Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook) Reviews

• Bigger and Better Rachael. Practically no repeats.

  
  By A20IIR0422G3A5 on 2005-11-04
  `365: No Repeats' is the title of this book, however author Rachael Ray has reached the name over the title status about five books ago, which is not that long, as Ms. Ray seems to churn them out at the rate of about one every six months. While this book is titled over the '30 Minute Meal' rubric, it's primary premise is that it solves the problem of `what do we eat tonight' for a full (leap) year. The subtitle is `A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners'. One problem is that Rachael's secondary objective seems, on the face of it to soften the force of the `different dinners' claim.
  
  To me, Rachel's secondary message of providing several master recipes with variations, where each variation counts as one of the 365 recipes, is more interesting than the objective of providing you with something different every day of the year. In fact, my typical five stars for most of Rachael's books is based on this secondary objective rather than the culinary plenum year.
  
  The master recipe concept and the corresponding objective to make you more comfortable and more adept at cooking is really important to Rachael's message. One of her most important tactics is to minimize measuring to speed up cooking and simply make it less tedious and more fun. The problem is that you simply cannot estimate amounts effectively without a fair amount of experience. And, while Rachael gives us a few useful methods for estimating, they are probably less help than pulling out the old measuring spoons and using them until you have a good personal sense of how much a tablespoon or cup is. I find her equating a tablespoon with a palmfull and a quarter of a cup with a handful to be totally unhelpful on their own, without a picture to go along with the words. You may not feel this lack of sense if you watch Rachael daily or if you are already an accomplished amateur cook, but it definitely makes me think twice about recommending Ms. Ray's books to someone who must cook, but does not yet have cooking experience. If Ms. Rachael or her minions ever happen to read this review, I would suggest to them that they bite the bullet and go metric. There is no better method for estimating than to know off the top of your head that a teaspoon is 1/3 of a tablespoon and that a quarter of a cup is almost exactly four tablespoons and so on.
  
  One can wonder how Mrs. Rachael (she finally married her sweetie!) comes up with enough recipes to fill two books a year plus, now, to do a periodical under her brand name. She has left several hints here and there on how she manages to do this. In this book she clearly states that what she writes herself are usually loosely constructed notes which an editorial assistant (or Food Network culinary professional) turns into full-blown recipe. In an early '30 Minute Meal' show, I heard her say that she is an avid reader of old cookbooks, and I even recognize some of her dishes from some classic, and not very well known dishes, such as a Paula Wolfert standard of string beans and tomatoes.
  
  My first question about this book was whether or not Mrs. Ray repeated many recipes from her earlier books. I did find one where she stated that she borrowed from an earlier work, but I decided to check for myself and compared index entries in this book for chicken and burgers with indexes from her other books, where available, and I found virtually no repeats. There were a lot of similarities, but no exact copies. I am especially happy to see this, as there have been cookbook authors who have put out books which are simply nothing but reprints of earlier books.
  
  I rarely cook from Mrs. Ray's books myself, although I have been known to borrow some ideas from her shows in doing my own ad hoc recipe. Rachael is the culinary ambassador to the world of people who cook because they have to and do not necessarily want to take up cooking as a hobby, so they need someone to lay things out for them in simple, snappy terms. My only argument with her recipe write-ups is that she often puts a Teflon coated pan on a hot burner to heat up without adding any oil for several minutes. She does this on the show too, so I'm sure she is simply ignoring the dangers of doing this, in spite of frequent warnings from sometime mentor, Sara Moulton.
  
  So, if you have no Rachael Ray books and you fit the demographics of her audience, this is by far the best one to start with. And, if you own all her earlier titles, this will not be a rehash of what you have. The only regret you may have is that this book does not do full meals in 30 minutes like her earliest books, although I do believe the recipe writing is better in this book than it is in her '30 Minute Meal' book.
  
  Otherwise, many of the good things I have said about her earlier books is true of this title as well.
  
  
  

• Delish!

  
  By A3QD59N3M7O7KB on 2005-11-04
  Love this book! I have all of Ray's previous books, and I often watch her show when I am cooking my own family dinner. We are huge fans of her Cooking Round the Clock book and her Cooking Rocks (for kids) books. On average, I use recipes from those books at least twice a week.
  
