This is a British cook, so many of the recipes feature flavors of former British colonies, which my rural Texas library patrons won’t appreciate. I found two keepers to make for my husband and myself, though.

Not what I expected and a bit of a disappointment. Long lists of hard to find ingredients, no photos to help the cook imagine the result, and a collection of recipes that I didn’t find very engaging. I expected a book to increase the ease of choosing and making great recipes. That is not what this book delivers.

Lots of appealing recipes here that seem quite manageable in time and effort. The illustrations were really cute and well done but I definitely prefer photographs in my cookbooks, I need to know what the end result is supposed to look like!

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced copy.

This is one of the most thoughtful (if not THE most thoughtful) cookbook I have read so far.

Tandoh divides recipes by the amount of time, the kinds of ingredients needed (speciality vs. common), but this is taken to another level with the inclusion of recipes for those with limited energy or limited ability to perform kitchen tasks (like chopping or grating). That blew me away. This shows that Tandoh truly applied the title of her cookbook to the recipes.

There is also just a great variety in the flavors that are explored, as well as guidance on edits you can make to better suit your palate or dietary needs. It feels like Tandoh thought of everything when creating this cookbook.

I hope to see this become a series of sorts.

This cookbook has a few interesting recipes, although I'm not quite sure the book itself has a cohesive enough theme. I would also prefer photos of various dishes as opposed to illustrations. I do appreciate all the recipe variation suggestions included with each recipe, as well as the make-ahead tips.

Thank you Knopf Day Publishing and Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. Cook As You Are is a great cookbook that I enjoyed reading. I liked the illustrations, the recipes, and the ease of the recipes.

Description: "A cookbook for the real world: a beautifully illustrated, inclusive, and inspiring collection of delectable and doable recipes for home cooks of all kinds that shows you don't have to be an aspiring chef to make great food—or for cooking to be a delight. Just cook as you are."

Something I appreciate most about Ruby Tandoh's latest release is that she keeps everyone's home situation in mind, whether they have a handicap or allergic to certain ingredients. Having variation options for the vast majority of recipes in this read ensures that every kind of reader can enjoy her culinary vision through and through (and it's something I wish more cookbook authors kept in mind going forward).

Tandoh has had an interesting career since Bake Off. I appreciate her approach to cooking and body issues a lot. I do like the idea of making the most of what you have. I did feel like the recipes looked solid. I liked the substitutions and ideas she had. I did feel like although it seemed to assume you might not always have access to some fresh ingredients it did seem aimed at city dwellers. Some of the ingredients I felt might be harder to find in more rural areas which sort of defeated some of the book's purpose. City dwellers really can access pretty much anything but I know some ingredients like plantains aren't plentiful out in the country unless you live in an area where they grow.

Highly recommend this book! I love all the care that obviously went into the making of this cookbook. You can tell the author really cares about people and sharing food with them is their love language.

I do wish there were pictures but the illustrations are adorable.

A BON APPETIT BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A cookbook for the real world: a beautifully illustrated, inclusive, and inspiring collection of delectable and doable recipes for home cooks of all kinds that shows you don't have to be an aspiring chef to make great food—or for cooking to be a delight. Just cook as you are.

"Not simply a recipe book, but a warm invitation to relax into and enjoy the experience of cooking and eating. Ruby Tandoh offers understanding, encouragement and completely glorious food.” —NIGELLA LAWSON, author of Cook, Eat, Repeat

From last-minute inspiration for feeding an entire family to satisfying meals for just one person, easy one-pot dinners to no-chop recipes, in these pages Ruby Tandoh shares a feast of homey, globally inspired dishes, such as:

•Carrot, Lemon and Tahini Soup
•Smoky Chicken, Okra and Chorizo Casserole
•Gnocchi with Harissa Butter and Broccoli
•Lightning-Quick Asparagus and Chili Linguine
•Tofu and Greens with Hot and Sour Chili Sauce
•Rosemary Baby Buns
•Lemon Mochi Squares

A no-nonsense collection of more than 100 accessible, affordable, achievable—and, most importantly, delicious—recipes (plus countless variations), Cook As You Are is an essential resource for every taste, every kitchen, and every body.

Mouth watering recipes I cannot wait to try!

I started following Ruby on Instagram after watching her on Bake Off and was thrilled to see the progress of this book. The beginning of the book talks about cooking for every body and is very understanding that every recipe does not need to be complicated. Sometimes one is looking for comfort or a lot of something. This cookbook is incredibly well-rounded and offers something for everyone. It allows for substitutions, explains the context of certain recipes, and is beautifully illustrated. I look forward to purchasing a physical copy for myself and another for a friend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for an ARC of this title.

I've been a fan of Ruby Tandoh's writing on food for years, and I adore her approach of making cooking accessible for everyone, exactly where they are. I've eagerly awaited this book popping up stateside after it was published in the UK last year, and it's exactly what I'd want from a collection titled Cook As You Are - it nails the different moods a potential cook may be in (I just want something _now_ vs. I'm up for a project), and it has a Nigella-ish tone extolling how food can give pleasure while also remaining down to earth about the types of ingredients that are in your budget.

As much as I love reading cookbooks for the photography/visuals, I also love this book's notion to eschew these so that potential readers don't feel like what they're making needs to live up to a certain visual standard. It's also a great opportunity for illustrations that really make this about equity and a kitchen for everyone. Well done, Ruby!

