The Lazy Gourmet is for anyone who dreams of dazzling guests with fabulous home-cooked fare, but fears that such a feat would require Thomas Keller’s talent, Martha Stewart’s ingenuity, Gandhi’s patience, and Charles Manson’s free time.

The goal of The Lazy Gourmet is to conquer the misguided belief that preparing an elegant meal requires spending hours—or days—in the kitchen. With the help of an army of volunteer testers—regular people with no culinary training—Robin Donovan and Juliana Gallin developed this collection of recipes that can be prepared using readily available ingredients and common kitchen appliances, and without any previous cooking experience or training. With our recipes, anyone can prepare delicious and sophisticated, yet surprisingly simple dishes that will impress fussy in-laws, placate implacable bosses, and seduce sexy strangers through the proven method of knocking their socks off at the dinner table.

As the lazy gourmets themselves like to say, “Cooking a great meal can be just as easy as cooking a crappy meal!” So relax! Stop fretting over elaborate recipes and cumbersome techniques and start cooking the Lazy Gourmet way.