Ali Slagle, author of the new cookbook "I Dream of Dinner (So You Don't Have To)," knows what the typical person's experience in the kitchen is like.
That's because she's one of them -- someone who came to cooking as an organic skill learned from a mother or grandmother, in her case both, rather than from a culinary arts school or formal apprenticeship. She majored in geography in college, owns zero high-end kitchen appliances, and has never even worked in a restaurant.
"You don't have to be a fancy chef or have a lot of fancy things to make delicious food," said Ms. Slagle, a freelance recipe developer and tester whose creations can be found in The New York Times and Washington Post.
"Geography is an interesting major -- really interdisciplinary," Ms. Slagle said. "Architecture, natural sciences, and all sorts of stuff really contributed to how I think about cooking. It's not just science, not just an art; I think a lot about people's circumstances when they are cooking. Maybe they're tight on time or knowledge or interest, so I'm always thinking about all these different factors when I'm working on a recipe."
Ms. Slagle's book ($29.95, Penguin Random House) features 150 original recipes, many of them conceived and perfected during the Covid-19 pandemic right here at her mother's house in Amagansett, where she and her boyfriend have been living -- and grocery-shopping -- for the last two years.
"A lot of people around the country sometimes have one grocery store or only go to one grocery store," she said. "I thought about what was available to me to mimic how people shop for dinner. Having those limitations makes you more creative -- you would never have thought to use your toaster oven for salmon unless you to have to, right?" she said (during a conversation with a journalist who had recently done exactly that).
Her philosophy, she said, is that people "can find joy and ease" in the kitchen even if they don't think they are capable of it.
So how did she arrive at a cookbook? While studying at the University of California-Berkeley she interned at a cookbook publishing company. She learned a lot about recipe creation, food styling, and many other aspects of the business. It led to a position with Food 52, an online food publication that melds with social networking and a store selling unique edible goods. Ms. Slagle, 30, has been freelancing for four years now.
She herself enjoys the culinary accomplishments of Samin Nosrat, creator of the book and TV series "Salt Fat Acid Heat." It gives people not just recipes, but also the context and information to cook them, and it's done "in a way that is so joyful and that makes you laugh sometimes. It's that mix of education and deep knowledge and joyfulness and lightheartedness that I really am taken with."
In "I Dream of Dinner," Ms. Slagle presents 150 recipes that can each be prepared in 45 minutes, tops, and most with fewer than 10 ingredients. She gravitates toward Italian food but pulls from all kinds of cuisine to appeal to a wide range of people. Many emphasize the use of locally sourced components. Half of the recipes are vegetarian dishes that can also be changed-up with different proteins if the cook so chooses.
Among the recipe rundown is the Egg and Charred Pepper Stew, which stands out as unique for its use of soft-boiled eggs. They "are one of those things that you can always have around and are easy to make -- a fast protein," she said. "When you put the soft-boiled, peeled eggs in the stew, they soak up the favor of the stew and add . . . a nice texture in the soup."
Then there's Springy Noodle Stir Fry (recipe here), which relies on seasonal vegetables like asparagus, green beans, snap peas, and snow peas. "This stir fry is basically two parts vegetable to one part noodles. . . In the book, I say you can add some chicken or pork. You can brown them and add that before the vegetables in step four."
She also highly recommends the All-the-Time Chicken Thighs, which "give people a seasoning for chicken that will make it taste great but is flexible enough that you can use that chicken in lots of different dishes."
"I Dream of Dinner" has received praise from publications like Bon Appetit, Thrillist, Food and Wine, Eater, and Time.
"I realized there was a great need for recipes and cooking information not just for people who like to cook," she said, "but for people who need to and have to cook."