  Her first book that I purchased was her 30 Minute Get Togethers and the first couple menus that I used were NOT 30 minute meals for me. However over the years I have learned to adapt. I have gotten quicker at chopping veggies and will use already prepared things if necessary. Ok, on to the new book.
  
  This is her biggest book by far. I got it the day it came out and spent at least two hours pouring over the recipes and marking ones I want to try. For the most part I was thinking I would be anal here. I would start with recipe number one and go from there, making every single recipe and not skipping a one. But I husband really wanted to try #37-Warm Lemon Chicken Sandwich with Arugula and Pears. Not something I would normally make, but it sounded intriguing. WONDERFUL! Even my picky eaters (I have two) gobbled it up. We then went on to #38-Grilled Flank Steak Sandwich again we were not disappointed.
  
  If you are looking for a cookbook that offers quick, but unique and tasty meals, this is the one.
  
  

• Okay, not great

  
  By A1EUD5ZTRJJSV1 on 2005-12-19
  I bought this cookbook with no prior knowledge of Rachel Ray or her other cookbooks. The idea of 365 30-minute meals is appealing, but unfortunately, many of the recipes included take far more than 30 minutes if you include prep time. This is a useful cookbook for families as the yields are fairly large and it covers a variety of flavors. However, the flavors aren't always great; they are often combined in unappetizing mixtures that just don't work. The method of substituting ingredients to change up a dish is not terribly useful either. Most often, you will have to change half the recipe to get a new dish. The worst part, though, is the lack of a useful index. It's extremely difficult to find your way around the book. Just try looking for a "chicken" dish. If you don't know the title, chances are you won't find it fast.
  
  

• Huge Variety

  
  By A2KQP9WCHT2N0N on 2005-11-17
  I agree that this is Rachael's best and most diverse collection of recipes to date. I actually did a rough count of the recipes by the protein or main ingredient. This is approximately how the recipes stack up: 53 meatless (many do contain cheese, however), 11 lamb, 4 egg, 8 ground turkey, 21 ground beef, 80 chicken, 21 beef (steaks, London broil, etc.), 5 ground pork, 16 pork (chops, tenderloin), 9 turkey (cutlets), 10 ground chicken, 29 fish (halibut, cod, swordfish, salmon, tuna), 11 veal (ground, cutlets, etc.), 30 shellfish (shrimp, crab, mussels, scallops, calamari), and 48 sausage, etc. (ham, prosciutto, chorizo, Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, bacon, salami, pancetta, etc). According to the listings in the front of the book, there are 48 pasta dishes, 33 soups and 20 burgers. I may have miscounted a few, but I think these numbers are fairly close. Perhaps some reviewers got the impression that the ingredients were repetitive because of the technique Rachael sometimes (but not always) uses of providing a master recipe with variations by swapping out ingredients. For instance, there is a master macaroni and cheese with broccoli recipe, followed by macaroni and smoked gouda with cauliflower, Tex-Mex mac and cheddar (with ground beef) and a chipotle mac and cheddar with chorizo and tomato.
  
  While many of the recipes are Italian or Italian influenced, reflecting Rachael's heritage, with Tex-Mex following closely behind, there are also Spanish, Cuban, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, French, Cajun, Greek, German, and Carribbean influenced recipes as well. There is also plenty of "American" fare as well, although there are fewer traditional "comfort food" dishes in this book than there are in some of her other collections. The subtitle of the book is a hint at that. It truly is "a year of deliciously different dinners." And, after several years of watching Rachael's show regularly and making many, many of her recipes, I find that I can come close to the 30 minute mark in completing the meals, especially after the first time making a particular recipe.
  
  As for pictures, if you are familiar with buying cookbooks, you realize that you trade off photographs for affordability. If this book were full of glossy photos of the food, it would probably have a list price of at least $40. I don't know of anywhere else you can find such a large and diverse collection of recipes for so little money.
  
  
  

• Who cares about her personality when the food is this good?!

  
  By A2ME8QMG05MGY9 on 2005-11-24
  I have read some of the reviews here and there seems to be a consensus that Miss Ray has a very chirpy and annoying personality. I have not had the opportunity to ever watch her show, so I am totally unfamiliar with her persona. So, I basically walked into the Rachael Ray world without an opinion one way or another. I originally avoided her books simply because I like fussy cooking and thought a thirty minute cookbook would be full of convenience foods and probably not very interesting. Lo and behold, my work schedule changed a few months ago and I no longer had the long, leisurely hours to cook - I found myself getting into a total rut - cooking the same quick foods again and again and again. So, I decided to take a gander at Rachael Ray's books and see what the fuss was about.
  
