Deb Perelman Of Smitten Kitchen Shares Her Favorite Kitchen Shortcuts

Cooking in a tiny New York City kitchen is stressful. Cooking in a tiny New York City kitchen for millions of new followers, and coming up with new recipes on a weekly basis, makes that normal stress of not having a dishwasher feel like nothing. But Deb Perelman, whose blog Smitten Kitchen has been around for over ten years (a.k.a. forever in blog years), pulls it all off somehow, continually inspiring us with new seasonal, eye-catching creations.

So what's her secret? While we'd like to think it was a superhuman ability she was just born with, Perelman says she has "no arrogance" when it comes to cooking, and instead makes it work with hacks, shortcuts, and tips learned over years of experimenting.

Her second cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Every Day, is all about what she calls the "happy discoveries" that have allowed her to cook amazing meals without much work or time. But before we dog-eared the book for recipes to try, we got a chance to chat with Perelman about her go-to tricks and tips to elevate every meal of the day with just a little prep. In other words: Here's how to live the Smitten Kitchen life even if you're just barely able to boil water.

Ahead, five tips you can steal from Smitten Kitchen right now.