30-Minute Meals For Dummies® by Bev Bennett

Introduction

W alking into a kitchen that’s filled with cooking aromas is a delightful and comforting experience. The delicious food and the intimacy you enjoy in your home kitchen can’t be duplicated in a restaurant, carryout joint, or fast-food line. Yet, between work, chores, family obligations, and a badly needed opportunity to unwind, you may find it difficult to get dinner on the table within the time limits that life imposes on you.
If you forgot how enjoyable a home-cooked meal can be or didn’t think home cooking was possible, 30-Minute Meals For Dummies is for you. This book can help you prepare wholesome meals that you may have thought were out of reach, given your busy schedule.


Cooking a great tasting meal isn’t nearly as time-consuming as it’s made out to be, and you don’t have to be a chef to pull it off. Thirty-minute meals are simply a matter of putting a few tips, tricks, and techniques to work. This book helps you master the secrets of making delicious and quick meals by introducing you to marvelous ingredients that make cooking faster, as well as mouthwatering recipes that fit your deadlines.

If you’re used to making reservations instead of dinner, be reassured that you can prepare delicious meals in minutes — in the comfort of your kitchen.

About This Book

I wrote this book for busy people who want to enjoy the pleasures of the table without the frenzied preparation. The ultimate payoff is creating fabulous meals in less time.


You’ve probably scaled back your dinner menus in recent years to speed preparation. We’re all doing that. Maybe you can’t remember the last time you served a couple of sides with the main course — unless it was Thanksgiving. But a plain piece of meat or chicken isn’t dinner, so 30-Minute Meals For Dummies shows you how to make one-dish meals that include vegetables, starches, and the traditional “meat.”

This book transforms soup and salad side dishes into hearty main courses and turns your skillet into a one-dish dinner utensil. You often get everything a meal has to offer in one dish — well, besides adding a scoop of ice cream to the top of your jambalaya for dessert. And when you want a side dish, I have plenty of suggestions that are so easy to do that you can fit them into your 30-minute meal plan.

This book is structured around the equipment, ingredients, and recipe choices that fit your time frame. Each page is packed with my kitchen-tested suggestions for streamlining cooking. Even if you’re an experienced cook, you can pick up useful hints. You get great recipes for classic meals, new dishes, and so much more in these chapters. You’ll be pleased to know that you can fix nourishing and memorable dinners within your time frame.

Use the tips, ideas, and recipes in this book to prepare an occasional speedy meal or to make every night’s dinner easier and more enjoyable. You can skim the book for dinner inspirations or ways to incorporate odds and ends from the refrigerator into your meal planning. No matter what your time frame for a given meal, this book provides answers. From 15-minute entrees to 2-hour cooking sessions (that produce several 30-minute meals), I cover it.

Conventions Used in This Book


To know what to do when recipes call for certain ingredients, see my considerations in the list that follows:

Butter is unsalted.

Broth is canned broth, unless otherwise specified, because it usually contains less sodium than bouillon cubes or powder. Substitute bouillon if you prefer but taste before seasoning with salt.

Canola oil is the oil that I prefer for cooking and for dressings unless I specify olive oil. Both are healthful choices.

Fresh herbs are called for when the color and delicate flavor are important in a recipe. Substitute dry herbs if you prefer, using one third of the amount of fresh.

Fruits and vegetables are washed under cold running water before using. Read labels on packaged salad greens to see if the manufacturer washed the greens; if so, skip that step.

Milk is whole.

Pepper is freshly ground black pepper. The job takes 20 seconds, and the taste difference is worth the time.

Salt and pepper amounts are specified to my taste to save you time. Adjust seasonings to your preference.

And keep the following in mind as well as you peruse the recipes:

Most of the book’s recipes serve four. However, singles and twosomes can be just as pressed for time, and some of the book’s recipes are designed to serve two. Most recipes for four can be halved or quartered for one or two servings. Or make the full amount and freeze the leftovers.

When recipes list a range of servings, the recipe per serving info at the end of the recipe is based on the larger number — meaning the smaller portions.

Food manufacturers change can and package sizes as often as I do hemlines. Don’t worry if you can’t find the exact size product that the recipe calls for. An ounce more or less of broth or frozen vegetables isn’t going to change the flavor or texture of most recipes in this book. I specify cups or ounces for recipes that require exact amounts of ingredients.

For vegetables, the recipes call for fresh, frozen, and canned products. Canned and frozen vegetables are more convenient. The food manufacturer does all the peeling, slicing, and dicing for you. Canned and frozen foods aren’t nutritionally inferior. Don’t feel guilty about using them. Fresh produce, however, is uniquely satisfying, especially when you buy it in season. You’re getting vegetables at their peak of ripeness, so you don’t have to do much to enhance their flavor. By all means, use fresh produce when it’s in season and at its best quality. (Chapter 3 tells you how to substitute fresh for frozen or canned.)

All recipe temperatures are in Fahrenheit. (Check out the appendix for information about converting temperatures to Celsius.)

Whenever you’re cooking from a recipe, read the entire recipe before you start to cook. Ten minutes before you serve dinner is no time to suddenly realize that you forgot to boil water for pasta.

Finally, this little guy alerts you to vegetarian dishes throughout the book. I define vegetarian as recipes that don’t use eggs, meat, fish, seafood, or poultry.

• Foolish Assumptions

Although I don’t like to jump to conclusions, every author has to make a few assumptions about her audience, which includes you. So if you can identify with any of these descriptions, this book is for you:

Between your frantic day and the demands of your personal life, you’re looking for ways to free up a few minutes. Cooking is one of the activities that gets shortchanged (or cut out altogether), even though you’d like to make a nightly (or an occasional) meal . . . if only cooking didn’t take so long.

Tired of spending your evenings in your car, you long for some semblance of dining-at-home pleasure, instead of inching around a parking lot, waiting for your chance to order dinner from a metal box with a speaker.

You buy every book with a black and yellow cover that you run across.

You’re not looking to prepare a five-course meal. You largely want self-contained meals (with side and serve-with suggestions) that please, satisfy, and basically get the job done with minimal hassle.

• How This Book Is Organized

Starting with the introduction, the book is organized around the equipment, ingredients, and recipe choices that fit your time frame. This book is arranged in five major parts, and each part is divided into chapters that address specific subjects. Keep reading for the highlights of each part.

Part I: Cooking Fast, Eating Well


This part tells you why you should cook even when you don’t think you have the time. Driving up to a fast-food window with your kids in the back seat doesn’t bring your family closer together, no matter what the advertisements suggest. I write about the foods that you can make in the same time that it takes to make the round trip to a burger joint.


I also take the opportunity to help you with some prep work. You could cover your kitchen wall to wall with appliances and gadgets, but only a handful of them are truly timesavers. Sort out the treasures that become your third hand in the kitchen. And every 30-minute cook needs staples — foods you store in the cupboard and use in a variety of cooked dishes. Supermarket shelves are crammed with ingredients that offer varying degrees of convenience. You can find out which ones are really handy and how some mouthwatering recipes can help you make use of staples. I also describe how to turn your kitchen into a model of efficiency that speeds you up instead of slowing you down.


Part II: Mastering Skills for Speed


Thirty-minute skills start before you even step into the kitchen. I’ve always found fresh veggies to be a convenience food that can help you get to the table quickly, so I start this part off by providing my best tips for navigating the produce department. But when you get into the kitchen, you need cooking skills. Traditional techniques, such as sautéing, broiling, and steaming assure you of a dish in less than 30 minutes. Having the right ingredient for the technique helps. This part matches quick foods to preparations.


Having a flair for sauce can turn an ordinary steak into an extraordinary meal — quickly. I share my insight into sauce preparation in this part. You can also consider cooking as an investment. Bank a few hours on the weekend to make a large volume of food, and you have a pay-off in precooked ingredients throughout the week. Stock your freezer with leftovers, and you’ve saved time up for the future.


Part III: Quick Meals without the Hassle

You have all the right equipment and ingredients. You even have the right moves. This part describes all the meals that you can make in 30 minutes or less. Foods such as soups, skillet dinners, or two-fisted sandwiches aren’t off limits to you, the 30-minute cook.


Don’t ignore your sweet tooth or reach for a candy bar thinking that you don’t have time for something truly scrumptious. Desserts aren’t sacrificed in the quick cook’s meal plan. This part also includes recipes and tips for desserts that satisfy anyone yet require minimal effort.


Part IV: Even Quicker Meals without the Hassle


Some days, I feel as if I’m the ball in a soccer game bouncing from one end of town to the other for errands and meetings. That’s when I reach into my bag of desperation tricks. In this part, find out how you too can have almost instant dinner solutions. Serve traditional center-of-plate protein foods, such as chicken breast, beefsteak, or pork. Sauce up simple meats with pan glazes. You can also read about the revolution taking place in the meat department. Combine precooked meat, pork, chicken, and even bacon strips with a few personal touches and serve an almost instant meal.


Dinner may be waiting for you to notice it in the refrigerator. Doggy bags aren’t even fit for a pooch if they linger too long. Put leftover entrees to good use in new dishes. Gather the bits and pieces in the refrigerator for an impromptu meal.


Manufacturers are paying attention to busy consumers, like you, offering a variety of foods that require minimal time and preparation. See how you can use (and improve) on these products to prepare meals at warp speed.


Part V: The Part of Tens


The Part of Tens, which appears in every For Dummies book, contains short practical tips for everything else I want to share. I provide you with a list of my favorite timesaving gadgets and some tips on how to take the stress factor out of the dinner hour (or half hour).




Where to Go from Here



Ladies and gentleman, start your ovens. One of the many great characteristics of all For Dummies books (including this one) is that they’re written so that you don’t have to read them cover to cover. Of course, you can read this book like any other, but you can also jump in anywhere you want and get tuned in. If you need a quick recipe, head over to the appropriate chapter. Or if you need to brush up on cooking techniques, check that chapter out first. It’s all up to you. Just remember to have fun and relax. If you’re white-knuckled with teeth clenched at the dinner table, you won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.




Part I

Cooking Fast, Eating Well






In this part . . .