  My busy schedule is no longer an excuse to be in a cooking rut! This is a nice book full of clever ideas. I immediately sat down and skimmed through it, looking for recipes that would appeal to my family (I like the little check boxes next to each recipe that allow you to mark off the ones you want to try and the ones that are a 'keeper'). So far, everything I've cooked from this book is a 'keeper'! There are not that many convenience foods featured - simply real food. We've enjoyed the Rosemary-Orange Pork Chops with Lemon-Butter Broccolini, Chicken in Mustard Sauce with Asparagras, Ricotta Pasta with Grape Tomatoes Peas and Basil - and more.
  
  One of the highlights of this book is the 'master recipes' - which can then be changed to create a 'new recipe' by altering ingredients. Although this may appear like a cheater's way to get in a few recipes, it truly helps to inspire creativity in the kitchen. And yes - the food CAN be done and on the table in 30 minutes! I've had no problem with the time factor at all. How nice to be able to have good quality food, imaginative combinations and new ideas for those of us who are rushed but still want to eat well.
  
  On a side note: The industrious Miss Ray has just come out with a magazine, which I had picked up before I bought this book. This magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray, is simply amazing. Every single thing that I have cooked out of this magazine has been unbelievably good. My son thought that the Chicken Curry recipe was the best he had ever tasted! I really recommend that you check out the magazine in addition to her other offerings.
  
  
  
  
• totally unrealistic
  By A3OO94FJB784L5 on 2006-05-18
  I am an experienced cook with a family to feed. I have a large collection of cookbooks and thought this one sounded so promising. It soooo isn't!
  - First of all - the recipes are not organized in any way. You have to read through each recipe to find something.
  - Second - There are no pictures of the food.
  - Third - and most important to me - I couldn't find one recipe that I could cook without driving to a large supermarket 40 miles away for ingredients like: Mexican beer, chipotle powder, chorizo, portobello mushrooms, fresh herbs, fresh mint leaves, smoked gouda, sheep's milk cheese - well, you get the idea. There was not one single recipice in the entire book for which I could get the ingredients in my small-town grocery store!
  - Fourth - If you value your waist-line and your cholesterol level - this is not your book. Nearly every recipe calls for butter, cheese, cream or red meat - and usually lots of it!
  - There's just nothing right about this book.
  
  
• Excellent Cookbook
  By A361QYNPV3ZN8V on 2005-12-18
  People really ought to be required to read the book before posting reviews. Contrary to the assertion in another review, and according to the book's index, out of 365 recipes, there are only 3 that use hot dogs, and 20 to 25 which use ground beef. For her ground beef, Rachael generally calls for ground sirloin, which is the leanest form of ground beef. Bacon is used in some dishes as a flavoring. I flipped through the first 50 recipes in the book, and she called for turkey bacon in 2 recipes, regular bacon in 3 and pancetta in 2 others. The recipes do frequently call for cheese, but often it is as a topping for a dish (parmesan sprinkled on top of a pasta dish, for instance) so that you can use a lesser amount or omit it altogether if you choose. There are absolutely no recipes using cream of mushroom or other condensed soups. There are many, many recipes using leaner meats such as chicken, pork tenderloin and ground turkey. And while there are plenty of recipes that use sausage (Rachael always says to feel free to substitute leaner sausages, like turkey Italian sausage for the real thing), there are more that call for fish or other seafood. For some reason, some people have taken a real dislike to Rachael. That's fine - to each his own. But that is no excuse for posting inaccurate information in a review.
  
  There is also some inaccurate information in some of the positive reviews as well - for instance, one review references the dessert recipes. There is only one dessert recipe in this book. I think some of these people are using the reviews to try to hype another product.
  
  If you're considering this book, I'd recommend that you not rely on the negative reviews, and take the positive ones with a grain of salt. Go to a library or bookstore, and look at it, then make your decision and buy it where you find the best price. Keep in mind that in her books and on her show, Rachael tries to demonstrate recipes that you can easily adjust to suit your taste and dietary needs. This book fits that mold as well. Personally, I find this book to be a nice mix of different types of foods and of healthier and more indulgent recipes, which is really the way I want to eat.
  
