I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a great cookbook with 30 core ingredients and a way to make Fifteen, twenty, or thirty-minute meals. Most of the recipes appear to be fairly easy, and I love the bright-colored pictures.

I love this concept! Unfortunately, the book lacked in many areas - no nutritional value, complicated secondary (30 min) recipes that might not be great for the average cook, and a lack of substitutions for hard-to-find ingredients for special diet requirements (gluten-free, keto, etc). I did try the sautéed mushrooms, and they were delicious. Although, some of the base ingredients may not appeal to everyone, which could result in some sections of the cookbook going unused.

This is just a neat cookbook. I read a lot of cookbooks and this isn’t like anything I’ve read.

It’s great how this book is laid out. It starts out with one ingredient and then a couple recipes for that main ingredient. Also how to switch that recipe up.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Piecemeal by Kathryn Pauline.
Piecemeal is an unusual cookbook that is well thought out. The book looks at creating food basics that become foundations for future meals. I selected this book because I was intrigued by the concept; what if I could make something on the weekend and use it for meals throughout the week. The concept is great, but the recipes are more detailed or involved than I want to be. This book is geared toward a more seasoned chef.

I’ve become something of a collector of the healthy “quick but global gourmet” cookbook genre. Particular favorites are anything from Melissa Clark, Yasmin Fahr, or Milk Street. I’ve read A LOT of cookbooks that fit into this niche, and when I read a description of Pauline’s new cookbook, I was intrigued—finally, something new!

I’m pleased to report that this cookbook is a winner. First off, it has a great concept that actually makes sense: cook a key “staple” recipe (think: Z’atar cauliflower, whole roasted garlic, jammy onions, sesame ginger sauce, cherry compote, etc.) and then use it in three recipes—one that takes around 5 minutes, another that takes around 15 minutes, and a third that takes around 30 minutes. Even better, every single recipe has a photograph that gets you pumped to cook and lets you know what the finished recipe will look like (with some great plating suggestions!). Also, the cuisines covered is expansive, Italian, Greek, Thai, Korean, Middle Eastern, etc. This is a cookbook that contributes something new to this space, and I appreciated the clear and succinct instructions and the clean and modern aesthetic of the book design and photography.

I received this cookbook as an ARC as I was impressed. This book includes 124 recipes that can all be created easily and quickly. This book is perfect for the busy mom and family. The recipes can be made and stored to create other ways as well. The wonderful photography created even more of a fun interactive cookbook that has you wanting to try more and more recipes. I loved how all of the recipes are developed and created with so many options in mind. Making them made me feel like a true chef in my own home. You will love this book.

This cookbook is based on the interesting premise of making components that you can build on to create a more complex dish. It's a new and creative premise. I especially liked the idea of creating fruit compotes that can then be integrated into a cake, pie or even to complement a meat dish. This is a lovely book that serves as a guide to build creative and distinct dishes.

This is such a beautiful cookbook. Not only that but it was easy to follow and produced mouthwatering dishes. I am obsessed! Perfect minimalistic vibe and attention to detail.

"Piecemeal" by Kathryn Pauline is a culinary gem that fully deserves its solid five-star rating. The cookbook is a game-changer for busy home cooks like me, offering a brilliant strategy-based approach to preparing delicious meals quickly and efficiently.

What sets "Piecemeal" apart is its innovative concept of using transformational components as the foundation for a wide array of meals. With 30 versatile components to choose from, such as grilled corn, turkey meatballs, tzatziki, and roasted grapes, the possibilities are endless. Pauline's selection of these components for maximum performance ensures that each and every one is not only flavorful but also storable and adaptable for various culinary creations.

The beauty of "Piecemeal" lies in its flexibility and time-saving potential. I was able to prepare these components when I had a bit of extra time, then utilize them to enhance or anchor meals throughout the week, even during my busiest evenings. The cookbook offers three different recipes for each component, with fully prepared meals ranging from a quick 5 minutes to no more than 1 hour for those willing to put in a bit more effort.

