Cookbooks to Get You Started, February 2012

Want to ditch the just-add-water meals and takeout menus and start learning to cook like an actual human? You may be busy all day, but it doesn’t take much to throw together a nice homemade meal, and Rachel Ray can help. She opens the book with a solid list of basic ingredients you should always have on hand, then launches into a series of quick, easy recipes, each categorized as “Meals for the Exhausted,” “Meals for the Not Too Tired,” or “Bring it on! (But, Be Gentle).” Get yourself to the express lane and then to the kitchen to find your inner Rachel Ray!