  
• Rachael's Best Work To Date
  By A1Q7AQV64XZT1N on 2005-11-14
  I own all of Rachael Ray's cookbooks with the exception of her original book that is impossible to find. I was anxiously awaiting the release of 365 No Repeats, as I knew it would be her biggest book yet, and I was excited to try new recipes. I love to cook, and I don't mind cooking elaborate recipes when necessary, but I have found that Rachael's recipes, which use real, whole food ingredients (not unhealthy, packaged ingredients like her FoodNetwork neighbor Sandra Lee), produce wonderful results in minimal time. This appeals to me in particular, as I am a vegan and my husband is a meat-and-potatoes man, so I often must cook two meals for the household. In fact, I get a bit annoyed by people who claim Rachael isn't a "real cook." If you've ever made any of her recipes, you'll soon learn that she has a wonderful understanding of how flavors mix, and she manages to create dishes using whole foods in 30 minutes without sacrificing taste or turning to boxes.
  
  I pre-ordered this book off of Amazon, and have made a number of the recipes - either for me or my husband - over the course of the past few weeks. All I can say is that each one of them was tasty and relatively quick to make (usually a 30-minute meal takes me 45-minutes, but I don't pre-wash my veggies/fruits, and I don't have my pantry as organized as Rachael's on the show!). There is a huge variety of recipes in this book - Italian, Greek, vegetarian, etc. - and I love the idea of teaching you the method for one recipe and then giving you alternate recipes to follow using that same method.
  
  The index of this book is wonderfully helpful (unlike some of her other books that lack a proper index), and the front of the book lists recipes in the book for various interests (e.g., vegetarian). I have only noticed a few repeats in this book from other RR products - the Florentine meatballs and Papa Al Pomodoro come to mind - but those are two of my family's favorite meals, anyway (make them together with the scotch/mushroom risotto in the book and you have a great and relatively inexpensive meal for entertaining that can accommodate vegans/vegetarians AND meat-eaters alike).
  
  Like someone else said below, I don't know how Rachael remains so upbeat and friendly and yet continues to be so prolific. Three shows on FoodNetwork, a magazine, cookbook after cookbook, and soon a talk show. Wow. I hope she continues to be so productive, however, because those who own her cookbooks certainly benefit from her hard work.
  
  A must for every kitchen.
  
  
• Not for Calorie Counters
  By ARJUNWAO0EBIQ on 2005-11-27
  I bought up this book based on the hype and I was immediately disappointed that there wasn't any nutritional breakdown per serving for the recipes. I have no idea how many calories, fat, fiber, etc. are in each recipe - something important to me since I am just about always watching my weight.
  
  In skimming through the book, she uses a lot of higher fat ingredients than I usually use which also turned me off. For a 365 day recipe book, there were very few vegetarian or fish dinners. On the plus side - she had some interesting recipes that I'll probably try, even if I have to modify to a lower fat version, but for the most part, I think this book will gather dust on my bookshelf. Sorry Rachael Ray fans.
  
  
  
• Poorly Designed Book
  By A3PMI4H4TOQ909 on 2006-05-09
  My wife and I just cooked a tasty dinner from this book, but the process of getting there was unintuitive and unnecessarily cumbersome.
  
  As other reviewers have mentioned, there is absolutely no order to the book. One has to study the table of contents in order to find desirable recipes.
  
  The truly horrible design flaw of this book is the use of a "master recipe" and subsequent variations. (Not all meals are in this format, but the one I wanted tonight unfortunately was.) The list of ingredients for each variation tells the reader to "omit," "swap" or "add" items to or from the master list. Try making out a grocery list in a hurry with this layout - highly annoying.
  
  Furthermore, the directions in the variation recipe are similar in nature to the listing of ingredients - modifications of the original, without simply spelling out the entire process. The "30 minute" theory goes out the window when you have to read two recipes to make one dish.
  
  As with all of Ms. Ray's recipes, completion of a 15 to 20-ingredient recipe in half an hour is utterly ridiculous. With the added annoyance of the "master recipe" format, this will be my last book from Rachel. In lieu of this book, please try "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook" for truly easy, foolproof meals and an enjoyable experience.
  
  
  
• Please STOP this woman!
  By AAIDF5UJCODQ3 on 2005-11-23
  Enough. The recipes are boring and her television persona is insipid. If your idea of great food extends beyond a can of mushroom soup added to what's leftover in the frig, then pass this one up.
  
