While many of the recipes don't particularly seem suited for a busy working family, I think with the proper planning it COULD be doable for a variety of households and budgets.

I really liked the list of pantry staples as many recipes that a family will go through a week will require most of the item listed. The photography was well done.

I love, love love this book. the author is one of my favorite bloggers and her book exceeds my expectations. It is well laid out and has lots of good ideas and things to do to try and minimalize your kitchen.

If you are looking to pare down your cooking style reading and adopting some of the ideas presented by Melissa Coleman should help you achieve your goal. Coleman writes about how paring down the kitchen is a lot like paring down to a capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is made up of core outfits that can be used to create a wider variety of outfits. The same goes for the minimalist kitchen.

Some of the recipes you'll find in her cookbook include:

Breakfast Tostadas
Blender Dutch Baby
Fresh Spinach Quiche
Red Pepper Wraps
Pan-Fried White Fish
Almond Joy Macaroons

I loved her Sample Dinner Plans chart, her recipe tags, and her ideas on building a minimalist kitchen.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

Very practical for people who want to get delicious food on the table:
Whether you are just moving into your first home or you have already had your kitchen for a couple of years, Melissa Coleman's approach to a mimimalist kitchen saves time and opens up a lot of valuable kitchen space for some serious cooking. Right now my kitchen cabinets are relatively full with stuff that has accumulated over the years. This is why I like Melissa's list of essential cookware and kitchen utensils. It provides me with a reality check of what I really need in a functional kitchen. Anything other than those items take away from the openness of the space and can actually be in the way of cooking. Melissa's kitchen reminds me of some minimalist equipped kitchens I had when staying in vacation homes. I always had fun cooking there and cleaning up was a breeze. Melissa's delicious recipes are all quite easy to cook. This makes cooking enjoyable. The recipes are also good for casual entertaining. And I can actually prepare those recipes for my family when I am under a time constraint. My goal for now is to pack all items that are not essential for cooking into boxes and take them out of the kitchen to see if this really makes a difference. I am pretty sure it will.

I really enjoyed this cookbook. The photography is beautiful and clean, and the recipes I tried (spinach quiche, biscuits, caramelized carrots) were well-written, as well as delicious. I was not familiar with the author prior to reading this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. I also appreciate the recipes being broken down into weekend, weeknight, etc., as well as proving a small graphic as to what cooking implement(s) you'll need.

I received a free ebook copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've got to tell you, I was skeptical about this title and what it could do in my kitchen. I wasn't ready to buy into her philosophy! I have been very pleasantly surprised by this book, and actually see myself adapting to her way of thinking! That in itself, speaks volumes!! Well written, with practical ideas and recipes that even I can buy into!! Bravo to the author! My kitchen thanks you and so do I!!

First, I love it that the author is a "graphic designer by day and food blogger by night" - I knew that this book would be beautiful; I was not disappointed. The photos and layout are great (and minimalist) however I wasn't as awed by the 'minimalist' aspect of the recipes/book. If it didn't have the word 'minimalist' in the title, I would have mistaken it for a regular cookbook. I really liked the 'minimalist tips' that popped up as well as the easy-to-identify tags. I think to keep with a minimalist approach, the recipes are fairly standard (not created for interesting tastes/mixes). That being said, I have friends that would really appreciate this book, and I think it would make a great resource and/or gift.

There is no denying that this is a beautiful looking cookery book, full of stunning photos that really enhance it. However, some of the recipes feel extravagant to me for a minimalist cookery book and too many are full of dairy ingredients (I'm lactose intolerant!) I was hoping for some original recipes and whilst there are a few, many are simply rehashed versions of old ones. That said, it does provide an excellent guide to the minimalist kitchen and so I can only say that whilst this book is not one for me, there is definitely a place for it out there. I'm sure it will be a popular addition to many home cooks' collection.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC, for which I have given a voluntary and unbiased review.

Over the years I have "collected" various pieces of kitchen equipment that at the time seemed like a good idea. In this book, Melissa Coleman shows just what kitchen equipment is really necessary as well as shares some wonderful recipes that do not need specialty equipment or fancy ingredients. I will be weeding out my kitchen drawers and cupboards taking the advice from the Minimalist Kitchen.
Great advise, delicious recipes and beautiful illustrations. I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free ebook copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

As the title suggests, this book sets out to provide pointers towards a more minimalist approach to cooking and organising kitchen. The opening chapter does pretty much that, with the author sharing her philosophy about how much gadgetry there is needed in the kitchen and suggesting how to equip one's pantry. The ideas are reasonable and not that difficult to implement, the main lessons being: keep the tools that you use, let go of those you don't; simplify your life in the kitchen by using the same tool (e.g. measuring cup) to do various things; let the kitchen serve you; a full pantry can save your dinner on a bad day.

The rest of the book consists of recipes, divided into well-organised chapters. The recipes are clearly written out and fairly easy to follow. Unfortunately the flavour profile doesn't really match what I enjoy eating on a daily basis, but I did learn a few interesting recipes and now have some inspirations for taste combinations. The pictures are worth mentioning, as they are very pretty and give the reader a good idea of the outcome of the recipe.

i really liked the layout of the book, the recipes look really appealing and im looking forward to trying out more of the recipes!!

I love this cookbook. Simple yet flavorful recipes. I love the design of the cookbook and the lovely balance of pictures. A great addition to any collection.

I was not familiar with Melissa Coleman or her blog but was intrigued by the title of the book. I am not one to click on the ‘Buy Me Button’ every time a new must-have kitchen gadget is unveiled, but I have to admit, even though my kitchen is organized, every cabinet and drawer are full. I hoped that a minimalist’s kitchen might help me decide what I really need and what I could do without. The author introduced me to her kitchen which holds only essentials that she will use regularly. She also made a great suggestion to weed out rarely used items, pack them away for a few months and if you didn’t need them, let them go gracefully to another home. With summer memories fading and fall moving towards winter, I will be doing a deep clean and reorganization in my kitchen before the holidays and plan to follow her tip.
The author then focused on pantry staples and then recipes. For me, a winning cookbook has recipes built around nutritious ingredients as well as gorgeous, mouthwatering photos and instructions I can follow without having to first graduate from culinary school. This book ticked those boxes and I liked the breakdown between Make Ahead, Weekday (simpler recipes), and Weekend (more preparation required) recipes. A good selection of recipes and certainly a philosophy that appeals to me.
Thank you, Melissa Coleman, Time Inc. Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Browsing through this cookbook I found quite a few recipes I might like to sample. A few hours later, I found myself givng the Butternut Pasta recipe a try. It was tasty enough to make plans to serve it again sometime this fall.
Wonderfully appealing photos of every recipe really inspire me to consider attempting to recreate more of the dishes.
While I will not be making plans to downsize to a "minimalist kitchen" anytime soon, I found plenty of helpful prep tips I can use in this book. I just enjoy all my appliance and gadgets to much to part with many of them, tho'I suppose I could consider future purchases a bit more carefully.
I was inspired enough to check out Melissa's thefauxmartha.com and look forward to following her new postings..

The Minimalist Kitchen is a cheerful, straightforward honest cookbook aimed to help home cooks pare down to the real essentials, and still have the ability to make a wide variety of meals.

I like minimalist design, and I like simple, clean dishes. This was a great book, although I did find a lot of recipes that I have seen before.