fresh but interestingly spiced; recipes often call for spices commonly used in Indian cooking (the combination of cumin and coriander occurs frequently, often with red pepper). And most can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. The fact that it is organized by season seemed a bit gimmicky at first, but I am forced to admit that the organization makes it much quicker to browse for new recipes -- I just turn to the section for the current season and know I'll find recipes that include fresh ingredients that will be easy to find in the supermarket right now.

The numerous recipes include many for the grill, lots of excellent quick salads that aren't the same old boring veggies-on-greens, and several excellent vegetarian entrees. I can't recommend this cookbook more highly; it should be on the shelves of all households containing two working parents.

As a charter subscriber to Everyday Food magazine, I was excited to see this cookbook come out. I've downsized, and the only other two cookbooks on my shelf are Joy of Cooking and Moosewood Cookbook, so this is a great companion. Quick, easy meals, food that's good for you and pretty to look at. My only complaint is that the meals are divided by season. Cutesy. Luckily, there's an index.

Ok. I just feel a little bit strange to read people reviewing this book saying "sorry, I don't eat seafood everyday, it is not everyday food". You know, shrimps and scallops come frozen and they taste just as good as the other shrimps. This book IS an everyday kind of cooking. There is not 10 thousand way to cook hamburger patties in butter without using spices or herbs. Yes this book is not all about beef and potatoes, but it is fairly simple and low effort.
For people who like to cook, it will seem a little obvious. It is not a grandiose book if you're a collector, but it's useful and has pictures which is for me a must.

I really love how every recipe has a picture to go along with it. And the recipes are simple and fast.

I was hoping for more popular, down to earth meals....I'm not into seafood and some of the ingredients are alien to me. Perhaps someday I'll be adventuresome in the kitchen....

I bought this book yesterday and I've already tried 3 recipes. There is a picture of each dish on the page opposite the recipe (unless it's mentioned on another page) so you can see what the outcome should be. This was a major selling point for me. I don't use recipes a lot so I like to see what I'm supposed to be making before I make it.

Most dishes do not have many ingredients and are easy to find in any grocery store, most of them I already had in my pantry. The meals are quick to prepare and cook and the preparation and cooking times are already printed for each dish so you have a good idea of how long it should take to cook the meal.

The book is organzied by season and I'd prefer if it were organized by type of meal; appetizer, soup, salad, side and entree but that's neither here nor there.

Overall I love the book because I can make all of them in under an hour even on the busy weekdays. I'd recommend this to anyone, but especially those looking to get out of that "different week same meal" cooking rut like I was.

Received the book a week ago. I've made two recipes already which turned out terrific and have numerous more dog eared to make in the near future. A great, easy, beautifully illustrated cookbook.

I've tried many other books looking for genuinely good, interesting, quick to make food, and this is by far the best and most satisfying. A lot of added recipes for staples make this truly indispensible, especially for the working parent.

Very easy recipes for preparing quick delicious meals. As with all the Everyday Food recipes, they are child friendly and are prepared with regular everday ingredients rather than the kind you find in specialty stores.