You gotta eat Real-life strategies for feeding yourself when cooking feels impossible

Everyone needs to eat, but not everyone wants to cook. Eby, a trained chef and food writer/editor for publications ranging from the Philadelphia Inquirer to Food & Wine, understands this. Whether readers are overworked, overstressed, or under the weather physically or mentally, Eby is here to help, with strategies to make getting a meal on the table easier and doable. Divided into chapters like "Open Something" (a can, a container, a bag), "Assemble Something" (a sandwich, a quesadilla), and "Cook Something" (frittatas, stir-fries, casseroles, etc.), the book also sprinkles plenty of invaluable cooking tips throughout, such as how cooking dried pasta in a can of soup can release the delicious starchy powers of the pasta and help thicken the soup as well. Whether she is offering advice on guesstimating measurements or tossing off bons mots like "toasts are the convertibles of sandwiches," Eby writes with great wit, empathy, and insight. VERDICT Much in the manner that Peg Bracken's I Hate To Cook Book revolutionized cookbooks more than 50 years ago, Eby's fabulously fun and incredibly informative guide is a treat for cooks wherever they are on the culinary spectrum.--John Charles

Bean Salad, the Musical Salad Canned beans are beautiful. They're already cooked. They have a ton of protein and fiber. They're filling. And they're really inexpensive. You may think salad means "sad privation meal of lettuce," but actually salad is a loose category that roughly translates to "haphazard assembly of things tied together by dressing," and by this definition beans are the perfect vehicle. All you need to do is open them, drain them, rinse them if you have the energy but not if you don't (they might just taste slightly more metallic), dump them in a bowl, combine with dressing and perhaps other stuff, and stir. Behold: lunch. Precut veggies (including frozen--let the salad sit for a bit after mixing to let the frozen veggies defrost) work just fine here. So do bottled dressings, though if you don't have those you can always use the time-honored classic of olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper (or, if you're feeling very fancy, the Nora Ephron classic of a tablespoon of dijon mustard, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil, whisked together with a fork). Try one of these combinations, or get creative! The more comfortable you get in the bean salad space, the more you'll be able to branch out. * Chickpeas + cucumbers + cherry or grape tomatoes + tzatziki = Greek-ish salad * Black beans + thawed frozen corn + half jar of salsa + crunched-up tortilla chips = nacho salad * Cannellini beans + pesto + parmesan = sort of Italian bean salad * Kidney beans + celery + sweet onions + pickle relish = what if a hot dog condiment bar was a salad * Black beans + mashed or chopped-up avocado + lime juice + hot sauce or Tajín = what if guacamole was a salad * Chickpeas, smushed + celery + mayo + dab of dijon mustard = tuna salad without tuna * Great northern beans + leafy greens you need to use up + balsamic vinegar + olive oil = classic house salad * Black-eyed peas + celery + bell peppers + hot sauce + red wine vinegar + pinch of sugar/dab of honey/little bit of maple syrup = Hoppin' John-inspired salad * Edamame + carrot + green onion + ginger dressing = teppanyakirestaurant-inspired salad Excerpted from You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible by Margaret Eby All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.