Any of the Cooks Illustrated cookbooks would also work nicely. I got The New Best Recipe for my boyfriend and he loves it. It also has intros to each recipe explaining why each step is necessary, as well as illustrations for anything complicated.

I love Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food". It gives a detailed description of how to cook all of the basics along with, if interested, an explanation of why in the margins.

It gives a good base of recipes along with the invaluable knowledge of how to cook. Far too many people are paralyzed without a recipe because they have the former, but not the latter.

Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is extraordinary in its elegant simplicity.

The Joy of Cooking is always a good standard.

How about "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" by Judith Jones. Male friendly recipes for him until you reunite and can cook together (the recipes are also easily scale-able for two).

I like the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. I think they appeal to guys, because they go more in depth as to why they do things the way they do and sometimes the science behind cooking techniques, which is super interesting, plus it's easy to follow.

I learned with How to Cook Everything. Bittman's newish cookbook, the Food Matters Cookbook, might also be worth checking out.

My husband (then boyfriend) decided he didn't want to be "that guy" who ate frozen dinners all the time. A friend gave him Bob Blumer's "Surreal Gourmet." Later he picked up a copy of Blumer's "Off the Eaten Path." They're both really approachable, fun, and surprisingly useful. We still cook recipes (long-committed to memory) from those 2 books, twenty years later. (Geez, now I feel old!)

The only book (of many) that has never left my countertop, much less my kitchen is Michael Ruhlman's The Ratio.

Bittman's HTCE is like a bible in my household. It's what I often reach for first when I need a good, basic recipe.

Maybe old fashioned, but instead of Bittman I have Fannie Farmer ("coming of age" gift from my parents). I've never made a lot of dinners out of it because internet recipes are so shiny and exciting, but do find myself using it as a "how-to" or "what would happen if" reference all the time for modifying recipes or trying new ingredients.

Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food is the very best, most reliable SIMPLEcookbook I've ever used. And I own many,many cookbooks and am a long-experienced and good cook. I've never owned such a regularly useful cookbook.

How has no one mentioned The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones? You might know her as the editor of Julia Child, and masses of other culinary titans. Just a beautiful, simple little book. It is easily adapted for two people once you join him. So is Joe Yonan's Serve Yourself...absolutely fabulous exotic recipes. It's a fantastic cookbook for guys - but I'm a girl and I love it too!

It's Betty Crocker in my family.

Seconding (or, thirding) Jones "Pleasures of Cooking for One." What I liked is that it not only dealt with recipes, it also dealt with how to SHOP for solo eating -- because one of the problems you face is that you only want to eat one pork chop but they come in packs of six or whatever. Jones has a section of recipes grouped together, where you can cook the pork chops one night, and then use the leftovers in something else entirely different the next night, and...

Ted Allen's cookbook is great too. Also, any of the Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazines are good as well.

Thanks for the recommendation, "Pleasures of Cooking for One" people! Just grabbed the kindle of it - it looks wonderful.

I vote for HTCE. I have a cookbook addiction, but that is the one I pick up most often.

I think anything by Alton Brown is great, esp I'm Just Here for the Food.

I agree that I use HTCE all the time, but I think it works better for a cook with at least a moderate base of knowledge to pull from. As a beginner I was pretty overwhelmed by the sheer volume.

Serve Yourself, by Joe Yonan. A really great book! I've bought so many of them as gifts this year for single friends who are learning to cook, but who don't want to make things for 4-6 people. Can't recommend it highly enough!

I'm in a similar situation this year, having to temporarily adapt to cooking for one. Although I love leftovers, they were becoming too much of a good thing.

I've been relying pretty heavily on Carole Raymond's "Student's Vegetarian Cookbook". I'm not a vegetarian (or a student, for that matter), but I'm happy eating a lot of vegetarian meals. I like the recipes because they're super simple and quick, inexpensive, don't use a lot of over processed ingredients, and so far every recipe I've tried has been a keeper. I can't say that about any other cookbook I own. Oh, and every recipe only makes one or two servings. Perfect: dinner one night, and lunch the next day, not a week's worth of food.

I like the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen cookbooks that I have, but I only have ones with recipes for multiple servings. I've been eyeing their "Cooking for Two" and will probably buy it before the year's out.

Sounds like I will also have to check out Judith Jones's book as well.

Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries. Takes you right through a year, seasonal, fresh, simple cooking. Gorgeous pix and amazing recipes that serve 1 or 2 people (but easy to multiply for more).

Check out this article on starter cookbooks, it's a pretty good run down of my faves:
http://college.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2011/06/cookbook-starter-kit.html

Thanks for all the suggestions! We're going to go with "Pleasures of Cooking for One" and Alton's "I'm Just Here for the Food 2.0" I'm just as excited as the boyfriend is to have new cookbooks to experiment with!

Sam Zien's cookbooks are very male oriented and easy with some great ideas and humor to boot. I own all of them!

It sounds like you've got what you're looking for, but a favorite that I rarely see mentioned is 'The Commonsense Kitchen' by Tom Hudgens. The author manages to convey tons of information in a clear and straightforward manner that never overwhelms, and the recipes are wonderful as-written while also being friendly to adaptation and experimentation. I've never learned so much so effortlessly from any other cookbook, and the confidence that comes from understanding the *whys* of cooking is invaluable.

Oh, I second Fannie Farmer. I have the baking book, which your boyfriend may not always use, but it hands down the best source for simple baked goods. Even I, who usually cannot get bread to rise to save her life, has had success baking bread and treats from this book.

Also, there is a "Cooking for Two" magazine that my parents found handy when all the kids left. Your BF would get new recipes each month or so. And he should invest in quality containers for freezing leftovers. I live alone and find that cooking one or two days a week (halving recipes designed for more than 4) and freezing individual portions is about the most useful thing a single household can do. It is so great to be able to grab something for lunch or dinner without a second thought.
Good luck!