Yes, you read the title of this book correctly. You can get a home-cooked meal to the table in 30 minutes or less. In this part, I start with the basics on how to assemble a meal within a limited time frame and why cooking at home can be preferable to eating out or ordering in. You don’t sacrifice nutrition when you cook fast. To the contrary, in this part, I show you how easy it is to assemble a wholesome meal.


But you can’t cook quickly if you don’t have labor-saving ingredients and tools on hand, so I show you how to separate the essentials from the frills and streamline your meals. I also show you how to streamline your kitchen — a 30-minute cook is an organized cook. Find out ways to organize your kitchen and your cooking routine, so you’re not slowed down. Clear the clutter from your countertop and start reading.


W hen your schedule is packed 24/7 or you experience occasional crunch periods, you still have to get dinner on the table as if you had all the time in the world. At times like that, you may nostalgically recall the calm, leisurely meals that you knew as a child. When you cook, you want to make the soups, stews, and hearty skillet recipes that nurture. You want to re-create your childhood dinner experiences.


Food gurus may give you the impression that a dish has to take hours of cooking to be worth eating. Maybe you read magazine recipes that tell you to simmer the dish for 3 hours, and you roll your eyes and wonder what world the food writer inhabits. Certainly not yours or mine!



It’s simply not true that you can’t make good food fast. In fact, cooking gets a bad rap as a time eater. I hate to see this happen, so I combat that myth in this chapter. I use these pages to outline all the benefits to cooking at home and offer some advice on how easy it is to pull off an at-home meal in a jiff. You can get nutritious and satisfying meals that meet your expectations and serve memorable meals that take 30 minutes or less to prepare.

• Dinner Doesn’t Have to Slow You Down

To put the task of preparing dinner into perspective, compare cooking with other tasks that you do regularly around the house. You can get a meal to the table faster than you can


Blow-dry your hair and do your make-up. Or wait for a member of your family to do the same. If you fall into thatcategory, preparing dinner will seem to be much, much quicker.


Get the children to set the table. This comparative estimate is actually based on repeating the “I’ve asked you twice, now!” warning five times.


Run the dishwasher. In case you’re thinking about doing double duty, a poached-salmon-in-the-dishwasher recipe occasionally makes the circuits on various Internet message boards and spiral-bound, school-fundraiser recipe books. It’s not a technique that I endorse. I tried it, and my dishes had a fishy smell for days.


Watch the evening news on television. Preparing dinner is also less depressing most of the time.

• Making the Case for Cooking

You have demands on your time, but let me share some arguments in favor of your cooking dinner, even though you’re on a tight schedule. I’m sure that some cook-at-home benefits have crossed your mind. (After all, you’re reading this book.) If not, see what you think. I believe that cooking dinner at home provides three major benefits:

Actually saving time by cooking.

Eating a more healthful variety of foods.

Spending more time with other members of your household, roommates, or friends, or quiet time for yourself that doesn’t involve breathing exhaust fumes on your way to the nearest fast-food joint and reading menu boards after you arrive.
Saving time by avoiding the drive-thru

Yes, you read that line right. The food service industry tries to send the message that it’s faster to drive to a fast-food restaurant window than to prepare and sit down for dinner. Fast-food commercials ask, “Why cook when you can cruise to your nearby burger joint and pick up a family’s worth of burgers or fried chicken?”



One answer to the “Why not fast food?” question is that you don’t really save time with that option. Plus, cooking at home is more convenient and less stressful than fighting evening traffic to get to a fast-food place. And after you make it to your local Burger-In-A-Box, you still have to face the energy-sapping aggravation and wasted time of waiting in line and getting home.

Time it from the moment you leave your home until you return with dinner. I bet the whole process takes at least 20 minutes, unless you live under two big, yellow arches. Carryout meals offer no advantage either. Standing in line at 6 p.m. at a rotisserie chicken store isn’t as speedy as making a quick pasta or soup in your kitchen.



I’ve packed this book full of great meals that you can have on the table in around 30 minutes or less. Part III is a good place to start if you want to stack up the time factor and the quality of the recipes in this book against fast food and carryout, although almost every chapter contains at least a recipe or two. And if you’re looking for even quicker meals, check out Part IV.


If you don’t feel like flipping to Parts III or IV, check out the listing that follows for a few dinners that you can make instead of fighting the lines in your supermarket or carryout store. You can get these dishes to the table in ten minutes, guaranteed:

Chicken soup: Heat a couple of cans of chicken soup with leftover or precooked chicken breast meat and a package of frozen peas. Add a dash of hot red pepper sauce and a squirt of lime juice.

Open-face pizza sub: For each sandwich, slather pizza sauce on half a sub or hero roll. Layer on slices of mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, bell peppers, and onion rings. Microwave on high for 30 seconds or warm in a preheated 350-degree oven for 5 minutes.

Tortellini au gratin: This dish is navel-shaped, stuffed tortellini pasta topped with grated cheese or buttered breadcrumbs — or both. Here’s how to do it: Cook a package of fresh tortellini and drain well. Spoon the pasta into a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with a little grated Parmesan cheese. If you have breadcrumbs, add a handful, and dot with butter. Run the dish under the broiler for 30 seconds or until the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs are toasted.

• Home cooking for the health of it

This book doesn’t claim to be a health cookbook, but that’s the beauty of it. Compared to eating in many restaurants, cooking dinner at home is an easy way to eat healthier foods. It’s no secret that fast food and carryout dinners are loaded with fat and calories. Just click on the nutrition link of your favorite fast-food restaurant and see what you’re eating. A burger with cheese and a medium order of fries alone have almost 900 calories and 45 grams of fat, and that doesn’t include a beverage.

I’m not going to talk you out of eating fast food occasionally, and I’m not blaming dining out for the fact that more than half the adults in the United States are overweight or obese. However, I can assure you that dining in means that you’re getting the wholesome foods that you want.

• Taking control of what you eat

When you cook at home, you’re mindful of the ingredients and the quantities of the foods you eat, so you’re bound to eat healthier meals. You can make your favorite foods at home quickly — even the items that you love to order in fast-food restaurants — with significantly fewer calories. Your homemade hamburgers made from lean ground beef have fewer calories and less fat than their fast-food counterparts. (If you’re a burger lover like me, check out my recipe for the ultimate burger in Chapter 11.) And a serving of frozen, oven-heated fries has 150 to 200 calories, half of what you get in a restaurant order.






When you get behind the wheel in the mealtime driver seat, you benefit because you


Cook healthier food. You serve more fresh fruits and vegetables than you can order in fast-food restaurants.


Eliminate “super size” from your vocabulary and from your hips. You control the portions of the foods that you serve. At home, no one is pushing you to eat the Super-Giant size of fattening foods for just 15 cents more.


Serve what you want to eat. The selection of dinnertime foods that you get to choose from becomes almost limitless. Plus, you can add additional low-calorie, low-fat salads and vegetable side dishes, both of which are in limited supply in many fast-food restaurants.


Get veto rights on foods that you don’t want to serve. Try the I’m-not-running-a-restaurant line on the family. (However, if you’re cooking for one, don’t take this as a recommendation to start talking to yourself.)


Knowing what’s in the foods that you serve means that you can make adjustments, cutting back on sodium, fat, and calories. The beauty is that you get to choose. For example, as an alternative to adding more salt, squeeze a little lemon juice over a dish. It makes all the flavors livelier. You can’t ask the folks behind the counter of the Chicken Machine to do that for you.




According to Hoyle


To balance your nutritional goals with your time constraints, let the Food Guide Pyramid help you. The Food Guide Pyramid (see Figure 1-1) is a visual food plan designed by the U.S. Government. The pyramid shape emphasizes the role that foods play in relationship to each other. The foods that you should have the most servings of each day are at the base of the pyramid. The foods that you should eat sparingly are at the top. (For more information on the Food Guide Pyramid and planning healthful meals, check out the Dietary Guidelines for Americans online at www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines.)


Using the pyramid, you can choose from a wealth of from-scratch or convenience foods in every category. Take grains for example. Couscous, dinner rolls, pizza crust, pita breads, and tortillas all count in the grain category. Include whole grains, such as whole wheat bread or quick-cooking barley, in your choices.







I don’t follow the pyramid religiously, but I do think about it when I plan meals. I ask myself whether 2 to 4 fruit servings and 3 to 5 vegetable servings are accounted for each day. If I’m falling short, I add an extra vegetable to a stir-fry or serve fruit sauce over frozen yogurt for dinner. (Speaking of stir-fry, it’s one of the five techniques at the heart of 30-minute cooking that I detail in Chapter 6. And Chapter 14 has a couple of tempting dessert fruit-sauce recipes.)




Cooking helps people connect


If you’re cooking for more than one, and especially if you’re cooking for children, the extra effort to prepare dinner at home pays off. Children who eat dinner at home with their parents eat more servings of fruits and vegetables and eat fewer fried foods and drink fewer soft drinks, say researchers. This one is just my opinion, so you’re not going to get the expert citation, but when you cook, you’re giving your family the message that cooking is an enjoyable experience. You get to spend time with and talk to other people. You’re also raising a generation that can feed itself. Or as my daughter says, “At least I won’t have to live on ramen noodles.”


Creating a recipe that becomes your family’s favorite is important. This is the dish that everyone asks for as a reward for hard work or good grades. This doesn’t have to be a fancy dish as long as it’s delicious.


Cooking is also a great excuse to spend time with friends. Having friends in for a home-cooked meal is a great way to connect without the noise of a restaurant interrupting your conversations. If your friends enjoy cooking as well as eating, have everyone help prepare the meal over a glass of wine.


Recalling the sweet-and-sour Chinese carryout dishes that nourished me through college when I didn’t have a kitchen, I was inspired to make a version of this dish at home. It quickly became a mealtime favorite in my house. My Hot and Sweet Chicken recipe in this chapter eliminates the heavy breading and thick cornstarch sauce of the traditional takeout dish. With all the fruit and vegetables in the recipe, I can skip other courses, but I like a rice accompaniment, such as the Almond and Scallion Rice, also in this chapter.







