I stumbled across this cookbook when I was first trying to learn to cook by instinct rather than by recipe. Anderson's innovative approach in this cookbook provides the reader with techniques (how to make a pureed vegetable soup, for example), rather than recipes per se. The techniques are easy (in this example, begin with aromatice vegetables like onion, add stock or broth, then the featured vegetable for the soup, some seasoning, cook and puree), and following the base instructions, she provides examples of variations meant only to get you thinking - the point of the book is that the variations are nearly endless once you learn the technique.

This book is a wonderful book for anyone wanting to learn to cook without recipes - it's great for high school and college grads, newly weds, and more.