In summary, "Piecemeal" is a must-have addition to any home cook's collection. It's a five-star cookbook that offers innovative strategies for meal preparation, saving time and stress in the kitchen while delivering delicious and adaptable recipes. Kathryn Pauline's culinary wisdom and creativity shine brightly in this remarkable culinary guide.

I love the overall goal of this cookbook of making flexible, effortless meals. This cookbook is definitely an essential tool for meal planning and it is definitely geared for someone like me and my skillset in cooking. I already have a lot of the ingredients she uses in my pantry. I love that there are suggestions for mixing and matching different elements of recipes. I appreciate how the book is organized into different sections: vegetables, sauces and protein, fruit and how the author also provides a recipe list where you can get ideas how to use them in meal planning. The 1 batch recipe = 3 meals totally makes sense. It's a meal plan with flexibility which is also delicious.

PIECEMEAL by Kathryn Pauline describes "A Flexible Repertoire of Effortless Meals in 124 Recipes" and it truly is flexible. Pauline offers a unique method for trying new recipes. She suggests 30 basic components (e.g., caramelized tomatoes; garlicky mushrooms, or roasted grapes) and then, for each, offers an idea for 3 recipes. Of those, one takes 5 minutes to prepare, one about 15 minutes and the last, maybe 30 minutes or a little more. One example is smoky eggplant which could be used in Baba Ganoush, a Ricotta Frittata, and Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Pauline continues to emphasize experimentation by offering easy backup plans, including additional recipes for what she calls essential foundations (e.g., buttermilk biscuits, kale, and almond brittle). Plus, she offers two tables of contents; one divides components by type (e.g., vegetables, meats, sauces, fruits) and lists their potential uses while the second version offers a more traditional division (breakfast, soups, mains, and so on). I am looking forward to trying her ideas for coconut shrimp, turkey spinach meatballs, and cinnamon apples. The accompanying photos are excellent – colorful and appealing throughout. Nutrition information is not provided, but Pauline stresses fresh ingredients and spans a variety of cuisines (e.g., German, Italian, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Polish, Thai and more). PIECEMEAL received a starred review from Booklist. We will likely be purchasing this new title for use by our cooking class students, but this inventive cookbook merits a place on your shelf at home, too.

The book has a really interesting concept - make a "component" as meal prep, and then turn it into a 5+, 15+, or 30+ minute dish. The components are in sections on Vegetables, Meats, Dressings and Sauces, and Fruits/Compotes/Curds. There is a secondary table of contents the splits the recipes into types of meals.
I loved that everything had full-color photos and that the dishes could be made with just a bit of extra time once the components were done. It does seem like a somewhat limited book - if the reader is not a fan of the particular ingredients the author chose to turn into components, the accompanying recipes would not hold appeal.

This was a beautiful cookbook with yummy colorful pictures. I gave it 3 stars because there were not many recipes that appealed to me. If you like substituting vegetables for perfectly good meat, this cookbook was probably geared towards you. I prefer real steak, not sweet potatoes steak. I will never make miso sweet potato caramel brownies. Nope! However, I’m very interested in trying coconut shrimp and turkey spinach meatballs.
Cilantro lime dressing looks right up my alley! I have been interested in learning how to make Toum since I grow garlic in my garden and I really enjoy this potent garlicky sauce. Overall, I think it’s worth the read 😃

One of the first times I've seen meal planning shot so gorgeously. Love the way the recipes are broken down and the flavor profiles chosen. Love that it's vegetable forward and usable for most any level of cook. Definitely should be the start of a series, I've used several recipes already and have plans to try a few more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. What a neat concept! The author takes a bunch of useful ingredients and then designs recipes taking about 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and 30 minutes with each one. Especially if you liked many of these ingredients, you could really get some good mileage from this one. Recommended.

Piecemeal: A Meal-Planning Repertoire with 120 Recipes to Make in 5+, 15+, or 30+ Minutes―30 Bold Ingredients and 90 Variations is an interesting cookbook that features 30 basic components with 3 recipes using those components. Each component recipe makes enough to prepare all 3 recipes. Most of the recipes are quite easy, and can be made in less than 30 minutes.

