I would get a good cutting board and a good, inexpensive chef's knife, e.g.,:

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-47302-Cutlery-BladeSafe-6-Inch/dp/B0000CFBB6/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1436293736&sr=1-5

I have small hands so I prefer a smaller knife vs. the 8-10 inch. I would have her practice knife skills--cutting an onion as PP mentioned, carrots, garlic. Make flat and make many. Reviewing basic food safety--how to prevent cross contamination, how to season etc.

A insta-read thermapen, and a fire extinguisher and show her how to use it. This last thing is something that can be ordered directly and sent to her home. Magnets as to proper temps for meat, cooking times are helpful so she doesn't feel she needs to consult a recipe every time.

I like this cook book: http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Food-Great-Fast/dp/0307354164/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436293773&sr=1-1&keywords=every+day+food

especially it's one pan meals. Who needs a lot of clean up no matter what your age. It used to run as a series on PBS, but I'm not sure it's available any longer.

Easy marinade chicken recipes - buy chicken, toss into a bag with olive oil, some salt, pepper, any other seasoning (Italian can work). Prep in the morning or let it sit overnight. Then, pop it in the over for about 20 min @ 350. While the chicken is cooking, make Rice-a-Roni.
A salad kit is a good way to have vegetable without cooking it. Otherwise broccoli and green beans are easy to cook.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not get her cooks illustrated. As an adult who can cook I find that magazine too hard and way to fussy.

I'd recommend the better homes and gardens checkered cookbook. The recipes are pretty easy and it has lots of explaination in the front. It also has pretty color photos which make you want to eat the food.

Foo. Cook's Illustrated is like the Choose Your Own Adventure Cookbook. It's amazing because it teaches food sense and how recipes work and why they work. Ultimately, this is way more valuable than just teaching someone how to cook via a list with no understanding of why or how that list exists in that order.

Of course, cooking is a learning curve and I can't take issue with your Better Homes req. That was one of my first cookbooks and did make me feel like a success when I turned something out.

For the OP, I second the Mark Bittman books as a good solid place to start and would add Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone because it is more than recipes; it's like a cookbook of vegetable sense.

I'm the one who recommended cooks illustrated.
This exactly. It tells you why things work... And more importantly why things don't. It's not a bit fussy or hard. It's written very simply and directly.

I like Cook's Country -- same publisher and lots of detail on recipe development but balanced with more straightforward recipes and it has color photographs.

I'd suggest "How to Cook Without a Book" -- it provides a lot of basic templates for recipes and basic techniques -- how to saute chicken breasts, make a fritatta, fried rice, simple soups, basic tomato sauce. I turn to it more than any other cookbook for everyday dinners and have just started teaching my kids some of the basics (they are 10 and 12).

I would teach her:

homemade vinaigrette
white sauce (which can be made into cheese sauce)
roasted veggies
how to chop an onion

then a few basic things like how to cook a chicken breast, make pasta, etc.

And get her the Bittman How to Cook Everything -- The Basics cookbook. It's not super long but very easy to follow and has lots of great basic recipes. It's not intimidating but it is grown up.

I think there are a ton of great suggestions here! I love the idea of showing her some basic cooking techniques with proteins and veggies and building from there. Does she have siblings? It may be fun to find out what her favorite meal is, along with the favorites of everyone else in their household and teach her how to make those. Cooking is something that can easily be enjoyed, especially if you're looking forward to the end result. Wishing you the best!



the brie's cheese knees

I started cooking about that age or just a bit younger as my mom' s commute got longer and longer. I wanted to help her but I also wanted to eat before 8pm and I had always baked treats so not to hard to go to real food.

working from memory,things I prepared:

BLT sandwiches with fruit
baked chicken thighs with the green bean casserole everyone made
Chili and corn muffins. Just followed the spice pack -so easy
tomato soup and grilled cheese
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Either a quiche or one of those bisquick dishes

All should be relatively easy. i hope!

A rice cooker or crock pot are easy ways to start.

I like the idea of teaching her how to cook proteins well. For example, it's not totally intuitive how to cook a boneless skinless chicken breast in a pan. You have to have the temperature right, and not mess with it too much in the pan. Teach her how to brown and drain ground beef, how to make scrambled and sunny side up eggs, and how to bake/broil pork chops.

This will give her the basic starting place for so many dishes.

And I agree the PPs who suggested some Penzy's spices. They are pretty inexpensive and they can vastly simplify the seasoning and flavoring process for a beginning cook (like me, incidentally).