The culinary team behind meal delivery startup Plated shares their best advice for people who are too busy to cook

Get comfortable with your kitchen knives.

"We can't overstate the importance of knowing how to hold and use your knife, and getting comfortable with it," Karp said. "The better you become at prepping your food, the quicker you'll be able to prepare your food and even tackle more ambitious recipes (without panicking at the sight of the ingredient prep ahead)."

Learn how to marinate.

The magic of a good marinade is that it will both amp up the flavor of your dish and save you serious time. Karp and Dumaine devoted an entire section of their cookbook to perfecting marinades.

"A marinade only requires a few ingredients and a whisk, and will automatically infuse your food with tremendous flavor — no major prep needed," Karp said. "With certain cuts of meat, you can even marinate up to 24 hours, so no need to babysit.

Invest some time in make-ahead recipes.

If you have a demanding weekday schedule, save yourself a headache by doing the more complicated cooking when you have some downtime, like on the weekend.

"Make-ahead recipes might take a little more work upfront (on a Sunday, for example), but will be well worth it when you're able to serve a stellar dinner in about 15 minutes from the time you get home," Karp said. "Some of our favorites are braised dishes like short ribs and chicken, lasagna, and chili. Most of these will actually even taste better when they've sat for a few days."

Embrace the leftovers.

The Plated team devoted another section of the book to the wonder of leftovers, and how they can be easily transformed to become multiple interesting meals in one.

"Having leftovers doesn't have to mean eating the exact same meal twice," Karp said.

Dumaine says one of her favorite leftover-friendly recipes from the book is the Herb-Marinated Steak with Tomato, Onion, and Herb Salad (pictured above).

"[It] is a bit of a culinary magic trick: you make this incredibly flavorful Mediterranean-inspired steak salad, and then the next day turn the leftovers into Steak Gyros, by just adding two ingredients," she said.

Be mindful of the seasons.

"At Plated and in our cookbook, we lean heavily on seasonality," Karp said. "It's the best advice for keeping meals exciting all year long."

Many of the recipes in their cookbook include different ingredient options for each season.

For their "pizza for every season" recipe, for example, they recommend a version with figs, goat cheese, and prosciutto for fall; one with acorn squash, Italian sausage, and Taleggio cheese for winter; another with potato, goat cheese, egg, and arugula for spring; and a pizza with eggplant, mozzarella, ricotta, and basil for summer.