Rachael Ray: Just in Time!: All-New 30-Minutes Meals, Plus Super-Fast 15-Minute Meals and Slow It Down 60-Minute Meals

Great shape like new and great recipes inside!! Very nice and great price too.

I received this book as a gift and was, to my surprise, very impressed. Although I am a Rachael fan and watch her TV shows, I find that the cookbooks of hers I already own, I rarely use. This book is an exception. Whether intentional or not, the recipes in this book seem to be much healthier and use fewer ingredients than some of her other books. As someone who dreads grocery shopping, I have found this book has several "go to" recipes that I can make if I just pick up a couple items at the store on my way home from work. The meals also seem to be more well rounded with more vegetables and leaner meats than others. I really love the soup section as there are very simple yet creative recipes that feel like comfort foods, yet are super healthy. Contrary to other reviewers I find the layout makes the book very easy to read, and I have no problem differentiating the color of the writing from the background. If you want a cookbook you will actually use, and not just admire the photos in, this one is a great choice!

I love to whip up quick, healthy dinners. Rachael Ray's book combines ingredients in fresh innovative ways - e.g. balsamic vinegar with peppers, sultanas (golden raisins), olives on polenta with slivered almonds. This book has so many fresh veggies and grains that with a few substitutions many of the dishes can be part of a healthy diet. Substitutions I'd make: 1. replace the EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) which Rachael likes in abundance - with olive oil spray 2. leave out the butter 3. use non-fat yogurt instead of cream 4. use non-fat cheese instead of real cheese Then many of the recipes in this book might even pass the Pritikin or Ornish criteria for nourishing, low fat meals. Maybe Rachael can give us another one that meet those dietary guidelines.

`Just in Time' by Rachael Ray is an expected departure from her '30 Minute Meal' comfort zone, since her magazine and TV show will naturally broaden her audience to people who have either more or less time than needed for her standard timing. The expansion goes to 15 minute and 60 minute meals. The 60 minute meal category broadens Rachael's palate to include braises and roasts, which also opens the door to using less expensive meats (one of the down sides of quick cooking is that it tends to need the more expensive cuts and sources such as beef and pork fillets, fish, and shellfish, or, less `healthy' forms such as ground meats). Rachael does not emulate her '30 Minute Meal' TV show template in her books anymore. This template involves a three course meal, with a protein, a starch, and a vegetable. She does, however, commonly make most 30 and 60 minute meals into a two-dish combo, usually a protein and a salad, with the two dishes sharing some ingredients. One thing Rachael has not done is to embrace the `cook ahead' template espoused by some of her Food Network colleagues. I applaud this, as I think the `cook ahead' strategy really doesn't fit Rachael's audience, which welcomes her `cooking on impulse' style, best exemplified by one of her earlier books, `Express Lane Meals'. She has also remained true to her understated allegiance to fresh ingredients. Legions of cookbook writers tout their love of fresh, locally grown produce, as if they discovered the idea yesterday. From her very first books, Rachael has quietly embraced the principle of using ingredients fresh from the grocery, with backup being sung by great ingredients from the pantry. Unlike the `70% store-bought / 30% homemade formula by another Food Network colleague, Rachael is virtually 100% fresh or first class pantry items such as dried pasta and canned tomatoes. Either Rachael is getting better at writing recipes or I'm getting better at reading them, but whatever the reason, I find Rachael's recipes just a bit better written than in some of her earlier books. The most noticeable change is that there are fewer `cute' expressions held over from her stream of consciousness presentation in front of the camera (maybe she hired a better editor or recipe tester). Another thing which has not changed is that I'm skeptical that Rachael's typical audience can really bring off a RR 30 minute meal recipe within 30, or even 60 minutes. This is mostly due to her dedication to the fresh ingredients which require more time to prep than the convenience forms of the same produce. She does not even recommend using the pre-pealed or pre-diced garlic. I've found several recipes which require prep work for eight to ten ingredients. So, if your knife skills are not up to snuff, prep chopping alone can take 30 minutes. Like the rule about quick cooking needing expensive ingredients, this leads us to the rule that quick cooking requires good cooking skills. And there lies the paradox. Does Rachael's aud

The cover of this book is reassuring: The photograph shows a Rachael Ray who seems to have trimmed down and started showing her enthusiasm again. Maybe there's hope for all of us who eat her tasty, but calorie-laden, foods to become slimmer and happier. Seriously, this cookbook is for those with high metabolisms. The book's inside seems to have been designed by someone who lives in New Mexico where the prevailing architectural colors are heavy on blue and orange. Seriously, the recipes are printed in blue type. Now, I've grown accustomed to blue corn tortillas . . . but I'm not ready for a cookbook with blue type. If you are colorblind, you're lucky. However, I found the white type on an orange background even more challenging to read. It's a good thing I had my cataracts done last year! Rachael Ray is at her best when she puts lots of flavors together. Clearly, the woman is a genius at appreciating how to add little dibs and dabs of flavor to take simple ingredients and make something new. For those who are looking for new flavors, this book delivers. Don't expect that your tykes are going to like this food, however. This is an adult cookbook. Strangely, the recipes are for four. No one entertains that much so there will be a lot of leftovers generated. The downside of all those flavors is that you'll have to do careful shopping to be ready for a week of these meals or you'll be spending an extra five hours a week heading out for ingredients you don't have. I think this book would have been a lot better with a list of ingredients to stock on a regular basis, along with suggested quantities. Here's an example, for Spanish-style stuffed pepper you need slivered almonds, the ubiquitous EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), white rice, chicken stock, red bell peppers, all-white meat ground chicken, sweet paprika, onion, garlic cloves, piquillo peppers, golden raisins, dry sherry, tomato sauce, flat-leaf parsley leaves, and manchego cheese. I've got four of those ingredients in my kitchen now. How about you? That raises another issue, cost. She's using more expensive as well as more ingredients in these recipes . . . all the more reason why this cookbook is going to be for company in most cases. The recipes are exciting to read. I have a good imagination for anticipating the flavors of foods. As I read down each page, my palate was piqued in unique and intriguing ways. Here's an example: lamb patties on fattoush salad. The ingredients include pita bread, ground lamb, yogurt, parsley leaves, garlic, cumin, oregano, paprika, grill seasoning, cinnamon, EVOO, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, red onion, tomatoes, feta cheese, kalamata olives, pepperoncini peppers, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. That list will bring up another issue, I'm sure. Can you really do these recipes in the time allotted? With so many ingredients, I'm skeptical that I can. I have no doubt that the whirling dervish, Ms. Rachael Ray, can. But with this boo