Enter our US giveaway to win one of two copies of Cook Simply, Live Fully: Flexible, Flavorful Dinner Recipes for Any Mood by Yasmin Fahr. In addition, EYB is providing one additional copy open worldwide. Please note the Events that Yasmin has on our Calendar.

Cook Simply, Live Fully: Flexible, Flavorful Dinner Recipes for Any Mood by Yasmin Fahr offers 120 recipes to relief some of the stress out of dinnertime. With dishes that span the range of “too tired to chop vegetables” to “up for a challenge but please make it snappy”, the author has us covered.

Yasmin’s approach is all about simplicity and flavor while keeping things nutritious and vegetable-forward. I want to make so many recipes from this book including: Garlicky ground chicken with ginger & scallions; Crispy & crunchy oregano chicken; and Vinegary winter pork chops with feta & Parmesan white beans - and I have several dozen others marked to try.

There are several online recipes from the author's site here:

In addition, the publisher has shared the recipe below for our Members: 

Braised chicken thighs with coconut milk, chile & pineapple
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The pineapple addition to this recipe did not come about during a moment of culinary genius. Nor did it occur because I thought about how the sweet-sour profile often used in Thai cuisine might work here. It happened because I was too lazy to cut open a pineapple I'd purchased. After first making this, I knew it needed a little something more, which is when I looked over at my pineapple, the eyes on its body, fully yellow, mocking me with its obvious ripeness, countering my obvious laziness. That's when the lightbulb went off. Still, I hesitated because I remember all the bad '80s/early '90s food that contained overly sweet pineapple, but let me reassure you that the pineapple-just a cup of it-balances out the richness of the braising liquid.

Serves 4

  • l (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
  • l tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • l tablespoon soy sauce
  • l (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
  • 2 to 2½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • l (4 to 6-ounce) tube tomato paste (about ½ cup) preferably double- concentrated
  • l cup fresh or thawed frozen pineapple chunks
  • 2 limes:1 halved,1 cut into wedges
  • 1 Fresno pepper. cut into rounds (and seeded, if you're sensitive to heat)
  • ¼ cup packed fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems, gently torn or chopped
  • Naan or cooked rice, for serving

Pour the coconut milk into a measuring cup or large bowl. Add the cumin, turmeric, a few grinds of black pepper, the soy sauce, and the ginger slices and stir to combine. Set aside.

Pat the chicken dry, then season all over with salt, including underneath the skin, if you're okay with that. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hat, about 2 minutes. Carefully pour in the olive oil, then add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook, without moving it, until the skin is browned and easily releases from the pan, 5 to 7 minutes (it's okay if the chicken thighs are snug in the pan). Use tongs to flip the chicken thighs, cook for 4 minutes more, then rest them along the sides of the pan, with the skin side visible to you, like they are fans at a stadium watching a soccer game in the middle of the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomato paste to the center of the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's a fiery red color, about 2 minutes. Add the pineapple to the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the coconut mixture, stirring as best you can with the tomato paste, then nestle the chicken back in, skin-side up.

Raise the heat to bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, with small bubbles forming around the chicken pieces, avoiding a boil.

Cook until the mixture has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the dish, then top with the Fresno pepper and cilantro and serve with the lime wedges and naan or rice.

Recipe excerpt from Cook Simply, Live Fully by Yasmin Fahr, 2024. Harper.

I have enjoyed Yasmin's two prior cookbooks, Keeping It Simple: Easy Weeknight One-Pot Recipes and Boards & Spreads: Shareable, Simple Arrangements for Every Meal but this one is my favorite. These are recipes that take little time but will satisfy and impress those gathered around your table.

Special thanks to the publisher for providing two copies of this title in our promotion (EYB is providing one additional copy worldwide). Entry options include answering the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you like to try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Once you log in and enter your member name you will be directed to the next entry option – the blog comment. After that, there are additional options that you can complete for more entries. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on July 16th, 2024.

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