I’m an avid reader of cookbooks, a relentless seeker of interesting flavor combinations, and a life-long appreciator of vegetables. I appreciate the transformative power of cooking and the way it can turn chopped vegetables dressed with little more than olive oil, salt, and pepper into an altered state of deliciousness.

I manage to have a good time every time I forage for ingredients in my pantry and fridge, pull out a bowl chopping board, and fire up my oven. I love the tactile and sensory rewards of putting together a meal—the peeling, chopping, and grating. The chance to inhale all that freshness. The taste testing.

For me, cooking is a creative outlet that also makes it easier to eat in a way that’s healthy and affordable. But I recognize not everyone likes to cook, and a couple of years ago I started asking people why. The reply given most frequently: lack of time. Given that we tend to have time to do the things we enjoy, it’s an easy bet that lack of interest is also involved.

As a product designer, I’m used to thinking about more seamless ways for people to interact with the world around them. So I decided to apply that same thinking to cooking to see if I could make it more appealing for people too busy to cook.

Common time sinks include recipes that call for too many ingredients, too many unfamiliar cooking techniques, and too many dishes. I’m familiar with all of these hurdles. I used to cope by regularly serving Trader Joe’s ready-made dinners on top of salad greens or brown rice. And what’s wrong with that? If you’re not wild about cooking, why not just heat up pre-made curries, fried rice dishes, or other packaged food?

Here’s what helped convince me to switch to home cooking: Cooking up whole ingredients instead of packaged dinners, which are often processed and high in sodium, is just better for you, plus it tends to be less expensive. My experience as an occasional cook had also taught me how much I was missing—the hands-on, near-sensual nature of cooking not to mention the way fresh flavors taste.

Once I’d decided to see if I could make healthy cooking easier, I started experimenting with popular recipes. I deliberately skipped steps or consolidated them, left out or swapped in different ingredients, and streamlined the instructions and number of cooking tools to what was most essential. I learned what did and did not work and iterated from there. Design. Test. Refine. Repeat.

Eventually, I learned that cooking need not result in a mountain of dishes in the sink. That one recipe can be served many different ways. And that a single dish can amount to a full dinner, no sides necessary.

Toward that end, I’ve kept the prepping instructions straightforward and brief. I suggest when to buy an ingredient rather than make it from scratch—canned chickpeas, frozen green beans, and peeled butternut squash can save time and still offer the nutrients and taste you want. Finally, I’ve kept the cooking fairly simple. Rarely does a dish call for a special technique, and when it does, I break it down for you.

Unlike most cookbooks, these recipes are illustrated—by me. Choosing illustrations over photography is in line with the ethos of the book. This is not aspirational cooking; it’s practical, flexible, and whatever you want it to be. While I suggest serving suggestions and toppings, they are only suggestions. I leave it to you to decide how you want your dinner to look, and to taste.

How to use this book

Once you’re comfortable with the recipes in this book, you may not need to refer to them anymore. They’re meant to inspire you to expand upon, and enjoy, your own cooking.

Built-in flexibility. The recipes are designed to make it easy for you to prepare them. You’ll find serving suggestions and optional ingredients and ingredient swaps. They’re there to help you use what you already have on hand, get in touch with your preferences, and explore other tastes and textures. I’d love to save you a run to the grocery store, help you make your own calls on what’s optional, and maybe ignite an interest in some new seasoning or protein options.

Sauces. Adding sauce or dressing to a dish can tie together the ingredients and enhance the flavors. I like sauces so much I’ve dedicated a section of this book to them (p.145). But in the spirit of one-and-done simplicity, I’ve left the choice of using them to you. Every one of the sauces can be replaced with a store bought version or eliminated entirely. I just want to give you the option.

Cooked grains. The grain bowl is a foundational element of the one-and-done regimen because it’s healthy, and easy to assemble and customize. This means you’ll find that many recipes ask for “cooked grains.” It’s one of those ingredients you can just buy—precooked rice, quinoa, and polenta are easily available as is frozen cauliflower rice. But not all grains are easy to find precooked—take farro, for instance. When cooking grains, the best advice is to follow package directions because they vary, from one rice to another, for instance. I also recommend cooking in batches to use throughout the week. To add richness, measure out a tablespoon or so of olive oil while cooking. For more flavor, stir in some fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme or basil. To bring out the best in your grain, add a pinch of salt while cooking, and another sprinkle at the end.

Prep to table time. Each recipe includes an estimate of how much time it takes to chop, measure, cook, and otherwise prepare a meal—it’s just easier to plan dinner that way. Because you’re the one choosing to cook grains, or take advantage of the pre-cooked option, grain prep is not part of the calculation.

Plant-based. This cookbook is plant-based, which means the recipes are vegetarian with an option to veganize. I use plant-based oils rather than butter, and plant-based milk for dairy milk. I often recommend cheese, especially for toppings, with the understanding that there’s a vegan option for almost every one. One of my go-to cheese alternatives is fortified nutritional yeast, which lends a creamy cheesy texture and flavor to dishes, along with lots of vitamin B. I leave out eggs except when it’s a critical ingredient, as in quiche. Finally, I have a weakness for plain Greek yogurt as a topping—just putting it out there. Dairy-free sour cream and yogurt exist and the yogurt topping is just a suggestion, but I do love what a dollop of plain Greek yogurt can do for a dish.

Low waste. I’ve included a brief guide to cutting up vegetables. It describes techniques, as in, what does mincing onions look like, along with suggestions for minimizing waste. The leafy green part of a leek, for instance, is often tossed. Keep it! (All but the toughest topmost part.) It’s full of vitamin C and it tastes good. Broccoli florets aren’t the only part worth eating; so are the stalks, if you slice off the tough outsides before chopping them up, and so on. Throughout the recipes, I list the full can of beans or tomatoes wherever possible and the whole vegetable so you don’t have to store (or toss) the leftovers. In cases where I ask for, say, half an onion or two cups of broccolini, I invite you to ignore the instructions and use up the entire vegetable.

Recipe-free. Knowing a few cooking techniques and flavor profiles can free you to make good dinners without resorting to a recipe. In the recipe-free section of this book (p.141), I offer suggestions for assembling a variety of grain bowls. I list examples of vegetables and seasonings that work well together along with proteins, grains, and toppings to choose among. Note: If you want to expand your flavor knowledge base, I recommend borrowing or buying a copy of The Flavor Bible, by Andrew Domenburg and Karen Page. It’s a guide to which herbs and spices work well with what vegetables, and I consider it indispensable to freestyle cooking.

Excerpted from the book The One & Done Cookbook, now on sale.

Betsy Freeman grew up in Colorado and learned how to whip, blend, and sauté from her mother, who also passed along her love of vegetables. A professional illustrator as well as full-time product designer, she lives in San Francisco with her husband Josiah.

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