If you add rice to a fast entree, start the rice first. As it simmers, cook the main course.
Making Good Meals Quickly is a Snap


At this point in the chapter, I paint quite a picture about all the reasons why cooking at home is superior to eating out. With all the benefits and considering all the hype about how time-consuming cooking is, you may think that getting a meal to the table in 30 minutes or less is difficult. Well it’s not. And you don’t have to have your own cooking show on TV or even be a veteran with many hours of cooking under your belt to pull it off.






All you need is a plan, and I just happen to have one:





Forget about the way that your mom cooks (or the way that you think you should cook). You don’t have to bake your bread from scratch, soak your beans overnight, or collect chicken bones to make your own stock. Take a look through that shoebox or computer file of recipes. Discard outdated recipes and menus to free you up for faster and fresher kinds of cooking. All you have to do is switch to a fun-and-easy style of cooking.


Don’t think of the dinner table as a Norman Rockwell illustration with platter upon platter of food being passed around. Big lavish meals are great at times, but this is the real world. Pare the number of dishes you fix. A one- or two-course dinner is perfectly acceptable, especially when your main dishes do double duty. Cooking a vegetable, starch, and protein together is faster than preparing each food separately.


That’s the approach I take to my 30-minute meals. But don’t worry: I provide plenty of suggestions and ideas for side dishes that you can make when you have the time, energy, and appetite. And I devote Chapter 14 to desserts.


If you’re not cooking for one, encourage helpers. I don’t know of any law that says that you have to be the only one in the kitchen.


If you breathe a sigh of relief when you get to the front of the line at a fast-food restaurant, you’re going to be even more relieved to find out how simple preparing quick meals is when you have a few cooking aids at home. If you can open boxes and have a can opener to handle the metal, you’re ready for fast cooking. But you still may want to read Chapter 2 to get the scoop on blenders, food processors, microwave ovens, and other tools to speed you along. Using a few choice appliances and stocking your cupboards with a few key staples (see Chapter 3) can save time and an emergency call for pizza delivery.






Speaking of packages, the food industry offers so many products that have built-in convenience that you’re never at a loss for shortcuts. Although I cover these products throughout the book, you may be especially interested in Chapter 5 on vegetables or see Chapter 15 about my love affair with prepared meat products.


But if it’s been a while since you prepared a fast meal that you really liked, feel free to skip ahead to Chapter 4 for a bunch of quick tips on getting into a cooking groove. Or you may want to check out how simple the 30-minute cooking techniques are in Chapter 6.




Getting Dinner on in Even Less Time


I like to think that you’re always going to have 30 minutes — the time that it takes to watch the evening news — to cook a meal, but I know it’s not possible. Still, I value the dinner hour, even though it’s shrinking. That’s why you can use many of the recipes in this book to fashion delicious meals in 15 or 20 minutes tops.


In the Recipes at a Glance towards the front of this book, I outline recipes you can make in 20 minutes and recipes that take 15 minutes or less. Use this guide to quickly find inspiration for a meal when even 30 minutes is too long.






For recipes and meals that aren’t salad or starch based, tear open a bag of mixed greens and top with the vinaigrette dressing in Chapter 5, one of the dressings in Chapter 10, or a packaged dressing. Add some whole-grain bread from your supermarket, and you have a satisfying menu.




Hot and Sweet Chicken


This tongue-tingling dish, inspired by the sweet-and-sour Chinese dishes of the ’50s, takes a fraction of the time to prepare because it eliminates the lengthy deep-frying process. Your supermarket produce section features fresh pineapple cut into chunks, saving you a step.


Preparation Time: 5 minutes


Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes2 tablespoons flour1/2 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons oil1 sweet onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into thin strips1 small jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and minced1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot1 can (6 ounces) unsweetened pineapple juice2 cups pineapple chunks in 1-inch pieces1/2 cup shredded carrots (optional)Pepper to taste


1 Place the chicken in a plastic bag. Add the flour and salt and shake to coat the chicken. Reserve the remaining flour.


2 Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, nonstick skillet. Add the chicken cubes to the hot oil and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove the chicken and set aside.






For recipes and meals that aren’t salad or starch based, tear open a bag of mixed greens and top with the vinaigrette dressing in Chapter 5, one of the dressings in Chapter 10, or a packaged dressing. Add some whole-grain bread from your supermarket, and you have a satisfying menu.




Hot and Sweet Chicken


This tongue-tingling dish, inspired by the sweet-and-sour Chinese dishes of the ’50s, takes a fraction of the time to prepare because it eliminates the lengthy deep-frying process. Your supermarket produce section features fresh pineapple cut into chunks, saving you a step.


Preparation Time: 5 minutes


Cooking Time: 20 minutes


Yield: 4 servings
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 sweet onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 small jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
1 can (6 ounces) unsweetened pineapple juice
2 cups pineapple chunks in 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup shredded carrots (optional)
Pepper to taste


1 Place the chicken in a plastic bag. Add the flour and salt and shake to coat the chicken. Reserve the remaining flour.


2 Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, nonstick skillet. Add the chicken cubes to the hot oil and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove the chicken and set aside.






3 Add the onion, bell pepper, chile, and gingerroot to the skillet and sauté 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the reserved seasoned flour into the skillet. Stir to brown the flour. Add the pineapple juice and scrape up any browned bits in the skillet. Add the pineapple chunks and chicken. Stir well. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. If the mixture is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water. To serve, sprinkle on shredded carrots (if desired) and season with pepper.


Vary It! Use a pound of pork tenderloin cut into 1-inch cubes in place of the chicken. Most pork tenderloins weigh between 8 to 12 ounces, so use two if necessary. Also, you can serve the dish over rice using 1/2 cup cooked rice per person.


Per serving: Calories 318(From Fat 89); Fat 10g (Saturated 1g); Cholesterol 63mg; Sodium 362mg; Carbohydrate 32g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 24g.








Almond and Scallion Rice


Keep a bag of sliced almonds in the freezer (so the nuts don’t turn rancid). Then sprinkle the almonds on rice dishes for a delicious crunch.


Preparation time: 2 minutes


Cooking time: 18 minutes


Yield: 4 servings


1 cup long-grain rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sliced almonds

2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions


1 Combine the rice, salt, and 2 cups of water in a small pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 18 minutes.






2 Remove the cover, sprinkle the rice with the almonds and scallions and stir well. Set aside for 1 minute for the flavors to blend.


Per serving: Calories 203 (From Fat 17); Fat 2g (Saturated 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 293mg; Carbohydrate 41g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 5g.










Tools for Speed



In This Chapter





Pushing buttons to save time and energy


Chopping faster and blending, too


Limiting your pots and pans collection




Recipes in This Chapter


Micro-Baked Butternut Squash






Savory Corn Pancakes with Mango Relish


Three-Berry Smoothie






A s a professional food writer, I preview all the products that kitchenware manufacturers are ready to introduce each year before anything appears in stores. For a passionate cook like me, attending the International Housewares Show — which unfortunately isn’t open to the public — is like a stroll through a gigantic toy store. Everything catches my eye. But I really look for products that are more than playthings.


Just like you, I want cookware and appliances that eliminate time-consuming preparation steps. I search for equipment that speeds up my cooking without sacrificing the good taste that I demand from food. When I find such products, they become permanent fixtures in my kitchen.


For a time-crunched cook, distinguishing the essentials from the frills and even the frivolous is important. My garage shelves are proof that I’m a fan of equipment. That’s where I store my ice cream machine, bread baker, pressure cooker, slow cooker, and meat slicer. But the electric appliances that I’m partial to — the ones that truly save me time — are on my kitchen counter.


In this chapter, I share my suggestions on how to choose and use the appliances that will save you time. I review how to get the best results from your microwave oven. I help you to fight the urge to cover your counter with too many machines by listing the benefits and disadvantages of small electronics, so you can decide how many appliances you really need.





And because most of your cooking still requires conventional stovetop cookware, I cover the pots and pans that are the most versatile. And for your unplugged slicing, dicing, and chopping needs, you don’t need knives that belong on the set of a television cooking show to produce your own prize-winning dishes. I provide you with a simple list of the knives you need.





The gadget addiction quiz


Take this tongue-in-cheek test to see if you could fall victim to every gadget pitch that manufacturers hawk.


1. How often do you blow a fuse in the kitchen?


A. Once a week.


B. Once a year.


C. I do everything manually, so I don’t worry about electricity.


2. Can you see the surface of your counters?


A. Only if I remove the coffee maker, electric can opener, electric pepper mill, electric skillet, electric deep fryer, and the electric knife sharpener.


B. Yes, I see a bare patch, but that may be just the place to put the countertop grill.


C. My counters are bare, so I can spread out when I cook.


3. Which one of the following does your kitchen gadget drawer most closely resemble?


A. A department store display the day before Christmas.


B. A department store display the day after Christmas.


C. A Zen meditation center, stripped to its bare essentials.


4. How many of the following items do you own: cherry pitter, olive pitter, butter curler, escargot stuffer, and feather baster?


A. All of the above, but you forgot to mention the chicken feather plucker.


B. The cherry pitter but that doubles as an olive pitter and dried plum pitter, so it’s multi- functional.


C. What’s an escargot stuffer?


5. When you can’t find a bottle opener, what do you usually do?


A. Go out and buy a new one.


B. Keep searching. I know I’ll find it eventually.


C. Use my teeth.


If you answer A to three or more questions, you probably have more gadgets than you need. You may be a cook who is eagerly awaiting a better-designed eggplant polisher, but having too much equipment can slow you down just as much as having too few cooking helpers. Discover what items are really useful in this chapter.


If you answer B to three or more questions, congratulations! You’re making practical choices based on your cooking style.


If you answer C to three or more questions, look through this chapter to find out how some utensils and small appliances can save you time.

Plug-in Speed: Small Appliances


Having the right appliances makes cooking faster and more pleasurable, whether it’s a microwave oven that thaws meat you want to serve for dinner or an immersion blender for making frothy smoothies for breakfast.


Keep reading to find out the benefits and drawbacks of the most popular small appliances — microwave ovens, food processors, food blenders, immersion blenders, and countertop grills. You get some shopping tips, and I let you in on my preferences, but I also want to encourage you to choose the products that help with your specific cooking needs.