  
• Perhaps Good Food, Bad Book
  By A8I8JB6O4WNDU on 2005-12-03
  First let me start by saying I like Rachel Ray. No, her recipes are not the Saveur type, but she doesn't claim to cook in that manner and there are definitely lots of times anyone can use Rachel's meals. Any cook who disagrees takes themselves far too seriously.
  
  That said, I dislike this cookbook so much that I've yet to try one of the meals/recipes. I had to think about it a long time before ordering it because I don't like paperback cookbooks that do not lie flat. That's the first error they made. It's difficult to read for several reasons, one being the print is pale green on a buff background. The layout is bad with a recipe covering perhaps a page and a half, then another recipe starts. Also, all the so called master recipes she has, then she totally confuses you with variations for other meals. This book gets thumbs down before I even try a recipe. I will be very careful about buying another RR cookbook. The only reason I give it as much as three stars is because I haven't tried the recipes.
  
  
• An excellent cookbook!
  By AQSU58L0QIE2G on 2005-12-09
  I do not count myself among the legions of Rachael Ray fans. I find watching her shows to be akin to being beaten severely with a Hallmark card, she's much too syrupy sweet for my taste.
  
  However, her philosophies behind cooking are right up my alley. She encourages experimentation and alteration of recipes to suit the taster's taste. In this day and age, so many American cooks are bound to death by recipes, and she teaches people how to break those chains and see recipes as a framework, not an iron-clad formula.
  
  This book is great, chock-full of delicious and simple recipes representing a large cross-section of cuisines, introducing a few ingredients that might be new or unique to your average American home chef, and giving great advice as to how to make the recipes your own. I may not be a convert to watching her shows, but I can certainly count myself in as a fan of her books.
  
  
• Love Her Show - Hate Her Book
  By A3HTSNJSEQYB7Y on 2005-12-26
  Just because you like her perky little TV show does't mean you'll like her book. The recipes are Okay BUT there are very few illustrations of the food. I'm more interested in seeing the food than simply reading page after page of recipes. This book is not easy to follow and without pictures you have no idea what you are cooking. Save your money.
  
  
  
  
• This book and the others are a joke
  By AGI13CNV0N6TN on 2005-12-12
  It amazes me that this young woman claims to at home cooking for friends and family as often as she states on TV , writes one book after another and appears on whatever television station she can get on AND all this culinary expertise she has came with no culinary training whatsoever. This girl was a tv anchor or whatever and because she cooked at a department store demo kitchen, she is now an expert?
  
  This is all Hollywood hype and an insult to the well trained and dedicated chefs of the world. This book is a joke. She is 'teaching' things that are absolutely wrong and putting foods together that only a garbage disposal could stomach.
  
  I got this book as a gag gift. It did just that. Try books by the American test kitchen, which are good cookbooks.
  
  
  
  
• a terrific door stop.
  By A1RS3074ILQLLY on 2005-12-27
  this woman has nothing to back up the hype. her foods are nothing more than decent, at best, and usually far from "healthful". this book is seriously one of the least inspiring things i have ever received- and i will gladly list it on ebay.
  
  
• Cheerily, eerily dumbed-down cooking
  By A212QL3M4G0H7Z on 2006-09-29
  If you ever watch Rachael Ray on the Food Network chow down on $40.00 per day at locales across the country, you will learn what is wrong with her: she likes everything. No discrimination in evidence anywhere. She will suit the great majority who experience as an occasion for social anxiety the idea of developing discernment, studying culinary technique, asserting a critical evaluation or believing a good product requires effort. In Miss Ray's universe, everything is easy and everything is equivalent and effort has no place.
  
  Her cooking reminds me of the parties people talk about having--and thankfully never do---where you bring the Campbell's soup-based casseroles and jello desserts your mother made to a big, campy pot-luck.
  
  If you consider melted cheese over hot dogs an attractive dinner option, this is the cookbook for you.
  
  
• Yum-O!
  By A37L77LBZV2RY9 on 2005-11-02
  Rachael Ray has done it again! She has made a delicious cookbook with fun an easy recipes. On every page you find something than sounds even more taintalizing than the last. I made the pine nut crusted chicken and the fennel slaw and they were amazing!
  
  But, just a disclaimer, these are by no means 30 minute meals like it says on the cover. These recipes take at least and hour for me to make. Not all of us have Food Network oompa loompas pre-cutting our vegetables and cleaning the dishes.
  
