This is a really fun giveaway for us today, because as it turns out, best-selling cookbook author Melissa Joulwan is a member of Fug Nation. Which is basically how, even though I don’t observe a Paleo diet myself, I ended up writing the foreword to her brand new cookbook, Well Fed Weeknights.

And no, I was not paid for it; I just wanted to, because I actually use her books. The short version: Mel found out I am a fan of her work when I was raving about the original Well Fed on Twitter — we make the chicken pad thai every couple weeks — and that’s when we found out she also likes ours (she’s been an awesome supporter of The Royal We, as well as a regular reader and commenter). When Well Fed Weeknights came out, she approached me about writing a foreword from the point of view of someone who isn’t Paleo but has found the recipes helpful and tasty anyway — because you don’t HAVE to be exclusive with a particular eating plan in order to enjoy its food. My goal was to try and cut down on my reliance on carbs and refined sugars (because I get plenty of those in other places), and sneak veggies into my diet where they otherwise might not be. Now I keep a batch of Mel’s ketchup in my house at all times — it is her fault that I now own three squeeze bottles — and Well Fed 2 has this one shrimp and mango salad that’s so good, we double it every time we make it specifically so we’ll have lots of leftovers. Whether you eat Paleo or not, the food is first and foremost just really good.

Well Fed Weeknights was inspired by street food and other fast favorites — I just made the fried chicken meatballs, which: YES — and all recipes clock in at 45 minutes or less, with 100 of them coming in under 30. Here’s the pitch:

With Well Fed Weeknights, author and mouthy paleo cook Melissa Joulwan brings her love for food and spirit of adventure to a knockout collection of weeknight recipes inspired by takeout classics, food trucks, and cuisines from around the world—all totally free of grains, dairy, legumes, and soy. Every meal is thoroughly tested and easy to make, with affordable ingredients you’ll find at your regular grocery store. (No extra trips to specialty food stores required!)

Debuting in Well Fed Weeknights are fun and flexible Food Court Recipes: in-depth blueprints of your favorite dinner themes, like Meat & Potatoes, Burger Night, Velvet Stir-Fry, The Ultimate Salad Bar, and more, all offering basic techniques and creative variations to satisfy your personal cravings.

All recipes include Melissa’s popular ”You Know How You Could Do That?” variations, as well as Cookup Tips to help condense cooking time with make-ahead items.

The new book doesn’t come out until early November, but you have a chance to win it here today and then lord it over all humankind. If you don’t win, or you want to get it for a friend, pre-ordering directly from Mel gets you some cool bonuses like a free one-month Epic Well Fed dinner plan. Or, you can preorder Well Fed Weeknights — and straight-up order Well Fed and Well Fed 2 — from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. If you want to try before you buy, so to speak, you can download a 70-page sampler from Mel for free.

And now:

THE PRIZE: Five (5) full sets of the best-selling Well Fed cookbooks: Well Fed, Well Fed 2, and the brand-new Well Fed Weeknights.

THE TASK: We’ll pick the winner at random, but to enter, drop by the comments and tell us what your biggest food weakness is. What’s the one snack you basically shouldn’t buy, because you’ll devour the whole thing the second you get home from the supermarket? Or the one food that makes you go weak at the knees? If someone needed to ask you for an impossible favor, what meal would they use to woo you into saying yes? Etc.

THE RULES: This giveaway is open to EVERYONE, wherever you are. All entries must be in the comments by Tuesday night at 11 p.m. Eastern time. You may comment more than once, but each e-mail address will only count as one entry. FYI, if this is the first time you’ve commented here, the system may automatically kick you into moderation, but don’t worry, I will rescue you. 

Go forth and salivate, in the comments and in life.

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