The Truth about Your Microwave, according to Bev


Nine out of ten kitchens include a microwave oven, and you probably have one of them. I can barely program my TV remote, so I’m not going to dive into the physics of how these work. The important concept for the 30-minute cook is that a microwave oven can shave minutes off of meal preparation.


Microwave oven devotees swear that the machine does a terrific job cooking food, but I’m not so sure. Microwave-cooked food doesn’t have the fully developed aroma, color, and flavor of food cooked on a stovetop or in the oven. What’s more, as a frequently harried cook, I don’t like various stop-and-start steps. Cooking food for 2 minutes in a microwave oven, turning it, and then cooking it another 2 minutes isn’t a convenient way to prepare food.


However, fans of microwave cooking and I do agree that microwaves are great in two instances — cooking veggies and in combination with other appliances and techniques.

Zapping your vegetables


Vegetables are excellent when cooked in a microwave oven. Broccoli and green beans remain a brilliant green. The vegetables can cook in a microwave with a minimal amount of water, so they don’t lose as many vitamins and minerals when you wash that water down the drain.






Table 2-1 lists the microwave cooking times for vegetables that you’re most likely to serve. Except for baking potatoes, you can cook vegetables, unsalted, in a covered dish with a small amount of water. Cook potatoes uncovered and without liquid on the microwave’s tray. Spear potatoes in a few places with a knife tip before cooking them in a microwave. (Otherwise you have Exploding Potato Salad on the menu.) Allow 5 minutes resting time before serving the vegetables.

Table 2-1 Vegetable Cooking Times


Food

Quantity

Minutes (on High)


Asparagus, in 2-inch pieces

16 spears

5 to 7 minutes


Broccoli

1 bunch, halved, trimmed

8 to 10 minutes


Brussels sprouts

1 pound, trimmed

5 to 7 minutes


Cabbage

1 small head, shredded

8 to 9 minutes


Carrots

4, trimmed and diced

7 to 9 minutes


Corn

Kernels from 4 ears

4 to 6 minutes


Green beans

1 pound, trimmed

10 to 12 minutes


Green beans

2 pounds, trimmed

16 to 18 minutes


Onion

2, coarsely chopped

5 to 6 minutes


Peas

2 cups, shelled

4 to 6 minutes


Potatoes (baking)

1 medium

4 to 6 minutes


Potatoes (baking)

4 medium

13 to 14 minutes


Spinach

1 pound, trimmed

6 to 7 minutes







Always pierce foods with a tight skin before cooking them in a microwave oven. This includes potatoes, squash, and sausages. This step prevents the food from bursting during cooking.

Combination cooking






Microwave cooking combined with conventional cooking offers the best of both techniques. Use this approach when you need to


Thaw: If the meat that you’re planning to serve for dinner isn’t completely thawed, microwave the meat on the thaw cycle for a couple of minutes and then proceed with your recipe.


Get a head start: Using a microwave to start long-cooking vegetables, such as hardshell squash and baked potatoes, cuts the total cooking time by half. Starting hardshell squash in a microwave oven also makes the vegetables easier to peel. If you’ve ever tried to peel a squash with the skin of an armadillo, you know how difficult it is.


Check out my Micro-Baked Butternut Squash recipe to find out how I get the rich, roasted flavor of oven-baked butternut squash — the long-necked tan-colored squash — in a fraction of the time by taking advantage of the strengths of a microwave.

Micro-Baked Butternut Squash


Maple sugar is a granulated version of maple syrup. Use this delightful sweetener as an alternative to brown sugar on squash and sweet potatoes. Maple sugar is sold in natural food stores and gourmet food shops. If you can’t find it, substitute an equal amount of brown sugar.


Preparation time: 5 minutes


Cooking time: About 15 minutes


Yield: 4 servings

1 small butternut squash, about 1/2 to 3/4 pound

1/4 cup apple juice, or water

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons maple sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper


1 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the squash in several places with the tip of a knife. Place the squash in a microwave-safe, ovenproof dish and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Turn the squash over and microwave another 3 minutes.


2 As soon as you can handle the squash, peel it. Cut the squash into 1/2-inch thick rings. Scrape out the seeds and pulp. Return the squash to the dish. Pour in the apple juice. Dot the squash with butter and sprinkle with maple sugar, salt, and pepper. Bake the squash for 10 minutes or until fork tender. Spoon the butter and maple sugar glaze over the squash and serve.


Per serving: Calories 68 (From Fat 26); Fat 3g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 8mg; Sodium 150mg; Carbohydrate 11g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 1g.





Logging on to dinner


Have you ever forgotten how to make Mom’s prize-winning chicken casserole? Instead of calling her for the recipe, wouldn’t it be great to send her an instant message using an Internet, refrigerator, and freezer combination. This is just one of the futuristic features that you can find (or will soon find) in your local appliance store to speed up dinner or make your meal preparation easier. Imagine having a refrigerator that keeps track of when you stored perishables and signals you when it’s time to finish off the milk, eggs, or lunchmeats. Oh, did I forget to mention that I’ve seen refrigerator designs that also have built-in stereo speakers so you can listen to music while you cook? Of course, you can always save a few thousand dollars by sticking with that old portable radio you have on your counter.

Processing Food like a Professional


Makes it sound as if you’re a chemist or the owner of a small food- manufacturing plant, doesn’t it? But I’m talking about processing food with a food processor — a contraption that can help you make short work of your chopping, slicing, and shredding jobs. Place a food, such as a fruit or vegetable, into a container with a razor-sharp steel blade and turn the machine on; your food processor finishes the job in an instant.

Purchasing a food processor


If you regularly chop, mince, or shred vegetables for recipes, a food processor is a good investment, and the more vegetables that you need to process for a given meal, the more efficient using the machine can be.






If you’re buying a food processor, look for a machine with a feed tube at least 4 inches in diameter so it can hold a whole, small onion or tomato. It should also include a steel blade, shredding blade, and slicing blade. Most food processors have an 11- to 14-cup bowl capacity. The more expensive models also come equipped with a mini bowl, so you can chop parsley or garlic and have a smaller bowl to clean.

Putting processing power to work


I don’t mind preparing a recipe that calls for minced fruits and vegetables if I can toss everything into a food processor. But using a food processor demands that you pay close attention to what you’re doing. In seconds, you can dice a whole onion. You can also turn an onion into a pile of mush in seconds, so a food processor isn’t without its drawbacks.






Just because you have a food processor doesn’t mean that using it is always the fastest option. Chopping a garlic clove is a good example. Mincing a clove of garlic in a food processor takes 20 to 30 seconds. Chopping one clove by hand takes as many seconds, and you have no machine to wash, so the overall chore is faster when you do it manually.






When washing a food processor, never leave the chopping blade in a sink full of suds. You can reach in and accidentally slice your finger. Wash the chopping blade separately, dry it immediately, and put it back in its holder.




Shopping for small appliances


Just as car prices come down as new models hit the showrooms each fall, department and discount stores slash the prices of small appliances as new versions hit the shelves by late spring or early summer. If you don’t mind having last year’s model blender, food processor, or other piece of equipment, look for sales starting in the spring.


And because small-appliance prices vary so much, check discount mass merchandisers and Web sites for good buys. Summer is also a fun time to peruse your neighbors’ garage sales. Their counter clutter may be just the item that you need.

Savory Corn Pancakes with Mango Relish


Pancakes flecked with corn, chives, and red pepper is a confetti-like dish to serve for Sunday brunch. Accompany this entree with a hot and sweet mango relish.


Preparation time: 10 minutes


Cooking time: 4 minutes per side


Yield: About 12 pancakes


1/3 cup chives


2 cups corn kernels, canned or frozen

1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 large mango, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 jalapeno chile, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon honey


1 Set the steel blade in a food processor. Add the chives, cover the machine, and process the chives with on/off bursts for 30 seconds or until the chives are minced. Remove 1 tablespoon of the chives and set aside.


2 Add the corn kernels and bell pepper to the remaining chives in the food processor. Cover the machine and process the vegetables with on/off bursts for 30 seconds or until the vegetables are minced. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cover the machine and process the batter with on/off turns for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl. Don’t over process or the batter will be tough. Spoon the batter into another bowl. Wipe the bowl of the food processor clean with a damp paper towel.


3 Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick sauté pan. Drop the batter by 1/4-cup measures onto the skillet to form pancakes. Do not crowd, but cook the pancakes in batches. Cook the pancakes on medium high heat for 4 minutes on the first side and 3 to 4 minutes on the second side, or until the pancakes are firm and golden. Add the remaining butter when necessary and cook the rest of the batter.


4 Make the mango relish while the pancakes cook. Add the mango, the reserved 1 tablespoon of chives, and chile. Cover the machine and process with on/off turns for 30 seconds or until the mango is finely chopped. Remove the relish and spoon into a serving bowl. Stir in the honey and add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt.


Per serving: Calories 119 (From Fat 32); Fat 4g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 42mg; Sodium 329mg; Carbohydrate 19g (Dietary Fiber 2g); Protein 3g.








Blending with Ease


With its small blade and tall container, a blender is similar to a food processor, but produces different results. Food processors do an excellent job of chopping, slicing, and shredding food, but give poor results when it comes to purees. That’s where blenders come in.

Buying a blender


Some machines come with a row of buttons for different degrees of chopping, blending, or pureeing. But two buttons — one for slow and one for high speed — are all that you need. By the time you decide whether you should choose the blending or pureeing speed, you could be done. Practically speaking — and this is from someone who hates to dust her computer keyboard — the more buttons you have, the more you have to clean.

A day in the life of your blender


The design of the blender’s blade and container means the food comes into contact with more air than when you use a food processor. The result? Your creation is lighter and fluffier. If you haven’t already experienced your blender’s multitasking capabilities, try the following:






Making sauce and soup: Blenders are wonderful when you want to make a satiny sauce or soup without chunks of the original ingredients ruining the texture.


Crushing ice: Higher-priced and higher-quality models have powerful motors that grind ice for smoothies and mixed drinks. (They’re perfect for making a frozen Margarita to enjoy while you prepare a 30-minute meal.) Blenders certainly surpass a hammer for making crushed ice.


Making baby food: If you’re only using a blender for baby food, choose an inexpensive model that purees ingredients.


