With over 100 recipes based around the occasions when we gather to eat, A Simple Table has a recipe for every occasion. From one-pot cooking or a quick and easy midweek meal in a bowl, to a relaxed, weekend family meal on platters around the kitchen table, or celebratory feast of share plates and side dishes followed by sweet baked treats or dessert. The recipes are contemporary, uncomplicated and fresh, using accessible and interesting ingredients in clever combinations, to create amazing tastes, textures and flavours. Throughout, there are notes that link to other recipes in the book, or give quick tips, shopping lists or ingredient information.

Michele Cranston has been cooking and styling for 25 years in a career that has included setting up an acclaimed cafe, cooking creatively for an events company in London and writing about food for various magazines. Having originally trained as a visual artist, Michele's love of food soon took her into the world of restaurants and food media, where she became famous for her colourful and simple food combinations and quirky take on traditional recipes. She was the Food Editor at Marie Claire magazine for 5 years and has written 12 cookbooks in the Marie Claire series. She is presently Food Editor at Large at the Australian Women's Weekly where she brings her modern and fresh take on food to a mass market. As well as writing, Michele is a freelance food stylist working in areas as diverse as magazines, television commercials and advertising. She presently splits her time between the UK and Sydney.