Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over

I don't usually like cookbooks, preferring to make things up as I go, but I pre-ordered this on a whim after reading about it in NYT Cooking. Completely forgot about it until it arrived, and I've been falling in love with it since. It's the first cookbook I've ever actually spent any real time with (I have a few collecting dust atop a kitchen cabinet, like ornaments more than anything). I had gotten a little bored with cooking lately, and ordering out more often than usual, but this book rekindled my joy for cooking and having people over. It also inspired me to purchase her previous cookbook, which is more my style as a single person in my 30s living in a 1-bedroom apt not all that suitable for having lots of people over. The recipes are easy and straightforward, with instructions that are as qualitative as they are quantitative. I like reading about how the food should look/feel/smell at a certain stage of the process, rather than just seeing "add X amount for X time." The writing style is fun and breezy, if a little whimsical. I especially like the tips about what can be prepared ahead of time, and which recipes are okay to serve cold or room temp if you're trying to do a lot at once. The recipes I've made so far (I'd guess about 10 or so) have been very, very cookable. "Nothing fancy" is right when it comes to the prep work, which is simple and straightforward. However, I will say that most recipes require a level of presentation finesse that I have yet to master. Nothing looks even close to as well presented as you'd hope based on the photographs, but when is that ever the case, I guess. Still, for a cookbook called "Nothing Fancy" that features dishes to prepare for friends, I'm left a little disappointed with my own ability to present the food to look as appealing as it tastes. Something to work on, I guess, which I intend to do given how great the recipes do taste. Most of these dishes can also be tinkered with if you just want to make them for 1 or 2, which I've been doing a lot of. There is just the right amount of standard ingredients required alongside a few well-deserved oddballs (to my sensibility, anyways). She's got a love affair with tinned fish and I've never seen dates, walnuts, and sumac in so many different dishes, but that's not a bad thing. I think my little pantry is slowly turning into an homage to this cookbook, and I'm perfectly happy with that. This cookbook is also doubling as a coffee table book for me, because the clean simple design and excellent photography have brought some serious Marie Kondo-style "joy" to my everyday. Seeing it and using it have become something to look forward to after work every day.

I’m 30 by age but 75 in my soul and this book appeals to both the 30 year old gay man and 75 year old woman named Muffy in me. I generally do not like young food writers and their “burn it all down!” mentality. I worship at the altar of 1980s ‘Gourmet’. I want fussy. I want fancy. But at the core I most love to cook because I love to gather people and feed them. This book does that. It is an exciting new wave, not a daunting and disrespectful one. The recipes are simple but they are revelatory. She champions the most underrated, cheap, readily available, and delicious things! We all should think to use anchovies more. They are such a perfect and neglected ingredient. Salads do not have to be an aggressive display of wealth—Iceberg lettuce and celery are cheap and have fabulous crunch! Effortless, delicious. The night I got the book I made the celery and blue cheese salad. I thought about making my own modifications but decided to follow the book by line. I was delighted. The flavors were big and bold but everything wove together and made sense. It’s the type of dish people will request you bring to another occasion. I think the world would be better if more people cooked and sat at a table (or on the floor if you really are that Bohemian) and this book should make anyone and everyone feel excited and able to do so. I love that the book is dedicated to Roman’s glamorous grandmother because that sets the perfect tone and expectation for the book. In ‘Nothing Fancy’, the old school has not been burned down, it has been thoughtfully remodeled. Use matching china and multiple glasses per place setting if you have them, but the most important thing is to invite people into your home and feed them. Anyone can do that.

