Our family loves eating. It is lucky I also love cooking! We are into easy, delicious meals which can be cooked in record time. I am 9-months pregnant so there is no time for ‘long and complicated’ any more. Of course, we have our go-to meals we love. However, finding something new and delicious week by week, so we don’t get bored to death with that chicken pasta, is not as easy as one thinks. I was at the end of my wits and creativity when I met Joe Wicks’ books for the first time.
First of all, he is an eye candy. But this is not his main and only strong point. His simple ‘the guy from next door’ style makes it easy to read and follow his guide. He is a family and friendly person. He talks and cooks in a friendly manner. It’s like you have known him forever and he just popped in for a BBQ and chat. Hopefully, he signals the end of the era of the egomaniac, arrogant restaurant chef-style cooking books and training.
We choose his Baked Risotto with Cod recipe to indulge ourselves in some fish as we eat meat like there is no tomorrow most days. This recipe takes 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook. Easy and delicious just like any other meal we made from his books. We are cooking one or two new meals per week now from his recipes. It is a great way to mix and match our old favourites with some new dishes.
Pros of the books:
- Easy-to-make recipes
- Friendly, non-pretentious style
- Ingredients and how-tos listed clearly
- Cooking how-tos stated in a manner that even a newbie can understand
- Easy to adjust his measurements to your portion sizes and dinner guest numbers.
Cons of the books:
- Buying ingredients (mainly spices and some weird veggies) which aren’t on the shelves in a usual household. On the upside, you can use these with many of his recipes so they are not going to go to waste. We hate waste and throwing food away.
- In the books, he says he eats these foods 2-3 times a day. Obviously many people have no time or patience to cook as many times a day. We usually cook a main meal once a day and store left-overs in the fridge or cook a new dinner the next day. He helps with how to store left-overs and tips and tricks of cooking ahead. He doesn’t say you have to follow his lifestyle. He just wants to turn meals healthy one household at a time.
Joe Wicks is a true teacher and trainer he is not ‘just’ a great cook. He was one of us once and he learnt to cook and make delicious and healthy food. He has a great love of easy, quick and healthy food and making a world a better place. These books are gems for students, busy mums, single guys and girls who want to eat healthily and have no time to cook for hours and hours daily (who has nowadays anyway?)