  Edit: Here's a list of all of the recipes I have made from the cookbook to date. All of them are absolutely delicious.
  1. Scramblewiches
  2. Southwestern Pasta Bake
  3. Rosemary, Parmigiano, Pine Nut Breaded Chicken w/ Fennel Slaw
  4. Tomato Basil Pasta Nests
  5. Roasted Garlic and Eggplant Marinara Nests
  
  
  
• NOT good for busy MOM
  By AMLF79HGUE3ZI on 2006-01-12
  I am a busy Mom. I received this book as a gift. I really thought that this book would help me come up with not only ideas but recipes that I could get on the table FAST! It really does neither. There is not one recipe that I could open and have on the table in 30 minutes. Why you ask? Because each one of these recipes would require a trip to the market. As I flip through I find myself saying, "Can't make this one I don't have arugula on hand." "Can't make this one I don't have dandelion greens on hand." "Can't make this one I don't have any tamari." "Can't make this one I don't have a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes. "Can't make this one I don't have any corn toaster pastries" What ARE corn toaster pastries? For that matter, where do you get saffron threads?
  This cookbook probably would work better for someone who didn't have to put a 4 month old in a snowsuit, get a 5 year old to get his shoes on just to drive to the market to try and track down mango chutney just to put together a 30 minute meal that would in fact take me about an hour and a half to figure out. Nope. Not a help at all.
  
  
• Banned from buying cookbooks....
  By A3PP0WPKFAVN83 on 2005-12-09
  until my boyfriend picked this one up. I reminded him that I am not allowed to have anymore (I have a collection of over 300). He started thumbing through it and really like what he saw, so I began to look through it. The recipes looked interesting enough. I am a former chef who now works for an accounting firm and have trouble thinking of easy, non-repetitive dinners from January through April (when I am stuck at work for 10-12 hours per day). I use 20% of my standard recipes 80% of the time. I have only had this book a month and have already used it for about 10 recipes. I will be making 10 more over the next two weeks.
  
  
  The Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Cheddar Mustard Sauce was a great twist on breaded chicken breasts. The Polenta Lagasana with Mushrooms and Sausage was great, but even better the next day. The French Salad Superb was great, and I added some grilled chickent breast to fill out the meal. I can see the potential to adjust recipes to our liking (fish instead of chicken, turkey instead of beef, etc.). I was always taught that recipes are guidelines. This book gives you the techniques and the guidelines.
  
  For planning purposes, I sit down with the book and thumb through finding recipes that look interesting and base my grocery list around it. Then I put my selections on the fridge so that I can easily get the dry ingredients out the night before.
  
  I would recommend for any level of cooking experience - from child to expert. I am buying copies for all of my friends who do not cook and actually look forward to tax season and having dinner ready in 30-35 minutes.
  
  I love this book because it reminded me how to cook again!!
  
  
• Oh my, what a great cookbook!
  By A2P43DD706FD0E on 2005-12-13
  Okay, I must first admit that I am 35 years old and have never learned how to cook. About six months ago, feeling sorry for my husband (he has to pay the expensive take-out bills) and my children (who have rarely seen a green vegetable except in salads), I became determined to learn how to cook. After purchasing all kinds of kitchen gadgets and tons of cookbooks, I was about ready to give up. I have no problem following a recipe but most of the recipes I tried tasted boring or downright awful, or took hours or called for ingredients that don't exist where I live.
  
  As a last resort, I went to Williams-Sonoma and bought Rachel's cookbook. I figured that if I couldn't find a decent cookbook at WS, then they didn't exist. (By the way, it cost more than $16 at WS ... should of checked Amazon first.) Well, I cooked my first dish from her book - #282, Ginger Lime Chicken with String Beans. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! My husband remarked that he felt like we WERE dining out. I overcooked the chicken just a tiny bit (I'm still learning!), but the flavor was so great that no one noticed but me!
  
  Anyway, my husband and I are pretty healthy eaters -- not much on processed or refined carbs, and I've found most of these recipes work well with low-carb (with a few modifications here and there) and are full of fresh easy-to-find foods. Also, I do like how the recipes are mostly complete meals (hence, the title.) As I have mentioned before, I am a very very "beginner" cook yet most dishes still only take about 30-45 minutes from start to table, and that's with two children (usually one screaming) underfoot. Hope this helps you decide!
  
