Cook Simply, Live Fully: Flexible, Flavorful Recipes for Any Mood

From New York Times Cooking contributor Yasmin Fahr comes a guide to tackling weeknight dinner, with simple, delicious recipes that suit the needs of even the busiest home cooks.

What’s for dinner? It’s a question we ask ourselves most nights—pressed for time or groceries, searching through the fridge for inspiration. Dinner can be a time to unwind and connect with family or friends, but for many home cooks, it can also feel like a chore.

Recipe developer and cookbook author Yasmin Fahr gets it, and is here to help readers create nourishing, quick and easy meals even when real life seems to have other plans. In Cook Simply, Live Fully she offers 120 recipes for taking the grind out of dinnertime, with dishes that span the range of “too tired to chop vegetables” to “up for a challenge but please make it snappy.”

Yasmin’s approach is all about simplicity and flavor while keeping things nutritious and vegetable-forward. Cook Simply, Live Fully is organized into three progressive sections based on energy level and mood. Lap Dinners includes low effort/high reward one-pan meals such as Sheet Pan Asparagus with Tomatoes, Eggs, + Feta. Readers can take things up a notch in Coffee Table Dinners with satisfying dishes that require a little more prep work, like Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapes, Feta + Mint. At the Dinner Table is for those days when time and energy are not at a premium, or when entertaining is on the menu, including Roasted Mustard Salmon with Hint-of-Mint Escarole Salad with a side of Blistered Olive + Asparagus Salad with Feta + Turmeric-Stained Onions (with suggested wine pairings!).

Yasmin’s recipes are designed to teach readers how to become better, more intuitive cooks, and are open to creative substitutions (and some trial and error). Throughout, she shows readers how to transform the familiar by creating new pairings and exciting flavor combinations that will inspire endless iterations—all while keeping prep and cleanup time to a minimum. An inviting, beautifully styled cookbook for weeknight meals featuring 75 full-color photographs, Cook Simply, Live Fully is the answer to the most difficult question home cooks face every day, and is sure to become a trusted resource for years to come.

This practical cookbook delivers solutions for every energy level:

• Simple Recipes for Every Mood: Organized into three sections based on your energy—from “Lap Dinners” to “At the Dinner Table”—so you can always find a meal that fits your night.
• Sheet Pan Meals: Discover low-effort, high-reward hits that minimize cleanup without sacrificing flavor, like Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapes, Feta + Mint.
• Vegetable-Forward Cooking: Keep things nutritious and delicious with creative, vegetable-packed dishes that make vegetables the star of the show.
• Intuitive Cooking Skills: Learn to transform familiar ingredients with new pairings and creative substitutions that will build your confidence in the kitchen.