I was more than ready for Alison Roman to come tripping over my kitchen transom. The fool-proof, go-to recipes I had relied on Ina for so long had honestly become a bit boring. I have to place the blame for that on Melissa Clark, who resuscitated my food game in spectacular fashion and that in turn, set me off on a course that left me searching for more and more of those explosive flavor combos that Clark is famous for. That's where Alison Roman came in. I'd already made some of her recipes from online sources, so I figured it was worth getting her books. A good move because I've mostly loved what I've made from Dining In, enough so that I pre-ordered this one. As with Dining In, you find that you just have to take a flyer and go with the recipes because even though you might think "I'm not entirely sure about this," they mostly work out magnificently well. (If you're familiar with Cristina Tosi and her recipes, you know exactly how this works). Cases in point - I recently made the: ++ Casual Apple Tart with Caramelized Buttermilk for dinner guests. Unpeeled apples? Buttermilk? Black pepper? Roll out the dough any which way? Ok, why not? The end result was a beautiful tart that everyone - even the guy who claimed he was "not a fan of dessert" fell hard for this tart with a taste that belied the ease behind its making. I took the photo only after realizing we'd already eaten half of it :-o Three other yummy recipes: ++ Grilled Carrots with Limey Hot Sauce and Cotija, in which the swoony flavors of Mexican street corn came knocking on carrot's door, were let right in and were never more welcome. ++ Celery and Fennel with Walnuts and Blue Cheese, a recipe in which celery has never been more interesting. Crunchy here, creamy there, with hints of umami everywhere. I love this salad. ++ Mustardy Green Beans with Anchovyed Walnuts. If any recipe ever had my name on it, it's this one. I don't know if I will ever make green beans any other way, which is fine because having them this way will never get old. I am well on my way to trying everything in this book. I have yet to read one recipe in it that makes me think "meh" or "ew." They all make me want to invite friends/family over so we can all enjoy these flavors. I am loving this book.

Have made several of her recipes and enjoyed them. Her Caesar salad is very easy to make and my husband said it tasted high end restaurant quality, my teenage son who loves traditional Caesar salad was a huge fan as well. She definitely has a cooking style that’s uniquely her. I enjoy reading the little tidbits around the recipe as well, her voice really comes thru. The pictures are beautiful and she’s really laidback about her food presentation in an approachable way. If you like anchovies, herbs and lemons sprinkled throughout many of your dishes you’ll love this book.

I will preface this to say - I just got this book and have only cooked two recipes. However, it was the best meal I have ever cooked. I’m not a pro but I do enjoy cooking ..this book is feasible for any home cook! I spent hours flipping through and reading her notes ..it’s such a gem. Will make a great gift for friends .. I’m already ordering another to gift!

If you don't know Alison Roman by now, then you clearly aren't a Millennial "foodie" with strong opinions and a YouTube addiction. Nothing Fancy is a book, much like its author, that elicits strong opinions. Many people will say that the book is actually quite fancy, or at least, fussy. And they're not wrong, at least in some respects. Alison Roman, and by the same token, this book, is a contradiction. She eschews things like using a food processor or straining a soup, but at the same time, will insist that you use the ingredients as stated or you can find a new recipe. Other examples include that she will have you chopping and slicing everything by hand, which may seem fussy or time consuming to many. She can be rigid about her methods or her ingredients, but at the same time, insists on being casual and approachable. It's confusing, but I for one love it. Nothing Fancy has some really consistent recipes inside, but they are often polarizing due to her frequent use of things like celery, fennel, anchovies, and citrus and vinegar. Her dishes are often on the acidic, salty, briny side and that is not for everyone. You can of course dial down the use of these ingredients (even if the author sometimes tells you that you cannot) but overall, if these aren't your flavors, you may not really like this book. Alison's got charm and panache, her writing is just as punchy as her on-camera personality and it comes through in this book, but if you're not familiar with her humor and approach to food, it may come off the wrong way. I'd also like to add that her baking sections, both in this book and her first one, Dining In, are excellent and have some really consistent results!

I bought Roman's cookbook Nothing Fancy (and gifted it, too). More than any other cookbook writer, I just love Alison Roman's tastebuds, the combination of ingredients, the relative simplicity of the recipes, her writing style, and how much I learn when cooking with her guidance. I have her cookbook Dining In, too, from which I've made more recipes (and remade more recipes) than any other cookbook I own. I am in a cooking club where we gather and cook from different cookbooks together (pre-Covid) or cook separately and share the final product with each other (Covid-era) so I've cooked from LOTS of books--all types. And her books, her voice just stands out. She's an excellent writer, and brilliant with a recipe. I even have a Note with all my Dining In handwritten comments next to recipes about what I loved, transposed so I could send it to my sister to suggest which ones to try that I love. Alison Roman has a newsletter out also, that you can subscribe to with more of her recipes and musings on food.