  
• Unhealthy unappetizing recipes
  By A188CFUI5J2LDF on 2005-12-17
  If you want to have a heart attack by the age of 40, use this book. Almost all the recipes are filled with high-fat, high-sodium artery cloggers like cheese, bacon, hamburgers, and hotdogs. She'll try and tell you that her recipes are "healthful" but don't believe her.
  
  I do love cheese, I admit it, but I try and use it sparingly, whereas her meals are centered around cheese and fat. Furthermore, they just don't taste good! You can eat this slop at any mall food court.
  
  
• Delicious recipes, a little 'different'
  By A2PPQT3TY50WNR on 2006-12-15
  I loved the idea of 365 new ideas. I love everything I have made from this book. Maybe I should have realized new ideas means new shopping lists. I had not even heard of alot of ingredients in this book(olive tapenade, jarred hot pepper rings, italian fontina just to name a few.) Every time I try to branch out and try a new recipe I reach for this book. I nearly never have all of the ingredients on hand. This book would be great if you plan your meals in advance or have a lot of knowledge about what you can substitute in a pinch.
  When I have made some of the recipes they have always gone over well with the whole family. They taste great, but if you count the extra trip to the specialty grocery store, the meals take a bit more than 30 minutes :)
  
  
• Excellent
  By A2NP5BZPXAIDP6 on 2005-11-04
  The collection is quite diverse; in fact, it is more so than her previous books I've had. The recipes are laid out large and clear (important when you're in bifocals). Ingredients aren't tough to find in larger groceries (in Texas, at least). She does often present a single recipe followed by several variations, but the variations are different enough to stand on their own, so I don't feel she 'cheated'.
  
  Portion sizes are generous. Families without the benefit of teenaged male appetites may want to scale down the recipes a little or face gaining weight :)
  
  I can produce these meals in 30 minutes from start to finish. I realized after watching Rachael a few years ago that my cooking time was slowed by how poorly I was using the knife. I bought a good knife, took a one night knife skills class at a local grocery, and practiced a lot. Now I'm almost as fast as she is, and it makes cooking a lot more pleasant!
  
  The only reason I knocked a star off the book is because I was hoping that "Dinners" meant complete meals, not recipes. While many of the recipes are nutritionally complete, many others are not, and I would have appreciated at least the suggestion of a side that would be a quick, no-recipe-needed addition. I love food, but I hate meal planning!
  
  
• Too much hype
  By A1SFJIU0EN3P1P on 2005-11-13
  Rachel Ray gets too much hype, I could believe my ears when she said on national t.v. (Oprah) that she never went to cooking school yet landed a job on the Food Network. If I found her to be a great cook, I would say she deserves a 5 star, but honestly she is just a young person who was lucky to have someone think she can cook. Anyone can stand in her place and do the same thing if they are told what to do, and this book is nothing out of the extraordinary so save your money. Not worth it.
  
  
• It's okay
  By A2CDA00O4MB1CK on 2005-12-05
  After seeing Rachael Ray on "The View," I got this book from our local library. I was disappointed to learn that the format of the book was extremely confusing. All the recipes were not categorized at all and in order to know what you would like to try or not, you have to read through the book from recipe 1 to recipe 366. In addition, I agree with one reviewer here that her strategy of substituting different ingredients to make a whole new dish was a bit confusing.
  
  That being said, there are a few recipes that I found in this book that seemed simple enough to try. Some of the recipes that Rachael Ray gave seems to me will definitely take more than 30 minutes unless you are a professional chef who has all the incredients ready and all preparation work done for you. I wouldn't recommend readers to purchase this book unless they think they can utilize most of her recipes.
  
  
• Buffet Or A La Carte! This Book Has Choices Galore
  By AGILLXF8MOSS1 on 2005-12-08
  I've seen glimpses of Rachel Ray while skipping through channels, but have never seen her full show. This book was a gift from a friend. The first time I glanced through this book I thought if I could make a tasty meal in 30 minutes, then why not? Though I took almost an hour to cook, the dish tasted great!
  
