It's a myth that cooking is complicated or takes a lot of time to be good. Here is a cookbook that will teach you how to use fresh and readily available West Coast ingredients to make deliciously simple Mediterranean- and Asian-influenced dishes. There are lots of ideas for quick everyday meals, plus easy yet impressive special-occasion recipes such as Port Marinated Strawberries Wrapped in Prosciutto, and Almond Cranberry Biscotti. Great appetizers such as Zucchini Rounds Topped with Cambozola Cheese, and Japanese-Style Chicken Skewers with Ginger Sauce won't keep you in the kitchen for long. From his popular newspaper recipe column, food writer Eric Akis gives us food with flavour and flair for cooks of all levels.

Eric Akis has been a food writer for the Times Colonist newspaper, in Victoria, since 1997. His popular bi-weekly food column also appears in newspapers across Canada, including the Calgary Herald, the Vancouver Sun, The Province, the Hamilton Spectator, the Ottawa Citizen and the Edmonton Journal. Before becoming a journalist, Eric trained to become a professional chef and a pastry chef. He worked for 15 years in a variety of operations in Ontario and British Columbia, from fine hotels to restaurants to catering companies. In 2003, his experiences as a chef and food writer inspired him to create the bestselling Everyone Can Cook series of cookbooks, which includes Everyone Can Cook, Everyone Can Cook Seafood, Everyone Can Cook Appetizers, Everyone Can Cook Midweek Meals, Everyone Can Cook for Celebrations, Everyone Can Cook Slow Cooker Meals and the collected edition: Everyone Can Cook Everything. Eric Akis was born into a military family in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and has lived in six provinces. In 1992, he moved to Victoria, BC, and now makes the city his home, living there with his wife, Cheryl Warwick, also a chef, and his son, Tyler.

Eric Akis' profile page