This book not only made cooking feel less scary, but it is a really good basis for normal people to start cooking too. The intro was key! Helped right off the bat to let readers understand that basically anything is changeable, and while the basic ingredients were what were called for to use what you have/want. What a nice change from some really not so inclusive feeling cooking recipes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this lovely book. It is divided into several sections based on people’s ability levels. The recipes provided use everyday, easily accessible ingredients and each recipe includes modifications for different diets (vegetarian, vegan), as well as variations and substitutions for people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or carrying a child on one hip such as having less things to cut. It is a great addition for the everyday cook who wants to prepare simple food that tastes good.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
I am going to give my feedback here but wait for a full review until I can purchase the book. The file I have, and have tried to download several times and ways, is just impossible to actually read. There are just recipe titles, bits of text, crazy lines and pictures all over the place randomly. So, I couldn't " read" it. But the glimpses I did get, of the sections in the book and the recipe titles have intrigued me enough to put this on my birthday wish list lol. Hoping for a full reading experience soon!!!

Ruby Tandoh’s Cook As You Are acknowledges cooking as both an art and a means to feed yourself. Recipes are organized in useful categories by level of effort and shopping required. Tandoh begins the book by explaining ingredient substitutions and outlining how she incorporates sensory cues so that people are truly able to cook according to their own abilities. I appreciated the range of cultures represented in these recipes, and how Tandoh refers to other cookbooks for similar recipes. I have not tried any of these recipes yet, but I am looking forward to trying the Fish Sticks with Japanese Curry and Rice, Whatever You’ve Got Fried Rice, Wildflower Honey Cheesecake, and Stuffed Flatbreads

I understand the decision to not include pictures but I still think they would be helpful to understand what to expect for each recipe. Without that I find recipes a bit hard to follow.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was colorful with interesting recipes and ingredient combinations. As a parent of small children, this wouldn’t be the first recipe book I’d grab. There are various recipes that would be unusual to my family, but might be enjoyable to others.
I found the lay-out hard to follow, but that could Be because it was all on my Kindle and think cookbooks are hard to format for kindle .
Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy.

Ruby Tandoh introduces recipes from across the world with an eye to accessibility and ease of making.

Before we go into this review, a caveat: I am a picky eater. A lot of foods don’t agree with me, whether due to taste or texture, and the only meat I eat is chicken. As such, I could not try out a lot of the recipes in this book. I am factoring this into my review.

This book is divided into several sections depending on the amount of time they require, or the kinds of ingredients – commonplace or more specialized – that are used. I found this a handy tool when deciding what recipes to make. I liked how the author specifically included sections for those people who might have trouble with expending lots of energy cooking, as well as for those who are unable to perform too many complex kitchen tasks such as chopping or grating.

The flavors of the recipes are eclectic, combining disparate ingredients and cultural influences with aplomb. This can be a bit of a double-edged sword, though – very fun for the adventurous eater, but not so much for more timid ones like me. However, something that helped with this was the detailed explanations for modifying recipes, which opened up the repertoire of recipes accessible to me. There’s a good mix of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes.

I tried out five recipes – Gnocchi with Chili Crisp Sauce, Capers, and Parmesan; Smoky Chicken, Okra, and Chorizo Casserole (minus the chorizo, according to the given modifications); Jollof Rice; Molten Chocolate, Olive Oil, and Rosemary Cookie Pie; and Wildflower Honey Cheesecake. I found that the desserts were more successful than the savory dishes – the recipes for Jollof Rice and the Smoky Chicken, Okra, and Chorizo Casserole created huge quantities of food that, alas, could not be managed by my family.

Though I liked the illustrations, I wished there had been pictures to reference, as I feel this would have made it easier to understand where I might be going wrong in my cooking.

Ultimately, I thought this was a thoughtful cookbook, but not necessarily one for me.

This is a lovely cookbook with interesting yet accessible recipes. The illustrations are charming and I love the Further Reading suggestions. The variations and substitutions are thoughtful as well. I really enjoyed reading through it and have already earmarked some recipes to try soon.

This cookbook was a breath of fresh air. I love how empathetic and explicitly non-judgmental Ruby Tandoh is, and how these recipes are truly designed to meet people where they're at - understanding that people have different physical abilities, experiences with cooking, and, frankly, other priorities in life (radical!). I liked the organization of the recipes - because, yes, some days I do want to go all-out, and other days I just want something edible. I found her writing engaging and informal, but still informative. I also deeply valued how she credited other cooks and authors from cultures not her own when she'd learned something from them - I came away from this cookbook with lots of great suggestions for further reading.

I understand and appreciate why she chose to avoid photos, and I LOVED the illustrations by Sinae Park. However, my one qualm: I wish the art would have been used more frequently as a tool to make instructions more concrete. For example, in one recipe, she talks about breaking out cauliflower into its leaves (then into green leafy parts versus "ribs"), florets, and stalk. I'm a visual thinker, and I would have loved to have seen that depicted in art form versus text alone. The abstract drawings were lovely and conveyed a wonderful sense of coziness and warmth, but I wish there would have been a bit more integration with the recipes themselves - I think that would have made them even less intimidating / more accessible.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for my ARC.