  Slowly I started trying out other recipes from the book and most of the dishes turned out well and took not much more than half hour to make. Among the ones I tried, I loved the Southwestern Pasta Bake and Tomato Basil Pasta Nests. The only improvement I would suggest is the inclusion of nutritional breakdown per serving for each recipe, keeping in mind how weight conscious today's generation is. This is the reason I gave the book four stars. Overall though with recipes from Italy, Greece, France, Cajun, Oriental, Italian etc. the variety the book offers is incredible. There are also recipes for salads, soups, and desserts. The ingredients used are generally readily available on your kitchen shelf or easy obtainable from a supermarket. I highly recommend this cookbook for novices and anyone who wants variety 365 days a year!
  
  
• Sensible, fast, and Good Food
  By A2JP0URFHXP6DO on 2005-11-28
  I guess the thing I like most about Rachael is her down to earth personality. She seems like one of "us", i.e., a non-professional cook who's concerned with eating delicious meals and having them made quickly. Most cook books by professional chefs always seem to have recipes that take far too much prep time than the average person has in their daily lives to make. Even Rachel's prep time, that most of us still won't achieve, is far less than most of those other books. Add to that the recipes can be made with ingedients that are always easily obtainable or already in your pantry and these are all great, rainy day rush dishes.
  
  While these 365 dishes have several similar dishes with slight variations, you'll still never be lacking for a recipe that is tasty. What I love about the book is that it includes a lot of regional and ethnic recipes such as Cajun, Tex-Mex, Oriental, Italian, and more, which, again, have ingedients that can be easily found at any good supermarket. Among the dishes I've made so far which my family has enjoyed has been the Southwestern pasta bake, chicken in mustard sauce (without the Asparagus), and the grilled flank steak sandwiches.
  
  There's a great variety of salads, soups, and desserts as well to be found. As always Rachaels spunky style of her TV shows comes through in the pages as well and you'll probably have just as much fun making them yourself as watching Rachel make them on TV. Always a favorite and Rachael continues to set the bar high.
  
  Reviewed by Tim Janson
  
  
• My husband said I had no need for any other cookbook
  By AEXW7SIGQZOYZ on 2006-09-28
  Unlike some of the other reviewers who found the format difficult, I loved it. I don't have alot of time to "plan" every day meals and make a grocery list. I work a 50 or more hour job and have a 3 year old. But I love to cook and eat good food. I can thumb through the cookbook and find three recipes that I want to make for the week in 5 minutes, create a shopping list in a few more and be ready to hit the store. The whole meal is on one page and only randomly do I have to add a vegetable to make it healthier. The amount of time it takes to do "meal planning" with my other cookbooks drives me insane. And Although the ingredients may be more expensive - I buy less since I know exactly what I need for the week. The portions are great sized as well.
  
  The recipes are excellent. I'll list my favorites at the end, but my husband loves the results and has even been tempted to make a few meals himself while I have been out of town. Yes, some of the meals do take more than 30 minutes if you haven't made them before, but once made twice - you can hit close to 30 minutes each time.
  
  I love the different ingredients in the recipes. I just had Pumpkin Pasta with Sausage and wild mushrooms. I loved it and my 3yr old ate it as well (very picky eater). What I like is her ability to add unique ingredients that I normally wouldn't add - like pumpkin to a pasta dish. My 3yr old even ate Brussel Sprouts from a recipe in here.
  
  Favorites:
  18. Turkey Saltimbocca rollups with mushroom and white bean ragout
  74. Turkey or chicken croquettes with spinach mashers (quick thanksgiving meal)
  168. Creamy Broccoli soup
  209. Pumpkin polenta with Chorizo and Black beans
  284. Tangy Cherry Chicken
  170. Turkey Cutlets with Sauteed Brussel Sprouts
  
  
  
  
  
• Yummm-o!
  By A2IBEM8O86BBLL on 2005-11-08
  I just bought this book a couple of weeks ago; my first of Rachael's. Every recipe I have made so far is absolutely delicious. I gave this four stars, however, because these ARE NOT 30 minute meals. As one reviewer said, most of us do not have Food Network asistants who already have our veggies and prep work all done for us. These recipes take me about an hour to cook, but they are well worth it. I would recommend this cookbook for a novice cook who wants yummy food that is not your everyday doldrums. Even experienced chefs will find this a very good cookbook.
  
  

• Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes
• Rachael Ray: Just In Time
• Rachael Ray 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds
• Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals: What to Keep on Hand, What to Buy Fresh for the Easiest-Ever 30-Minute Meals
• Classic 30-Minute Meals: The All-Occasion Cookbook