Creating frothy, light smoothies: Another great use for your blender.






Cheaper blender models vibrate as they puree foods. Watch the blender whenever it’s operating to make sure that it doesn’t march off the counter, taking your smoothie with it!




Three-Berry Smoothie


Buy bags of frozen loose berries, so you can measure out what you need and keep the remainder frozen. Unsweetened berries are preferable, so you can adjust the sweetness to your preference.


Preparation time: 5 minutes


Yield: 4 servings



1 cup frozen raspberries

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup frozen strawberries

2 cups buttermilk, plus more if desired

2 tablespoons honey

Dash of nutmeg (optional)






1 Place the berries in a blender container. Add the 2 cups buttermilk, honey, and nutmeg (if desired).


2 Turn on the blender to low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to high and blend for 1 minute or until the fruit is pureed and the mixture is light and frothy. If the smoothie is too thick for your taste, add more buttermilk by the quarter cup to reach the desired consistency.


3 Pour into cups and serve immediately.


Vary It! Use 1 cup of vanilla yogurt and 1 cup of buttermilk.


Per serving: Calories 128 (From Fat 13); Fat 1g (Saturated 1g); Cholesterol 5mg; Sodium 131mg; Carbohydrate 26g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 5g.










Using frozen fruit instead of fresh fruit and ice cubes in a smoothie assures you of a frosty drink with undiluted fruit flavor. You don’t have to wait for the fruit to thaw before you sip a luscious and nourishing blend of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Keep a bag of your favorite berries or other fruits in the freezer, and you can have smoothies at a moment’s notice. Read your blender information booklet to make sure the machine grinds ice before you start the smoothie recipe in this chapter.




Waving Your Magic Wand


The blender is one small appliance that I frequently use, but it has its limitations as well. When I want to make a hot cream soup, I have to pour the soup from the pot into the blender and then back into the pot to reheat before I serve it.


That’s where the wonderful wand, better known as an immersion blender comes in handy. The blender is shaped like a long flashlight with a blade at one end (as you can see in Figure 2-1). Immersion blenders allow you to puree your food in the serving or cooking vessel that it’s already in, instead of pouring the food into ablender container. To use it, simply place the blender in the mixture that you want to puree and turn on the switch. In seconds, you have a well-blended sauce, soup, or drink, without the mess of pouring liquids back and forth.






The more I use this gadget, the more indispensable it becomes. Ten years ago, I bought my first immersion blender to make cold Cucumber-Buttermilk Soup. (See the recipe in Chapter 9.) Now I use my immersion blender to make daiquiris in the pitcher, get the lumps out of mashed potatoes, and froth up a flattened smoothie.


Some hand blenders come with an ice crusher, and others are cordless and rechargeable. Instead of being tethered to the kitchen outlet, you can blend and serve cocktails and dinner on the deck. How’s that for chilling out?










Grilling Food Indoors


I never saw George Foreman in a boxing match, but he’s a knockout salesman for countertop grills. I certainly pay attention to his pitches. I’ve read what happens to boxers in the ring who ignore his delivery. But do you need a grill? The answer is a qualified yes.


First, there are two kinds of electric indoor grills:





The closed grill, such as the George Foreman Grilling Machine, and many others from a wide range of manufacturers, features a cooking surface with metal plates that the food rests on (see Figure 2-2). Preheat the appliance, add the food, and shut the lid. The food, pressed in-between the top and bottom, cooks quickly and has grill marks on both sides.


The open grill is a broad surface set over a drip pan. Turn the machine on to preheat it and add the food that you want to cook. Theoretically, it’s like cooking on an outdoor grill. But no matter what manufacturers say, I can’t reproduce the taste of outdoor grilled food indoors with a countertop grill.






If you frequently serve hamburgers, steak, fish, or boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a closed grill can be handy. It cooks quickly and cleans easily. Devotees like the fact that fat drips off, so you get a leaner, lower calorie food.


But unless you have more counter space than you know what to do with — and in that case, I’d like to sell you a couple of gadgets — I can’t recommend an open grill. It’s big and messy and never gets to a high enough temperature to cook food fast.








Almost scrub-free grilling


If your least-favorite outdoor chore is scrubbing the grill, an indoor closed grill gives you a break. It comes clean in a fraction of the time. After you finish cooking, turn off the grill and let it cool while you eat. Then turn the grill on again for one minute just to warm it up. Unplug the grill, put a wet paper towel on the surface, and shut the grill.


After a minute, remove the paper towel while wearing an oven mitt — the paper towel is hot. The combination of the damp towel and the heat loosen any grime. You may have to do this two or three times depending on what you’re cooking. Hamburger grease is easy to clean. Chicken may take three tries. After the third try, use a damp paper towel to wipe up any remaining residue.




Kitchenware Unplugged


Electric gizmos can only get you so far. You still need pots, pans, and good ol’ fashioned knives to prepare a meal.


Department store cookware displays send out a seductive message: “Buy me and cook like the bam guy from TV.” But choosing, maintaining, and storing a large collection of cookware is time-consuming. When you have a limited cooking schedule, you don’t want to waste time pulling the butter warmer out of the cupboard, wondering whether you’re better off using the copper or stainless-steel skillet, or choosing from among a block full of 30 different knives.


Being a passionate cook and one who loves cookware, I reluctantly realize that less is better when I’m in a hurry. Keep reading to find out how to lighten up kitchen clutter.

Boiling down your stock of pots and pans


Squatting down on the floor and rummaging through a cupboard in search of just the right pan or lid drives me to distraction. Having some family member pull out a different pot for every cooking chore and leaving everything in the sink for me to wash doesn’t speed up dinner either.


My radical approach is to limit most of my cooking to four pots and pans, each with a lid. Why four? I cook on a standard four-burner stovetop, and I keep one pot on each burner. (The only drawback to my four-burner, four-pot scheme is that I have nowhere to put my teakettle!) The rest of my pots and pans stay in the cupboard until I absolutely need them.





This Spartan approach may not work for you, but before you indulge in cookware sets or extravagant pots and pans that have limited use, take an inventory of your cooking style.




Shopping with your inner chef






If your current cookware selection is limited or it’s time to replace those sticking, formerly nonstick pans, keep the following in mind while you check out the shelves and then select cookware that meets your needs.


Pots or pans: Pans have one long handle and come with or without lids. Pots have lids and handles on opposite sides. I recommend always buying cookware with a tight-fitting lid, which makes the cookware more versatile. I also prefer pans to pots. One handle means that I only need one potholder when I’m cooking. That’s a personal quirk. You may feel more comfortable using pots.


Versatility: My cooking instructors would slap my wrist, but I cook pasta in a Dutch oven, not a huge pasta pot that allows my spaghetti to float freely. A Dutch oven is large enough, so the pasta doesn’t stick together, but small enough to fit comfortably on a stovetop burner. Cookware should be large enough to take care of several tasks but not so large that it doesn’t do any well. Metal cookware handles are more versatile than wood or plastic ones, because you can put a metal-handled skillet in the oven without it melting.





Your cooking style: Recipes in this book often tell you to sauté foods; to sauté means to cook them in a little fat overhigh heat. This speedy cooking technique requires a heavy-bottomed sauté pan that gets hot, retains heat, and doesn’t buckle over high heat. Good materials include porcelain-coated cast-iron or sandwiches of metals including stainless steel and copper or aluminum. (For more information on sautéing, check out Chapter 6.)


Your physical comfort level: If you want to lift weights, go to the gym. Cookware shouldn’t be flimsy, but if your wrists buckle when you hold a skillet, go for something lighter.


Your budget: You’re only buying a few things, so buy the best quality you can afford. Cheaply made cookware has to be replaced more often, so it’s no bargain in the long run. Look for better prices at discount general merchandise stores.




A pot or pan for every occasion






The items that I find essential for making most dinner recipes are in the following list. Select the cookware that allows you to make your family’s favorite dishes quickly. If you’re cooking for one or two, look for smaller sizes of the same kinds of pots and pans. As you can see from the list, versatility is key.


2-quart pan with a tight-fitting lid: This is a great size for reheating canned soup, heating milk for hot chocolate, making one or two servings of rice, or preparing breakfast oatmeal for one or two.


3-quart pan with a tight-fitting lid: Vegetables, sauces, and puddings are suited to this size.


12-inch sauté pan with nonstick surface and a tight-fitting lid: Along with sautéing chicken, meat, and fish, I use this cookware to cook one-pot meals of rice, meat, and vegetables; risotto, the Italian dish of slowly simmered rice; and the occasional stir-fry. (I own a 12-inch skillet as well, but I don’t use it nearly as often for my speed cooking.)


5-quart Dutch oven: This is my all-purpose soup and chili pot and pasta cooker. A Dutch oven is a large pot with a tight-fitting lid that’s often used for long-simmering soups and stews, but I find other uses for it.


For the recipes in this book, I call for cookware in relatively generic sizes, such as medium or large pots or pans. I don’t want you to skip a recipe, because you don’t have a specific size or shape cookware. In Table 2-2, I lay out approximate sizes that you can use to match my generic descriptions.

Table 2-2 Size Guide for Choosing Cookware


Description

Size


Small pot or pan

1 quart


Medium pot or pan

2 to 3 quarts


Large pot or pan

4 to 5 quarts


Dutch oven

5 quarts


Small skillet or sauté pan

6 to 8 inches in diameter


Medium skillet or sauté pan

10 inches in diameter


Large skillet or sauté pan

12 to 14 inches in diameter





Chopping, slicing, and dicing like grandma used to do


Preparing a small amount of food is faster using a knife and cutting board than a food processor or other gizmo that you have to set up and clean. But if your knives aren’t sharp or aren’t appropriate to the task, you’re not saving time. A slip with a dull blade, and you may be spending dinner hour in the emergency room.















These knives should get you through most kitchen tasks.





Chef’s: Choose a knife with a 10- to 12-inch tapered blade for chopping and slicing.


Slicing: Select a knife with an 8- to 10-inch thin, flexible blade for carving meat and poultry.


Paring: Buy a well-made knife with a 3- to 4-inch blade for peeling, coring, and paring fruits and vegetables.















