Take One Can: 80 Delicious Meals from the Pantry

Food stylist Milne proves canned foods can be springboards to easy, interesting meals. Pulling inspiration from various places (e.g., Sicily, India, and Vietnam), recipes are built around inexpensive canned food, and occasionally something a bit unusual, such as jackfruit, mangoes, or mackerel. Home canners could easily substitute their homemade goods. The book is organized into chapters featuring beans and pulses; tomatoes and vegetables; fish; and fruits and sweet cans with a final segment on accompaniments made from pantry staples. Many recipes have less than ten ingredients and several are particularly appropriate for small households. The simple recipes are presented with stylish photos and colorful drawings. Novice cooks would have benefited from introductory remarks about stocking a pantry. Though Milne is not vegan or even vegetarian, her book does not include meat. For quick, meaty meals, including nutritional analysis, try Taste of Home’s Half Homemade, where recipes build on prepackaged items.