For the past twenty years, Roy Finamore has shaped America's most popular cookbooks, publishing such influential authors as Martha Stewart, Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa), and Lee Bailey and working alongside chefs and other food authorities to help them streamline their recipes. Now, in Tasty, he shows you how to make the most of your time and have fun in the kitchen.

Tasty proves that a meal doesn't need to be showoffy to be uncommonly good. When you serve food from this book, your family and friends will sit up and take notice, and you'll be relaxed and smiling when you sit down at the table. Among the simple but exceptional dishes in Tasty:

Buttermilk Pancakes with Hazelnut Butter: breakfast with a minimum of effort; unbelievably light and fluffy.

Sicilian Spinach Pie: perfect for a lunch or picnic, with the easiest pastry you've ever made.

Fresh Pea Soup: with three common ingredients, it's ready in five minutes.

Chicken Milanese: Crisp chicken and tart salad -- the kind of food you crave when it's hot out.

Pork Roast with Fruit Stuffing: a fine company dish or Sunday supper.

Chinois Noodles: Asian-inspired and equally good warm or cold.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake: Whip cream, add eggs and a few dry ingredients, and you've got cake!

As Roy says in his introduction, Good simple food is meant to be shared and enjoyed. Cook often.