Simple Beautiful Food: Recipes and Riffs for Everyday Cooking [A Cookbook]

Such a beautiful book! Highly highly recommend. Somehow the recipes are healthy and decadent. Amazing for weeknight dinners and entertaining.

This is my first cookbook, and I could not be more excited about it. I ordered Simple Beautiful Food because I wanted to stretch outside my comfort zone in the kitchen. Amanda’s book seemed like the perfect resource to make this pursuit more accessible. It exceeded expectations and has made me much more confident in the kitchen.At first, I was skeptical about being able to take on the challenge. When it comes to cooking, and baking in particular, I had a limited frame of reference. But Amanda’s easy-to-follow intro sections provided a solid foundation upon which to navigate the recipes.I decided to start my journey with Lasagna (p.177), a dish that seemed intimidating for someone who had never baked before. The shopping list on the first page was simple and incredibly helpful, and the best part was that I only had to go to one grocery store.The format of the instructions was perfect for a novice—a concise narrative with bold font for each ingredient and step. There was just enough detail to demystify the process, but not so much as to be burdensome and overwhelming.The finished product was delicious! I was blown away by the result because the experience was fun and simple, and my limited supply of kitchen tools was surprisingly sufficient to create a great result.During the preparation, I was convinced that I had messed up a step or two, and I probably did—but that is the magic of Amanda’s philosophy, which defines her approach, selections and recipes. There’s enough margin for error such that the finished product will delight without sacrificing the stress-free nature of the process.This cookbook has opened the door to more than 100 recipes, and I’m excited to keep going. From a novice in the kitchen, I give this cookbook an A+. I highly recommend investing in it for yourself, and perhaps more importantly, for someone you may know who has always wanted to step up their game in the kitchen. You won’t be disappointed!

The recipes are simple, beautiful and delicious. I love the recipes so much I purchased this for a gift to a close friend.

Simply Beautiful Food is Simply Awesome. I've made a couple of the recipes already (Butternut Squash Galette and Tofu Banh Mi Sandwiches) and they were incredible. I am NOT a great cook but the recipes were easy to follow and the food came out perfectly.Normally, I throw together one of the few recipes I know or I eat out. I'm now excited about eating in and trying out new recipes from this book!I love the shopping list section in the front as it means that I don't have to shop for each recipe specifically. I also love the Flavor Gold section in the back. I admit that I now have a jar of sauteed onions in my fridge for anything that I might eat.Buy this book. I promise that you will love it too!!

I absolutely adore Amanda Frederickson- her Instagram is such an inspiration to cooking! I especially love her 'fridge foraging' on there! I've had this book for a little while now and finally got to cook a recipe from it last night- The Perfect Chocolate Birthday Cake and the Milk Chocolate Frosting. This was probably the most complicated from-scratch cake I've made but it was outstanding, especially the frosting. I've never made a frosting with tempered egg yolks- it was velvety and out of this world!A couple of notes:The ingredients master list for each recipe doesn't have the amount needed written (ex. "Eggs" "Flour" vs "3 Eggs" "1 cup Flour"). You have to find the amounts throughout the recipe. Just trickier for running to the grocery store and insuring you have enough of each thing.The font color was oddly hard for me to read at night with overhead kitchen lights on- that sounds bizarre but it's kind of a peachy color against white and under lights the paper kind of bounces the light. It's fine in natural lighting- just an observation if you cook at night or for future publications of this cookbook!Last note is specifically on the Milk Chocolate Frosting recipe. The recipe calls for you to melt the chocolate early on, set aside. Then after tempering the eggs you wait for it to cooldown for 45 min before proceeding. My melted chocolate had resolidified after almost an hour sitting out and I had to remelt. Not a huge deal but I may make that note in my book for when I make it again because I definitely will be making this again. That may be the *best* chocolate frosting I have *ever* tasted 😅😂. It is out of this world good!This is a beautiful book! Follow her on Instagram!

Edit: I am learning more dishes from her, you can Follow her in Instagram !I love how every recipe comes with a Picture; you have an idea of how it's supposed to look like. Love how all the recipes have All the Ingredients typed on the Side-of-the-book & how it's All Bolded in the Instructions so you have an idea of When to use it. (The only thing i wish there was is: a Story to every recipe but this is just a personal preference as some cookbooks have this, it would make the cooking experience as a Journey)

I've followed Amanda Frederickson on Instagram for a few months. Her recipes on IG have always looked like something I wasn't too intimidated to try (like Martha & some of Ina's), so I preordered the cookbook. It came two days ago & my 10yo and I have done little to nothing but flip through the pages since! It is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I've ever owned. Every single recipe is something I want to make, not just every 10th page like most cookbooks. All ingredients are things I've heard of or seen in the supermarket -- nothing I'd have to hunt down in a specialty store. Every recipe has a picture! I love how she gives the measurements in the body of the instructions. Can't wait to make EVERYTHING in it.

I love following Amanda on IG and have been anxious to have an opportunity to buy her book! I love it is beautiful inside and out just like she is ( I don’t know her but she just seems so genuine ) , there are a number of recipes I’m very anxious try !! A lot of recipes have a fun little twist !

I love this little book. It is colorful both in flavor and on paper and highly recommend!