3 new cookbooks tackle the busy weeknight conundrum

The end of summer usually means the start of a frantic fall, when work demands, busy school days and soccer practice all collide. Dealing with dinner via drive-through may seem like a good idea at the time — it’s fast, anyway. But we’ve got an even better idea. Three hot new books are on the horizon offering easy recipes and plenty of help for busy weeknights, whether you’re an adept home cook or a reluctant one — or 8 years old and still learning.

Mark Bittman, the long-time New York Times food writer and author of more than two dozen books, is expanding his “How to Cook Everything” efforts to the pint-size set with his upcoming “How to Cook Everything — Kids” (Harvest, $35), due out Oct. 15. It’s written especially for youngsters, ages 8 to 12, with recipes that teach them basic cooking techniques at the same time. We’re talking kid faves, such as Chicken Mark Nuggets — crunchy from corn flakes — and little chocolate lava cakes.

These chicken nugs are crispy, easy to prepare and “waayyyy better than what you get at a drive-up window,” Bittman writes. “If you double this recipe, you’ll have enough for a lot of hungry people, or make enough to freeze the leftovers in an airtight container to heat later in the microwave.”

And those Hot Lava Cakes will delight parents, as well as kids.

We’re smitten, too, with the newest from London-based Anna Jones, a veggie-centric cookbook that’s all about simplifying cooking strategies and showcasing veggies. “Easy Wins” (Fourth Estate, $35) publishes here on Sept. 17, but it’s already a best-seller in the UK, thanks to creative, flavor-packed recipes such as late-summer tomato, peach and tahini sandwiches and brown butter roasted potatoes with a lime-caper sauce.

Meanwhile, cooking Substacker Caroline Chambers builds recipes for the reluctant home chef in her just-published “What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking” (Union Square & Co., $35).

Chambers didn’t start out as a culinary influencer, with a top-ranked Substack newsletter and hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, no less. Back in 2018, she was a former caterer and recipe developer with her first cookbook under her belt, “Just Married: A Cookbook for Newlyweds” (Chronicle Books), and an idea for a follow-up aimed at reluctant cooks.

But the publishing landscape was changing dramatically, she says, and by the time she pitched the second book, publishers were looking for authors with established social media audiences. So she shelved the book idea and turned to freelance recipe development — until the pandemic hit.

The sudden lull seemed like a perfect time to try again, but this time by building her own audience and brand. She pulled out her notes and launched a “What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking” Substack newsletter in late 2020 with easy meal ideas and recipes. It found a large subscription audience almost overnight, she says.

It wasn’t long before publishers who’d ignored her before were expressing interest in the very same cookbook she’d already pitched. The new book landed on store shelves on Aug. 13, and she’s out on tour now.

The book, which is available online, takes a very different approach to her newlywed volume. She’s had three sons since those days and realized that what seemed like an easy meal to whip up with one toddler in tow felt pretty different with two more underfoot — especially during the pandemic.

There’s no shame in not feeling like cooking even now, she says. “We’re tired. We’re mothers. We’re working people. There are great reasons we might not feel like cooking.”

The key is to have easy, complete, nutritious recipe ideas at the ready — preferably ones that take minimal time to cook and don’t dirty a whole lot of dishes in the process. The cookbook is organized by time — recipes that take 45, 30 or even just 15 minutes to cook, like her Grilled Lemon Harissa Chicken or Everything-Crusted Tuna with Snap Peas. And inspired by the pandemic grocery store experience, substitution suggestions abound — sunflower seeds instead of peanut butter, for example, or butternut squash for tomatoes.

“The core of the book,” Chambers says, “is all about making the recipe work for you and your family.”

And to do it on even the busiest nights of the week.