I first heard about this book on NPR — you can listen to the whole story online — and thought it was absolutely fascinating. While I don’t think I could eat this way completely — sorry folks, I’ve become a fresh fruit and veggie snob — I do think it’s fantastic to show people how to create good tasting food on the cheap. And besides, with the economy the way it is, this book might end up as a must-have for all of us!

So what about you? Do you think you could make gourmet-tasting meals from the 99 cent store?

What sold me on this book — submitted by jspeed — was the recipes. Broiled goat cheese salad with wilted chicory and dried cranberries? Delicious! Butternut squash soufflé with fried sage leaves? Yes, please! To take a look at all of the cookbooks for two, scroll to the right below.

Get the 411 on bookmarking when you read geeksugar’s informative article.

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I recently received a copy of Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking and have been meaning to try some of the recipes. Author Harumi Kurihara, who is often called the Japanese Martha Stewart, specializes in easy, home-cooked dishes with simple but elegant flavors. While looking for dinner ideas, I was inspired by the ease of her recipe for Chicken With Soy and Balsamic Vinegar. It looked absolutely delicious and wonderfully simple. She suggested pairing it with cabbage, but I opted for bok choy. I also decided to serve it with a side of Forbidden Rice. To get the recipe for a deliciously easy dinner,

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To see the rest of the cookbooks, scroll through below.

If you know of any similar cookbooks that you absolutely love, share them with us in the comments!

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And don’t worry, just because summer reading month is over, doesn’t mean we’ll stop talking about tasty reads! To check out the full list,

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Just by glancing through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Meat Book, you can tell it’s one of those books that is destined to become a classic. The first section of the book is committed to “Understanding Meat,” while the rest of it is devoted to various ways of cooking. It’s one part meat manifesto, one part guidebook and all parts captivating. Reading it will help you understand high-quality sustainable meat production, as well as educate you in how to choose and store meats. In fact, I lent the book to TeamSugar and she said,

If you are a meat eater it is a must, as it is an in-depth look into the delicious world of meat. For those vegetarians, the first chapter alone might convince you to eat a big juicy steak.

While it may not actually convert any vegetarians, it is a book that many vegetarians can get behind due to Hugh’s stance of sustainable farming. If the poor treatment of animals wasn’t enough to turn you off of big-farm farming, then Hugh’s descriptions of slow-grown heritage animals treated with respect just might.

Yet, admittedly, this book is not for the faint of heart. For every delicious dish that’s prepared, there’s also pictures of it during the different stages of preparation (including the slaughter). However if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about meat, where it comes from, how you should select it and then prepare it, you should definitely seek this book out. It was originally published in the UK in 2004, but has recently been revised/converted for an American audience. And did I mention the fact that there are definitely loads of delicious recipes inside?

Davidson’s prose is delectably descriptive and she even provides a recipe or two for some of Goldy’s delicious dishes. However the real bonus is that Davidson doesn’t take herself too seriously — she even names her characters after famous dishes (ex. Drew Wellington) — which makes for a refreshing and fabulous read.

Entry #1
LA’s Sarah Kushner wanted to share Nigella’s look/503820″ onclick=”javascript:urchinTracker(’/outbound/teamsugar.com/
look/503820′);”>How To Be A Domestic Goddess. She says it’s the one cookbook she uses on a regular basis.

Entry #2
Radarkitty from Livermore, CA wanted to share the book Sweet Gratitude. She choose it because it’s all about baking desserts and is a fun illustrated read.

Entry #3
SoCalSugar, who’s in Berkeley via San Diego, wrote in to share Christine Ingram’s Vegetarian and Vegetable Cooking: The Definitive Encyclopedia of Healthy Vegetarian Food. She believes there’s a lot of great variety, including hearty and unique vegetarian meals that omnivores will love too!

Entry #4
Llendril writes in from Peyton Colorado to share Dorie Greenspan’s Baking, From My Home To Yours. She loves this book because she believes Greenspan to be a lovely writer who produces even lovelier baking recipes.

Entry #5
Portland based LovaAJN couldn’t choose a cookbook, so instead she’s decided to take a picture with her favorite pink binder. This binder holds her most cherished recipes, including ones passed down to her from her mom.

Entry #6
Chef Farid Zadi, who’s originally from France but is currently based in LA would love to share The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii’s Culinary Heritage by Rachel Laudan. He chose this book because it helped him look at food cultures and food history through a new lens or rather multiple lenses.

Entry #7
France-based Jennifer ended up deciding on The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine by John D. Folse. She believes it’s beautiful and well researched with over 700 recipes that chart the evolution of cuisine in Louisiana.

For SEVENTEEN additional submissions, please

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The book is divided into four seasonal chapters, as well as three difficulty levels, and is full of mouth-watering dishes like Deep-Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with Basil, Lentil Stew with Spicy Sausage and Crispy Pork Belly. It is clear that Stone’s mission is to celebrate fresh seasonal ingredients and to get you, the home cook, interested in exploring the possibilities. There are plenty of tips and each recipe has a gorgeous photo to accompany it.

To get a taste of what the book has to offer — aka the recipe for Deep-Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with Basil —

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However Alice Waters’ children’s cookbook is written from the point of view of her daughter Fanny. Fanny At Chez Panisse is the perfect tome for a child who has shown interest in the culinary world. The book begins with Fanny describing her mother’s world inside the famed kitchen at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse and includes the people who are a part of the daily workings of a restaurant. Later Fanny provides recipes to 46 of her favorite dishes ranging from peach crisp to roast chicken with herbs to garlic mayonnaise — all of which are delicious enough to be enjoyed by both children and parents alike. If you know a child who is interested in learning more about food, think about giving them this delicious book.

As a former punk/hardcore rocker, chef Joshua Ploeg was familiar with the ways of the road. However instead of touring with his band he’s now touring with his knives and has been taking his tasty treats on the road since 1998 — winning over audiences one dish at a time. His specialty is dinner parties, but he also does demos and classes. If you’ve ever wanted to host a memorable dinner party — and it really doesn’t get much more memorable than a touring former hardcore punk rocker turned vegetarian chef catering a full dinner in your home — then look him up and see if he’s headed to a town near you.

He does primarily tasty vegan treats, however he has been known to dabble in butter and can prepare full vegetarian meals as well. If you think a vegetarian dinner can’t be fantastic, I’ll put an end to your cynicism by saying that it was absolutely wonderful — in fact two non-vegetable eating pals also loved the meal.

If he’s not headed to a town near you, you can bring his ideas home instead. Over the last few years, Ploeg has self-published several vegan cookbooks including Something Delicious This Way Comes and Twelve Knights In My Kingdom, which contain things like anise tea cookies, breaded eggplant in spicy garlic sauce, ginger stick salad, and a delectable fried orange bread with coconut relish and orange sugar.

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The New Basics is such a complete and reliable source for recipes that I never have to pack my cookbooks or recipe folders. In summer, I make the key lime pie and in winter I make the cheese and beer soup. Usually I prefer cookbooks with lots of colorful images, but the blank pages and black and white illustrations are oddly comforting. If you are looking for a cookbook that basically covers everything, I suggest checking this out!