Sometimes (or, usually) you don’t want to go out and buy 5,000 ingredients just to cook dinner for your family.  Chef and writer Mark Bittman understands the necessity of simplicity in his book How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food. 

Knowing that most cooks don’t have access to fancy heating methods or expensive tools, Bittman includes straightforward recipes and cooking methods for a huge array of different dishes and cuisines.  Now celebrating ten years in print, How to Cook Everything has been lauded by professional chefs like Mario Batali who use its worldly recipes for everything from Pad Thai  to mashed potatoes, hummus to pork steaks with baked apples.