Fast Cheap & Skinny is a cookbook for people who cook because they want to eat well, or want to feed somebody well, but who have neither the energy nor the interest to pursue the perfect duck mousse.

What we have here are recipes you have to work very hard to screw up. They're all extremely fast, almost embarrassingly easy, and can be made from stuff you already have or can get anywhere, anytime. They're meals you can make with one pot and half a brain, while the other half reads the mail, answers the phone and gets the kids into the tub.

And they're meals your friends, lovers, kids, spouses, and internationally famous party guests will love.

Nothing has to be measured carefully or blanched or braised or thickened or scalded. You don't need a food processor or a double boiler or linen tea towels. And you may find you never need another cookbook.