When shopping for knives, consider the following:





Balance: Think like Goldilocks. You want a knife that’s not too heavy and not too light.


Materials: Excellent for home use, high-carbon stainless steel doesn’t rust easily. (High-carbon steel does.) You can sharpen it at home with a honing steel, which looks like a toy sword.





Handles: Most home cooks prefer knives with wood-riveted handles. Restaurant pros often choose heavy-duty molded plastic, because they’re less likely to trap bacteria. With either choice, make sure that no gaps exist between the blade and the handle where bacteria can thrive.
Chapter 3
Staples for Speed
In This Chapter


Stocking up on grains


Cooking protein straight from your cupboard


Putting canned and frozen veggies to work


Seasonings make the difference





Recipes in This Chapter


Pepperoni, Pesto, and Pepper Pasta Salad


Tuna, Pepper, and Rice Salad


Kale and Cannellini Beans


Chicken Stew with Winter Vegetables


Sweet Potato and Bean Soup






Y ou can’t whip up a quick dinner if your cupboard resembles Old Mother Hubbard’s. Stock your kitchen with staples, and you’ll have the fixings for a meal even when you don’t have time to shop. This chapter covers the food products that form the basis for everyday entrees.


Having a well-stocked pantry doesn’t mean predictable or boring meals. You’re going to discover that many of the same ingredients that you enjoy in restaurants — herb-flavored pasta, fire-roasted tomatoes, and cannellini beans — are on supermarket shelves.


Boxes, cans, and jars are your shortcuts to dinner. In this chapter, I show you how to use staples as part of quick and innovative meals. Use a combination of fresh and convenient foods for the best color, aroma, and texture in your dishes.


I’m not going to describe every food that you can fit on your shelf. Instead, taking the building blocks of the Food Guide Pyramid (see Chapter 1) as inspiration, this chapter covers the various categories of staples (including grains, protein foods, and vegetables) that you’re most likely to use every day — or when you have an emergency and can’t get to a grocery store. And I can’t ignore spices or fresh and dried herbs in a discussion of staples. They’re the extra touch that assures you that your efforts are as flavorful as they are quick. Ladies and gentlemen, to your can openers!

Going with Grains


Grains provide the foundation for quick and hearty meals. A bowl of meat sauce looks meager but spoon it over spaghetti, and it’s a rib-sticking entree. Grains come in many forms, but two types are primary — whole grains and refined grains:


Whole grains: The manufacturer doesn’t refine these grains, so they contain healthy fats and dietary fiber that you should be getting. Brown rice is a good example of a whole grain. Make whole grains, such as oats, whole wheat, barley, and rye, half of your daily servings, say diet experts. Whole grains have more nutrients than refined grains, but many also take much longer to cook, making them an occasional dish, not part of your 30-minute meal.


Refined grains: These grains have been processed to remove the high-fiber bran and germ, leaving the starchy portion. White rice is a refined grain. Processed grains are usually white, easy to digest, and quicker cooking than their whole counterparts.






Keep the daily recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid (see Chapter 1) in mind when you stock grains and other staples and plan your menus.


I love serve-overs, and not just because I play a lousy game of tennis. By serving a saucy meat, poultry, or seafood dish over one of the two most popular processed grains — spaghetti and rice — I turn a lightweight entree into a rib-sticking meal. That’s why I always stock an assortment of pasta and rice products.

Using your noodle


Spaghetti is the little black dress of meal planning. Dress it up, or dress it down — either way, it’s always in style. As soon as I use up one package, I buy another.


Health experts say a serving of spaghetti is one ounce, uncooked. But between you and me, 2 ounces of uncooked spaghetti — which turns into one cup of cooked spaghetti — is closer to what many people eat as a serving.






Make a circle slightly smaller than the size of a quarter with your thumb and forefinger. That’s about the equivalent of 2 ounces of spaghetti, thin spaghetti, or linguine. (Check out Figure 3-1 for the exact two-ounce circle size.)


In addition to standard spaghetti, include chunky pasta, such as farfalle (butterfly shape), conchiglie (a frill-edged seashell shape), or radiatore (grooved curved shape), in your collection of staples for casseroles, stews, and skillet meals. Orzo, pasta shaped like a fat grain of rice, is excellent to use instead of rice for a little variety in soups, under stews, or in pasta salads.






Even though many pastas use the same basic ingredients of flour and water, different shapes trick you into thinking the flavor is different as well. That’s something to remember if you’re serving yet another pasta dish. Change the shape. (Of course, with all the quick and delicious recipes in this book, you’re not going to suffer taste-bud fatigue.)






Cooking pasta is almost as easy as boiling water. Fill a large pot with 3 to 4 quarts of salted water. Cover the pot and bring the water to a rolling boil. Uncover, add 8 ounces of pasta, stir, and return to a boil. Cook 8 to 10 minutes for orzo or 10 to 12 minutes for spaghetti, farfalle, conchiglie, or radiatore. Drain and use in a recipe for four.






Salt raises the boiling point of water. If you don’t salt water, it comes to a boil a few minutes sooner. When every minute counts, bring unsalted water to a boil, but don’t forget to add the salt after the water is boiling.





Figure 3-1: If your handful of spaghetti is the same size as this circle, you have 2 ounces of spaghetti.






Following the grain trail


When archeologists search the sites of ancient villages, whole grains are often found among the ruins. According to The Cambridge World History of Food (Cambridge University Press), barley has been traced back to 7000 B.C., millet has its roots in biblical times, and the ancient Aztecs cultivated amaranth. The Aztecs toasted amaranth and even popped it like popcorn. Maybe this proves that snacking is in your genes. Even quinoa, the hot grain of the moment, traces its roots to Inca farmers in the Andes of Peru.

Pepperoni, Pesto, and Pepper Pasta Salad


Combine typical ingredients like olives and pepperoni in an antipasto plate and add farfalle pasta, and you have a meal. Serve this dish at room temperature for the best flavor.


Preparation time: 10 minutes




Yield: 2 servings







2 cups cooked farfalle pasta







6 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni







1/4 cup pitted, chopped mixed Mediterranean olives







4 to 6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced







2 roasted red bell peppers, sliced







1/4 cup tomato or basil pesto







1 to 2 tablespoon olive oil







1 tablespoon red wine vinegar







1/4 teaspoon pepper







1 Place the farfalle in a salad bowl. Add the pepperoni, olives, tomatoes, and peppers. Toss gently but well.







2 Combine the pesto, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, vinegar, and pepper in a small bowl. Mix well. Spoon the pesto dressing over the salad. If the mixture looks dry, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.







Per serving: Calories 909 (From Fat 594); Fat 66g (Saturated 19g); Cholesterol 77mg; Sodium 2,385mg; Carbohydrate 48g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 31g.















Sticking with rice







If spaghetti is the little black dress, rice is my favorite pair of jeans. The dinner plate always looks inviting with a side of rice. It goes with everything from soup to pudding. The types of rice that you’re most likely to use include long-grain, parboiled, instant, and instant brown rice, each of which I describe in the following listing.







Long grain: This long, slender rice goes with practically everything, from salads to skillet dinners, and it’s the most popular kind of rice in American homes.







To cook long-grain rice, combine 2 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium-size pot and bring to a boil. Stir in 1 cup rice. Cover pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Yields 3 cups.







Parboiled: Sold as converted rice by a major food company, it’s produced by a steam-treatment. That’s a fancy way of saying that you get rice that doesn’t clump together. It’s not an advantage if you’re eating with chop sticks and want rice that’s easier to scoop up, but it’s a plus in many skillet dinners.







To cook parboiled rice, combine 2 1/4 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium-size pot and bring to a boil. Stir in 1 cup of rice. Cover pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until the rice is tender, and the liquid is absorbed. Yields 3 cups.







Instant: Precooked and dehydrated rice. Despite what you may read in serious food publications, you won’t be banned from the kitchen if you use it. Yes, instant rice has a pulpy texture. It’s fine, however, when you need a quick base for a serve-over dish or you’re preparing a skillet dinner that takes a little more time and you want to cut a few minutes of cooking.







Combine 1 cup of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a small pot and bring to a boil. Stir in 1 cup of instant rice and cover the pot. Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for 1 minute. Fluff up the rice with a fork. This makes about 1 1/2 cups.







Instant brown: Another precooked and dehydrated rice, this time made from brown rice. Instant brown rice has a nutty taste and the nutrients of regular brown rice, but it’s ready in a fraction of the time. Follow the same cooking instructions as you do for instant rice.







Of the rice varieties, I prefer parboiled rice, because it’s indestructible. However, parboiled rice takes about 20 to 25 minutes to cook, and that means you have to be super-organized to make a skillet dinner using it. I wouldn’t demand that level of organization from myself, and certainly not from you:







If you’re cooking without a minute to spare, substitute instant for parboiled rice in skillet dinners. (See Chapter 12 for a super fast and super tasty Spanish dish called paella that uses instant rice.)







If you’re just cooking rice to serve under a dish, prepare a large pot of parboiled rice when you have a chance, and refrigerate leftovers to use for a few dinners. Stir the cooked rice into a stew, soup, or skillet dinner to heat it.


















Rice becomes hard at the center when it’s refrigerated. To tenderize it, sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of water over the rice and reheat in a microwave oven.




Packing in Proteins







Most protein foods are perishables — meat, eggs, fish, seafood, and poultry. But you can stock plenty of cupboard choices as well, including canned tuna, salmon, and sardines. And beans are an often-overlooked source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.




Fishing for some respect







What could be faster? Open a can of fish, and you’re on your way to a main course. Different canned fish products offer different advantages. Check ’em out.




Tuning in to tuna







Unfortunately, you can’t make mom’s comforting tuna-noodle casserole in a time-crunched 30 minutes, but you can make plenty of other dishes with canned tuna. Choose the type that’s appropriate for what you’re cooking.







Albacore tuna is a high-fat fish with a pleasing, firm, white flesh and a mild taste. It’s usually the most expensive type of canned tuna. Use it in entree salads.







Fancy tuna comes in large chunks. Spoon fancy tuna onto a platter with steamed vegetables and drizzle on the vinaigrette dressing (see Chapter 5) for a lunch entree.







