[.ca] Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry (ISBN 0066214483)

From Amazon.com:
Donna Hay, Australia's bestselling cookbook author, understands our pain. The pain, that is, of producing delicious meals when time is tight and we really can't shop--again. Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry presents a blueprint for from-scratch good eating that relies on a thoughtfully stocked larder, a few fresh ingredients, and truly streamlined recipes. The idea isn't new, of course, but Hay finds a better way with it, presenting recipes like Pasta with Pancetta and Peas; Lime, Beef, and Noodle Salad; and Green Olive and Baked Chicken that are truly quick and easy to do. First published in Australia, Off the Shelf arrives here in an edition meant to work for American cooks; if ingredient names, quantities, and some operations aren't always completely "translated" (one recipe calls for English spinach leaves) or given conventional American form, willing readers will still be able use it most productively. Organized by ingredients and topics, the book offers buying advice throughout, regular recipes, and Short Order sections that distill formulas, such as those for Lemon and Basil Pilaf and Marinated Chickpea Salad, into get-the-drill-quickly paragraphs. Among the fuller-dress recipes, readers will surely want to try Beef and Caramelized Onion Couscous Salad, Crispy Spiced Thai Chicken, and Seared Salmon on Coconut Spinach, among others. Sweets, including Burnt Vanilla Creams and Chocolate Honey Snaps, are also delicious and easily accomplished. With truly useful tips (cut overlong cooked noodles to make them more manageable is one why-didn't-I-think-of-that example), an oversize bravura design, and color photos throughout, the book shows and tells how to cook with the greatest ease. --Arthur Boehm

Wonderful photos,easy meals:
In keeping with Donna Hay's other books this has wonderful photos. It is so nice too look at one would buy it just to look at the photos or to display. However Donna does not let us down in regards to content. The recipes are simple enough to attempt yet interesing enough to taste great. It is organized in such a way that by choosing an item from your pantry you can create a meal.So those days when all you have left in the cupboard is pasta Donna can give you a new way to prepare it. I recommend this book for those of us who want to discover the soul of cooking.

Off The Shelf: Cooking From the Pantry:
Most of the recipes don't have more than 5-7 ingredients, mostly items from the pantry but there are always 2-3 fresh items that really make the difference. There are pictures for every single recipe, very useful for when you want to know what the dish should really look like. The gorgeous pictures alone are worth the price of the cookbook, wonderful to browse when you are trying to figure out what to cook. The only negative is that the recipes are not inherently low fat, but it's easy to substitute high fat cheeses etc with the low fat version. The interesting food combinations and easy easy preparations make this an awesome everyday cookbook.

Glad I never need to return it:
My father-in-law received this as a gift and promptly lent it to me. I've been careful, but it slowly became covered in splashes and stains, and I'm buying another to return it to him so he never needs think I can't take care of things. There is a mediterranean chicken dish in here that i love so much that's made only with canned tomatoes, capers from the jar and olive oil, plus fresh basil (the only thing that ever survives in my garden anyway). This book has plenty of quick, just-a-few ingrediant recipes that save the day often when i'm haried & not in the mood to cook. I can't recommend it enough.