You don’t need a recipe. Really, you don’t. Sam Sifton, founding editor of New York Times Cooking, makes improvisational cooking easier than you think. In this compact, handy book of ideas, Sifton delivers 100 no-recipe recipes — each gloriously photographed — to make with the ingredients you have on hand or could pick up on a quick trip to the store. You’ll see how to make these meals as big or as small as you like, substituting ingredients as you go.

This is the debut cookbook from Cooking, the popular Times website and mobile app that helps home cooks discover the world’s best recipes while also helping them become better, more competent cooks. The 256-page book features 100 vividly photographed and beautifully described meals that will make weeknight cooking more fun, creative, dynamic and delicious.

Sam Sifton is an assistant managing editor of The Times, overseeing culture and lifestyle coverage. He is also an “Eat” columnist for The New York Times Magazine and the founding editor of NYT Cooking, an award-winning digital cookbook and cooking school. Formerly the newspaper’s national news editor, culture editor, and chief restaurant critic, he is also the author of “Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well” and “See You on Sunday: A Cookbook for Family and Friends.”

• This cookbook is in a flexibound format and provides protection for inside pages, enabling them to be wiped clean after a messy cooking session.
• 256 pages
• Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9