Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Great...even for beginners
I ordered this book after getting addicted to the television show. I had literally never cooked a meal before in my life that didn't come from a box or a can, and now I am working my way through every recipe in the book. My boyfriend and I have LOVED every single recipe and are excited about trying the rest. This is a fantastic book and all of the meals really can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. (Even for me, the rookie)
Rachael Ray is the best!!
Rating: - You won't find all the show's recipies here
I LOVE watching Rachel Ray on Food Network's 30 Minute Meals. She's funny, jovial, approachable, and so down to earth- something well needed in the aftermath of the Marth Stewart era. This book does not have ALL the recipes from her show, so don't be fooled. You will not get all of them. Also, the recipes that ARE in the show, somehow differ than what is in the book. ??I am not sure why this should be confusing. I bought all her books, and allot of the recipies are repeated in all of her books..so I think you should just buy one of her books, perhaps the one you are most drawn to, then download any recipe you don't find in your book for free (and there will be many you don't find in the books) I am hoping she will re-do this title and make it more in flow with the show..but overall the recipies are workable, and turn out.
Rating: - New show, old book
The path to 'Celebrity Chef' is well traveled. Open a restaurant with your name, start a TV show (with your name) then write a book with a tie in to the show. If you think the book is a result of Rachael's application of this success formula, you'd be wrong. Based on the publishing information the book was originally published in 1998. Rachael's Food Network show of the same name isn't more than a year old which makes one wonder: what's going on here?Rachael's original show "30 Minute Meals" was a regional production in New York. This fact helps explain who Dan Dinicola is and why he wrote an introduction. He was part of the orginal show, not the Food Network incarnation. This leaves me with the feeling that either Rachael (or the publisher) cranked out another printing to capitalize on her recent Food Network success. Are business practices important if the recipes are good? Probably not and I didn't mark the book down because of it. I would say the book is "solid" and delivers what most people expect: good tasting recipes that can be made in 30 minutes. The recipes are easy to make so you don't need to be a culinary master to have them turn out perfectly. The ingredients used are also common enough to be found in most supermarkets. One thing I liked was that many recipes measure in "handfulls" and "glugs" which helps a person trust their own inner chef and grow beyond the rigidity of a recipe. So why only four stars then? Well, I took one off because the book lacked color pictures of the food. I'm a fan of food pictures for inspiration. I also would have taken one star off because there is a lot of overlap between the book and the show (especially since the show now appears daily instead of weekly) but I didn't think it much of an issue because the current price point of the book is such that it keeps value even if kept as a paper reference to the show's recipes. Just remember that much of what you pay for in this book you've already seen on TV.
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