We love Dining In, and this is a superb follow-up. Every recipe we've tried in here is stellar... the lemon/date chicken (we've made this multiple times—incredible), the cauliflower gratin, the spicy pork meatballs—each one a total home run. We're slowly, happily, working our way through the entire book, just as we did with Dining In. These recipes are everything we want: delicious, achievable, different enough for variety, but all with easily found ingredients. It's clear that we're going to have plenty of Nothing Fancy recipes as part of our standard rotation. On top of the fantastically simple and delicious food, Roman's voice is always engaging and funny. I usually skim the narratives in cookbooks, but Nothing Fancy's sidebars and intros are all great reads. This is one of those books that unquestionably makes me a better cook. Along with the lemon/date chicken, the reverse sear technique alone would be worth the purchase price. We have 10 or so cookbooks on the top shelf—our personal favorites—and Nothing Fancy's already earned a place among them.

Good

Personally, I think purchasing a cookbook is a success if there is at least one recipe that is amazing and you’d make it regularly (I own many cookbooks and this isn’t as easy as it sounds). This book has a number of recipes that my family loves and I make regularly so I highly recommend it. The book is split into Snack Time (which includes dips and spreads, fruit and vegetables as well as “crunchy things, salty things”), Salads (Leafy Salads, Crunchy Salads and Kind of Salads), Sides (Vegetables and Grains), Mains (Meat, Seafood and Pasts) and After Dinner. So far I’ve made: - the Overnight Focaccia, Tonight, which I used as a deep pizza base; 🤤 - the Lemony Turmeric Tea Cake (which I’ve made many times and is DELICIOUS - picture included); - Mustardy Green Beans with Anchovied Walnuts (if you love Anchovies Alison is definitely your girl); - Crispy Vinegared Potatoes with Chilli Paprika (my husband’s favourite); - Slow Roasted Oregano Chicken with Buttered Tomatoes (which is okay but I don’t think you can’t beat Zuni Cafe’s recipe); - Sticky Chilli Chicken with Hot-and-Sour pineapple (I’ve made this many times but I’d recommend reducing the chilli unless you’re fine with your food making you sniffle 🌶 🌶 - picture included); -Coconut-Braised Chicken with Chickpeas and Lime (which was okay but I probably wouldn’t make it again); -Grilled Lamb Shoulder over Garlicky Tomatoes (anything with lots of garlic is 💯 in my book); - Harissa-Rubbed Pork Shoulder with White Beans and Silverbeet (I didn’t like this one); - A Very Good Lasagne (which I liked but my husband doesn’t rate as he likes his Lasagne to include a meat sauce ); -Tiny, Salty, Chocolatey Cookies (so rich and delicious)! There are many more recipes I’m keen to try when I get the time (particularly from the vegetable and seafood sections of the book). I also highly rate Nothing Fancy for its writing style ( Alison Roman has a way of writing that makes you feel like she’s sharing her thoughts with a friend rather than adopting a serious writing style) and the photos (photos on virtually every page that are bright, modern and glossy) - so it’s an enjoyable read if you’re buying it as more of a coffee table book than a cookbook. In summary, I highly recommend this book!!

Je connais et apprécie les recettes d'Alison Roman. Si c'est aussi votre cas vous aurez du plaisir à consulter ce livre. Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, des recettes très créatives dans le style "nouveau américain"

This is an amazing book that I received in the pre order. A few dings upon receipt but I think it was because of another heavier item that was shipped in the box with it...so a tip would be to not order along with another item so that it arrives more pristine. The book is amazing and the recipes are incredibly smart, lush, inventive, tasty and practical all at the same time:)

This is a great cookery book as the recipes are easy to follow and produce great food. Very glad I bought this book