Mostly Homemade

Book excerpt: The debut cookbook from the winner of the Amazon Prime Video original series America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation 100 budget-friendly, home cook–developed recipes that transform everyday supermarket ingredients into something special, with meals, sides, snacks, desserts, and more Forget takeout and get fired up for cooking at home while saving money and learning simple ways to build fast, easy meals around taken-for-granted ingredients. In her debut cookbook, Antoinette Johnson dispels myths that cooking takes too long and buying ingredients is too expensive. She guides you through grocery aisles with a creative look at canned goods, condiments, frozen items, and more. You'll learn to shop efficiently to build a lean, must-have pantry and then how to make culinary magic in a flash using those few well-chosen items. Make canned goods impressive: Maximize canned vegetables with Ginger-Miso Carrots, Weeknight Collard Greens, and the No-Churn Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream that wowed the TV judges. Use tinned fish for Oysters Rockefeller Dip and Sriracha-Soy Salmon Sliders. Turn frozen foods into assets: Transform frozen pasta into Weeknight Ravioli Lasagna. Jazz up frozen meatballs to enjoy Strawberry-Hoisin Meatballs. Make flavors sing with basic condiments: You don’t need 17 different condiments for Stuffed Pork Chops, the Dijon-Lemon Roasted Cabbage Wedges from the TV show, or Spicy Potato Salad. Get more bang for your prepared-foods buck: Don’t just slice up a rotisserie chicken—turn it into Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Curry Chicken Noodle Soup, or White Chicken Chili. Bring comfort food within reach: Make dinner what Antoinette calls “Wednesday night ready” using your Instant Pot, from Quesabirria Tacos to her TV competition–winning Barbecue Burnt Ends. These approachable recipes are proof positive that mostly homemade is faster, cheaper, and far more delicious than takeout.