Whether you’re recovering from an illness, or running low on mood, time, energy, money or headspace, Ryan Riley has the easy and delicious recipes to minimise the work and maximise the flavour and perk yourself up. No matter how you’re feeling, do something enjoyable for yourself and beat the January blues with Ryan Riley's small pleasures: simple, delicious bites packed full of Life Kitchen’s signature flavours to revive your love of food. These are recipes high in flavour for low times, to nourish and heal, with the added bonus of using ingredients that are naturally gut-friendly. This is Ryan's manifesto to feeling better and falling back in love with food: first you have recipes for comfort, for when eating is a chore but these recipes are the first steps in the roadmap to feeling more yourself; then comes restoration, with recipes to reawaken your senses; and the final chapter, pleasure, is all about indulgence, a love letter to yourself as you return to the world. Take some time for self-care in the kitchen with these simple and surprising recipes – new favourites that you didn’t know you were searching for. These are can-do recipes for when you feel like you can’t. From marmite jacket potatoes or 5-ingredient miso tomato sauce to green herbs and ’nduja frittata and gochujang, ginger and avocado toast, the 80+ simple recipes are all easily scalable, so no matter your mood or appetite, there is something in these pages to help you rediscover the joy of food. These are small pleasures with big flavours.

'Life Kitchen is a celebration of food' Lauren, Sunderland
'The recipes are just really simple, really easy and delicious' Carolyn, Newcastle
'His book is better than a bunch of flowers because it's going to last forever' Gillian, Sunderland

Ryan Riley was just eighteen years old when his mum, Krista, was diagnosed with cancer. He saw first-hand the effect of her treatment but one of the most difficult things he experienced was seeing her lose her ability to enjoy food.

Two years after her diagnosis, Ryan's mother died from her illness.

In a bid to discover whether there was a way to bring back the pleasure of food, Ryan created Life Kitchen in his mum's memory. It offers free classes to anyone affected by cancer treatment to cook recipes that are designed specifically to overpower the dulling effect of chemotherapy on the taste buds.

In Life Kitchen, Ryan shares recipes for dishes that are quick, easy, and unbelievably delicious, whether you are going through cancer treatment or not. With ingenious combinations of ingredients, often using the fifth taste, umami, to heighten and amplify the flavours, this book is bursting with recipes that will reignite the joy of taste and flavour.