This is less of a cookbook than a textbook on cooking, but a very useful textbook to have around. In the intro, Bittman makes the claim that in our quest for fast, convenient food, we've given up way too much in flavor and nutrition, and really haven't saved much time in return. His goal with this book is to teach the basics of cooking, so you feel confident making any basic home-cooked meal. In this, I think he succeeds.

And for time-pressed families, his quick meals strike me as more nutritious and better tasting than Ms. Thirty-Minute-Meals Ray's concoctions - and just as quick and easy.

One minor quibble I would have would be with the ethnic recipes. I suspect that most are not close to the real thing. I'm not familiar enough with all of the cuisines to know the difference, but some of the declarations he made about Eastern European and Middle Eastern dishes and coffee drinks I would consider flat out wrong. For example, he suggests that blini are just crepes with a little more egg in the batter, when actually they get their distinctive taste from yeast, which crepes do not have. I'm sure the crepe substitution would be just fine for most of his readers, so it isn't a huge deal, but look elsewhere if you really want to learn about another cuisine.