Light meat tuna doesn’t specify the fish variety on the label. Base your selection on the grading. Use this type of tuna in salads — especially pasta salads.







Chunk tuna, in smaller but distinct pieces, is great for tuna salad sandwiches and pasta salads.







Flaked tuna, which comes in smaller shredded pieces, is appropriate for tuna croquettes.


















Food companies also give you a choice of water-pack or oil-pack tuna. You’ll probably drain tuna for most recipes, so save time and 100 calories per can with water-pack tuna.







Use albacore or chunk tuna in the Tuna, Pepper, and Rice Salad. If you only have oil-pack tuna, drain the oil and use it as part of the salad dressing in place of some of the olive oil.




Tuna, Pepper, and Rice Salad







Start with leftover cooked rice and add canned vegetables and tuna for a tasty dish. This recipe calls for canned, roasted tomatoes, which you can find in most natural food stores and some supermarkets. I like the smoky taste of the tomatoes. If you can’t find this product, use your favorite canned, diced tomatoes. You can also make this rice salad a day in advance and chill. Adjust olive oil and lemon juice, adding more to taste if necessary.







Preparation time: About 10 minutes







Yield: 4 servings







2 cups hot cooked rice







1 can (14 to 16 ounces) corn, drained







2 cans (6 1/2 ounces each) white tuna, packed in water, drained







1 can (14 1/2 ounces) roasted diced tomatoes, drained







1 can (4 ounces) diced chiles, drained







8 green onions, diced







1 small green bell pepper, seeded and diced







1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced







2 teaspoons ground cumin







1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)







2 garlic cloves, minced







3 tablespoons olive oil







2 tablespoons lemon juice







1/2 teaspoon salt







1/4 teaspoon pepper







Place the rice in a large bowl. Add the corn, tuna, tomatoes, chiles, green onions, peppers, cumin, cilantro (if desired), and garlic. In a cup, stir together the oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the rice mixture. Toss gently but well.







Vary It! Add a little variety by substituting 2 cups of cooked pasta or bulgur for the rice.







Per serving: Calories 385 (From Fat 120); Fat 13g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 926mg; Carbohydrate 41g (Dietary Fiber 5g); Protein 23g.















Plenty of other fish in the sea







Tuna isn’t the only water-based, protein-providing, canned staple that you can use to whip up a quick meal. Canned salmon is a nutrition powerhouse. If you eat the soft bones, you get the equivalent calcium that you get in a glass of milk in each serving. Salmon also provides omega-3 fatty acids, the kind of fat that health experts say may reduce your risk of heart disease. All that with speed, convenience, and variety, too.







Sockeye or red salmon has a deep orange-red color, firm texture, and meaty taste. Serve it with sliced tomatoes and mayonnaise or topped with sliced red onions on a slice of pumpernickel bread. Sockeye is also excellent in the chowder recipe in Chapter 9.







Pink salmon has a light flesh and a soft texture. The flavor is mild. This is the salmon I’d serve to children who aren’t crazy about fish. Use pink salmon for a salmon and macaroni salad.







Minced clams have the briny taste that seafood lovers expect but without the shells to fuss with. Find minced clams in 6- to 7-ounce cans in the same supermarket aisle as the tuna and salmon. Add minced clams to a canned clam chowder — to beef it up.


















Check out my bare bones clams-to-the-rescue emergency dinner that follows:







1. Cook 8 ounces of spaghetti as I describe in the “Using your noodle” section earlier in this chapter.







2. Drain the spaghetti well and add a can of clams — or two if your family or friends are really hungry.







3. Open a jar of your favorite tomato-based spaghetti sauce and stir 2 cups (or more depending on your taste) in with spaghetti and clams.

4. Heat it all up until the dish is warmed through, and you’re done.






Canned shrimp are convenient, but for my money, I’d rather use frozen shrimp. Canned shrimp usually taste salty and have a mushy texture.

That’s a hill of beans


If I had space for only one protein food in the cupboard, I’d choose canned beans. Beans are filling, which is a great advantage when you’re trying to feed a family fast. But more than that, beans are a good source of dietary fiber, which helps reduce your risk of heart disease, prevents you from overeating, and keeps you regular. Beans are loaded with folate, a B vitamin that reduces the risk of heart disease and helps prevent spinal defects in a fetus. Beans also contain some iron.


Enough of the nutrition lecture. You eat dinner, not nutrition, and beans are your ally when you’re preparing a soup or stew in 30 minutes or less. What’s more, beans come in so many varieties that you can serve beans every night of the week and not repeat yourself.






The five types of beans that I recommend that you stock along with suggestions for using them are as follows. (You can see what these little fellas look like in Figure 3-2.)


Black beans: Also called turtle beans, these small beans have a rich black shell covering a white interior. Black beans taste sweet and not as starchy as some other bean varieties. Use them in soup, black bean, and white rice side dishes, or salads.


Chickpeas: These beans also go by their alias, garbanzo beans. The round- to square-shaped, tan-colored beans have a firm texture and sweet, nutty taste. Chickpeas keep their shape well even after long cooking. They’re good for soup, salads, and stews.


Cannellini beans: Also called white kidney beans, this variety is sweet and mild with an almost buttery consistency. The bean falls apart after long cooking and helps thicken soups. Good for purees, soups, or as a side dish for meat. You can see how the starchy consistency of cannellini beans complements tender kale by preparing the Kale and Cannellini Beans recipe from this chapter.


Kidney beans: These red beans with the pink-to-white interior have a full flavor that makes them a good match for meat. The lighter colored beans have a softer texture than those with a deep red skin. Choose them when you want a dish with a pulpy consistency. Use the firm beans for salads. They also work well in chili and soup.


Pinto beans: This pink to tan-colored bean is meaty tasting, yet mild enough to blend with other ingredients. The bean holds up to cooking. Common uses include chili, soup, and refried beans.






For a healthful snack, drain chickpeas and dry with a paper towel. Dust with pepper and serve.





Figure 3-2: Stockpile different types of beans. Size, shape, and color can vary.




Kale and Cannellini Beans


Beans and greens make a hearty yet quick vegetarian entree. To boost the protein and calcium in the dish, sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese over each serving. Serve this dish with whole-grain bread and a simple vegetable.


Preparation time: 10 minutes


Cooking time: 17 minutes


Yield: 4 servings


1 tablespoon olive oil


1 medium onion, chopped


1 large garlic clove, minced


1 pound fresh kale, thick stems removed


1 cup vegetable broth


1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed


1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


1/4 teaspoon salt


1/4 teaspoon pepper


2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice


1 Heat the oil in a 5-quart pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook over low-medium heat 2 minutes.


2 Coarsely chop the kale into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Place in a colander and run under cold water. Do not pat dry. Add the kale to the pot. You’ll have about 12 cups, but it will quickly cook down. Cook over high heat 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until kale wilts.


3 Add the broth, beans, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook at medium-high heat 10 minutes, or until the kale is tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with lemon juice just before serving.


Per serving: Calories 133 (From Fat 40); Fat 5g (Saturated 1g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 511mg; Carbohydrate 20g (Dietary Fiber 6g); Protein 6g.








Avoiding the consequences


Beans get a bad rap for causing flatulence. To reduce or eliminate that handicap, use a commercial product, such as Beano. You can buy this over-the-counter product in most drug stores and follow the package directions. If you start eating a small amount of beans, say 1/4 cup at a meal, and eat them frequently, your body builds a tolerance to the beans, and you experience less flatulence.

Moving on to Greener Pastures


Shopping for fresh vegetables in season is one of my great pleasures. And a little fresh-veggie shopping know-how can save you plenty of time in the kitchen. That’s why I devote a whole chapter, Chapter 5, to shopping for these green goodies. But I don’t always have time to get to my farmers market or supermarket. And to be honest, I appreciate the fact that manufacturers prepare vegetables in ways that I don’t have the time to do.


For example, it would take me 10 minutes to bring a pot of water to boiling, then scald, seed, and dice a couple of tomatoes. Opening a can of peeled and diced tomatoes takes one minute, tops. Do I have the time to scrape corn kernels from the cob? Not when I’m the designated driver for family activities. I’d just as soon use frozen or canned corn kernels. But what do you do if a recipe calls for a fresh vegetable and you only have the canned or frozen version? Don’t worry. You can easily convert from fresh to canned or frozen using Table 3-1 in this chapter.

Table 3-1 Vegetable Conversion Chart


Fresh

Canned

Frozen


2 large

Not available

10-ounce package


bell peppers


1 pound

Not available

16-ounces frozen


broccoli


1 pound

Not available

2 (10-ounce) packages


brussels sprouts


4 to 6 carrots

16-ounce can

10-ounce bag


4 ears corn

16-ounce can

10-ounce bag


8 ounces

14-ounce can

10-ounce bag


green beans


2 pounds

16-ounce can

10-ounce bag


shelled peas


3 tomatoes

14.5-ounce can

Not available







But are you getting nutritionally inferior vegetables when you opt for the canned or frozen variety? Not for a minute. Studies from the University of Illinois show that canned vegetables are on a nutritional par with fresh ones.


Recommendations from health experts to eat 3 to 5 servings of vegetables a day don’t specify fresh, canned, or frozen. Serve whatever form fits into your schedule.

Tomatoes to the rescue


Canned tomatoes are one of my favorite convenience foods. You can find diced, sliced, pureed, and whole tomatoes. Manufacturers offer tomatoes with garlic, onions, chiles, Italian seasonings, Mexican seasonings, and more. Just open a can, and you’re halfway to dinner. And that’s just for starters. You also have your choice of tomato paste, tomato sauce, or pureed tomatoes. With so many choices, what should you stock? Start with these tomato products:


Tomato paste is a thick tomato concentrate. It’s available in cans or tubes. I prefer tubes, because I can use what I want and refrigerate the remainder. It’s less messy than half-opened cans. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste to pasta sauce, soup, or chili for an intense tomato taste.


Tomato puree is a thick liquid made by cooking and straining tomatoes. Add tomato puree to soups and stews. Pasta sauce recipes often call for adding a can of tomato puree to a mixture of ground beef and seasonings.


