Impatient Foodie

March 20, 2017
Popular blogger Wiedemann’s debut cookbook contains 100 recipes for tight schedules and lazy cooks. Geared toward the true novice, instructions are given on “how to read a recipe” and how to use the 21 tools the author recommends as favorites. Recipes for savory items are plentiful, and are often from scratch; however, desserts rely on boxed mixes and store-bought ingredients to eliminate measuring. Even for the most impatient baker, measuring dry ingredients shouldn’t be that difficult or time-consuming, especially in light of such impressive main dishes as miso-braised eggplant, Chou’s vinegar chicken, and harissa lamb chops with mashed cauliflower. Most of the included recipes are approachable and easy to pull together. Photos. Agent: David Kuhn and Nicole Tourtelot.

June 15, 2017

Fashion model Wiedemann is the founder of the blog ImpatientFoodie.com, which aims to marry ideals of the Slow Food movement with the realities of urban life. Her debut cookbook, written with New York food stylist Ficca, builds on this concept, offering simple preparations for a bounty of vegetables, fruits, and proteins. Recipes (e.g., vegan one-pot linguine with asparagus and lemon-oregano oil, impatient mussels in mushroom broth, apple brie bacon grilled cheese) are organized alphabetically by featured ingredient and tend to be light on prep time and cleanup. Some are also light on cooking; brownie ice cream cake, for example, is assembled from boxed brownie mix, Cool Whip, and other packaged foods. VERDICT Recommended for anyone exasperated by cooking. There's a lot of humor in Wiedemann's impatience, and many readers will be entertained by her acerbic comments on crowded farmer's markets, confusing food labels, laborious recipes, and useless spices.

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