For years, many cooks have made larger batches of foods, stored them in meal-size packets in the freezer, and saved time preparing meals with those components. This cookbook incorporates that same concept, but the base recipes are quite innovative and varied. The flavors are gathered from around the world, with Asian, Latin, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, American, and others featured. The recipes are written in the traditional manner with ingredients listed first followed by step-by-step instructions. The author has also included helpful notes at the beginning each recipe.

Beautiful, professional photographs of almost every dish are included, which makes this a nice cookbook not only to cook from, but also to curl up and read.

While the concept of batch cooking isn’t new, this book has lots of new ideas and new recipes using trendy sauces and flavors that will surely make meal preparation quick and delicious.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This was an interesting cookbook concept. It essentially gives the reader/user base recipes and then shows them how to use them in multiple ways. I really like the idea of the base items being very versatile. If you were to go through and make batches of these base items you could then hypothetically freeze/store them for when you want to try some of the recipes using them. I will say that parts did seem maybe slightly ambitious for the average home cook.

I definitely will be trying the cherry babka at home as that recipe in particular looked delicious .

Piecemeal by Kathryn Pauline is a valuable addition to any kitchen. It contains so many wonderful recipes, along with recipe varieties for super quick (5min), quick (15min), and not as quick (30+min). The options are wonderful and helpful for different lifestyles. The photos are vibrant, stunning, and inviting.

Overall, I found this cookbook valuable not only for learning some new, unique recipes but also for getting me to think about how I can take this approach more with my own recipes too!

I wouldn't normally review a cookbook I disliked so much, but I received an ARC and feel obliged to.

The concept of <i>Piecemeal</i> is just nonsense to me. It makes less sense in execution. Food blogger Kathryn Pauline breaks recipes up into "components"—a soulless, unappetizing word that reflects how I feel about the entire approach—in some attempt to fix meal planning problems that don't really exist.

The idea: Create a large batch of a single ingredient and use that ingredient to make 5-minute, 15-minute, or 30-minute meals, depending on the amount of time you have throughout the week.

What this looks like in execution: Make a bunch of grilled corn as a base. The 5-minute meal is...seasoned ears of corn. Not joking. The 15-minute meal is corn bruschetta; the 30-minute one's corn chowder. None of these are meals (Would you be happy with only eating two ears of corn for dinner? What about just a bowl of soup?), and despite being called "variations," none of them share common ingredients beyond the corn, so presumably your fridge would need to be stocked with the totally separate ingredients for all three of these meals in order for you to make them throughout the week. I myself can make hearty sandwiches in 5 minutes, and much more substantial, multi-course meals in 30, but this book offers much less, with most recipes scarcely offering up the calories and nutrients necessary to be considered "meals." The problem with meal planning is not that cooking corn is difficult and thus needs to be done separately.

Let's try again with beets. The 5-minute meal is beets with yogurt. 15 minutes: a sandwich. 30 minutes: a beet salad. Again: These aren't meals. When I pictured the flexibility of a cookbook that offered meals in sets of three, I thought the recipes would be linked, using common ingredients that naturally build on each other. Instead, there's no particular theme linking any of the recipes together. Many of them call for hard-to-find ingredients (I've only ever had access to za'atar, for example, when I was living in New York City), making the recipes impossible to cook on the fly, as Pauline suggests we might. These "meals" aren't linked to any particular culture, season, or region, meaning that no one reading this could focus on eating locally while using this recipe book.

Finally, this idea of streamlining the cooking process by breaking food down into "components" just isn't what I want from my homemade meals. There's something about <i>Piecemeal</i> that reeks of corporate food culture to me and lacks the personal touch I look for in good food writing.

Didn’t find as many recipes as I hoped but was so excited my beloved passion fruit was one of main components at end so will try some of them and one of pork recipes as well.