Tomato sauce, the thinnest and least intense of the three tomato products, has the consistency of a thick juice. Use it in soups, stews, pasta sauces, or as part of a sauce for meat or poultry.






Canned tomatoes are a boon during the off-season when you can’t find good-tasting, fresh tomatoes, but I also choose diced tomatoes when I’m pressed for time. Your cupboard should include plain and flavored diced tomatoes. If you do much Tex-Mex cooking, stock diced tomatoes with chiles; if you prefer Italian cooking, buy tomatoes with garlic. You’ll also find fire-roasted diced tomatoes, which give your dishes a delicious smoky taste.






Tomatoes are high in lycopene, a substance that may reduce your risk of certain cancers. Cooked tomatoes are higher in lycopene. Your body is better able to absorb lycopene when it’s in a dish with some fat. So mix a little olive oil and a can of diced tomatoes with garlic and pour it over a package of spaghetti for a real quick, healthy dish.


If you want to get a bit more involved with your canned tomatoes, try my Chicken Stew with Winter Vegetables recipe or the Sweet Potato and Bean Soup.

Chicken Stew with Winter Vegetables


Use canned tomatoes and their liquid to make this saucy stew. Vary the tomatoes, substituting fire-roasted tomatoes or tomatoes with roasted garlic to change the flavor each time you make this recipe. Take a look at the chicken thighs when you’re shopping. Choose brands that are trimmed of fat, saving you time and money. For an accompaniment, open a bag of mixed greens and add your favorite salad dressing.


Preparation time: 8 minutes


Cooking time: 20 minutes


Yield: 4 servings


3/4 cup long-grain rice


1 pound, boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat


1 tablespoon olive oil


1/4 cup flour


1/2 teaspoon salt


1/4 teaspoon pepper


1/4 teaspoon curry powder


1/4 teaspoon ground cumin


1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained


2 canned sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces


1 Prepare the rice while the chicken is cooking. Combine 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium-size pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender, and the liquid is absorbed.




2 While the rice is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Place the chicken in a plastic bag with the flour, salt, and pepper and shake to coat. Add the coated chicken to the skillet in a single layer and brown 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.




3 Add the curry powder and cumin to the skillet. Add the tomatoes with their liquid. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.




4 Return the chicken to the skillet and add the sweet potatoes. Stir well. Cover and simmer the dish for 5 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are hot.


5 Serve by dividing the rice among 4 plates and topping each serving of rice with a portion of chicken and sauce.


Per serving: Calories 428 (From Fat 109); Fat 12g (Saturated 3g); Cholesterol 76mg; Sodium 512mg; Carbohydrate 52g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 26g.








Sweet Potato and Bean Soup


This hearty soup is flavored with the sweet, nutty taste of roasted garlic. Just open a can of diced tomatoes with garlic. Round out the soup with salad from a bag.


Preparation time: 10 minutes


Cooking time: 20 minutes


Yield: 2 entrees; 4 first-course servings


1 tablespoon olive oil


1 medium onion, chopped


1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed


1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice


1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with roasted garlic


1/4 teaspoon ground cumin


1/4 teaspoon pepper


Salt to taste


2 1/2 cups chicken broth


1 tablespoon minced fresh basil (optional)


1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


1 Heat oil over high heat in a medium pot. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add chickpeas, sweet potato, tomatoes, cumin, pepper, salt, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until potato is tender.


2 Stir in the basil (if desired) and simmer for 1 minute more. To serve, spoon into 2 large soup bowls and garnish each serving with 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese.


Speed It Up! Cut the total preparation and cooking time to 10 minutes by substituting 1 cup of canned, diced sweet potatoes.


Vary It! For a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth. For a heartier dish, add a cup of leftover cooked chicken or pork cubes.


Per serving: Calories 431 (From Fat 150); Fat 17g (Saturated 4g); Cholesterol 14mg; Sodium 2,932mg; Carbohydrate 55g (Dietary Fiber 10g); Protein 15g.








Corn on the can


Although tomatoes are the heavy hitter in the canned veggie world, corn is also an important ingredient to have on hand. Corn is getting sweeter all the time. When farmers plant a variety called Candy Corn, they’re not kidding. If you want to add a naturally sweet flavor to a dish, corn is a great and healthful way to do it. For example, add a can of corn to a hot chili recipe. You’ll calm the flames. I’m not suggesting anything corny, but the following list shows how you can improve other quick recipes using canned corn:


Buy a box of corn muffin mix. Add a cup of drained, canned corn with the liquid ingredients.


Add a cup of canned or frozen corn kernels to 2 cups of fresh salsa or salsa in a jar.


Stir a cup of canned or frozen corn into packaged corn chowder.


Stretch your own homemade vegetable soup with corn. A cup of corn would be a great addition to the Harvest Vegetable Soup in Chapter 9.






When buying canned corn, choose vacuum-pack corn, because it’s packed with minimal liquid, which you’re probably draining off anyway. Why pay for something you’re feeding to the plumbing? I prefer yellow corn to white, because I want more color in my cooking, but that’s a matter of individual style.

Indulging yourself


Okay. You won’t go hungry if you don’t stock your favorite splurge items. But cooking fast doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun. If you love to try new foods, cruise your supermarket’s gourmet counters for items like imported olives or sun-dried tomatoes. They’re not really staples, but they go to show that you don’t need to add much to transform the taste of an ordinary dish into something special. These are foods that I rely on to dress up meals:


Canned artichoke hearts: Add artichoke hearts to salads, toss with cooked pasta just before serving, or sprinkle chopped artichoke hearts on a frozen pizza before baking. You’ll turn a simple dish into a glamorous one.


Bottled olives: You’ll find dusky brown kalamata olives that have a tangy, herbal flavor and meaty-tasting niçoise olives along with the classic pimiento-stuffed green olives. Add olives to a skillet chicken or pork dish as a seasoning agent. The taste will be slightly piquant and richer. Olives are a fruit (I know they’re listed in this vegetable section, but I figured you’d let me slide on this one) to serve as a savory ingredient or food.


French fried onion rings: I’ll admit I’m a sucker for fried onion rings. Instant texture and taste with the flip of a lid. Make a skillet dinner and sprinkle on fried onions, and you’ve transformed the dish.




Seasoning in a Snap


Even when I’m cooking as fast as I can I don’t want to forego flavor. What’s the point in making a quick dinner if it’s inedible? That will never happen when you prepare the 30-minute dishes in this book. And that’s because I cook with spices and herbs. Spices and herbs are important tools of the quick-cooking trade. You can impart a ton of flavor in just a few seconds. The following section shows you how to use spices and herbs.















Adding some spice to your life





Spices are aromatic seasonings that come from the bark, buds, seeds, or roots of various plants or trees. Spices are roughly divided into two main categories:





Savory: Pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper are the savory spices that you’re most likely to use. Add savory spices to entrees and side dishes to develop full robust tastes. You don’t have to cook savory-spiced foods for long to benefit from their flavors and aromas.


Sweet: You don’t have to relegate common sweet spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger, to dessert recipes. A pinch of cinnamon rounds out the taste of beef stew. Add a dash of ginger to pork and make the taste more intense. Cinnamon and ginger can get you through most dessert recipes.















If you dine out in Mexican, Indian, Thai, or other Asian restaurants, you know about the wonderful foods that combine sweet and savory spices. Think about those marvelous Indian curries that use cinnamon, ginger, cumin, and cayenne. The combination of spices adds up to a well-rounded flavor in which no one spice predominates. You can experiment with these spices to add zest to your cooking as well. Start with small amounts and introduce one seasoning at a time. You don’t want to overwhelm your palate or those of your family and friends.















Spices release their flavors when heated. Sprinkling cumin on a dish of cooked chili won’t taste as good as when you add cumin and then simmer the chili. Fortunately, it doesn’t take a long time for the flavor to blend into the dish. You can get plenty of satisfying taste from a spicy dish cooked for 10 or 30 minutes. Fat also releases the flavor and aroma of spices. Use spices in recipes that also call for a little oil or butter.


You can buy spices in two basic forms — whole and ground — and each brings something different to the table in terms of time and taste:


Convenience and storage: Using pre-ground spices is faster than having to grind whole spices. Ground spices, however, lose their freshness and distinctive aromas more quickly than whole spices. Buy ground spices for the seasonings that you use most often, such as cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cumin. Buy whole spices for seasonings that you use on an occasional basis, such as cloves or nutmeg.


Flavor: Ground and whole spices also flavor foods in different ways. Cumin seed is subtler than ground cumin. Use cumin seed for long- simmering dishes, so the taste is released gradually; use ground cumin for rubs or for quick soups. Seed spices, such as caraway, fennel, and sesame seeds, are usually sold whole.


Pepper is my one exception to the ground rule. I always buy whole peppercorns for their sharp, distinctive taste. The children get the chore of filling the pepper mill.




Herbs to the rescue


Herbs are the aromatic leaves of plants. Some herbs, such as chives, are mostly leaves; others, such as rosemary or bay leaves, grow on woody stems. You may be familiar with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme from the lyrics to an old Simon and Garfunkel song. But even if you can’t hum along, you can choose different herbs that make your dishes sing.






Some suggestions for herbs that match nicely with these foods are as follows: Beef: Oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. Always remove the indigestible bay leaf before you serve your food.


Chicken: Oregano, basil, and thyme.


Eggs: Thyme, chives, dill, and chervil.


Fish: Tarragon, chives, mint, oregano, basil, dill, cilantro, and chervil.


Lamb: Rosemary, thyme, and oregano.


Pasta: Oregano, mint, thyme, chives, and basil.


Pork: Rosemary and sage.


Potatoes: Dill, thyme, oregano, and chives.


Tomatoes: Basil, parsley, mint, and thyme.





Herbs come in two basic varieties — dry and fresh. Dry herbs have a more pungent aroma and flavor than their fresh counterpart. However, they require cooking to make their flavor mellow. Dried herbs taste harsh unless they’re cooked first. See the following quick-cooking herb breakdown on when and how to use each type of herb:





Dry: Use dry herbs in a dish that you’ll be cooking for at least 5, preferably 10 minutes.


Fresh: Add fresh herbs to food during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking. They lose their potency if overcooked.















If a recipe calls for fresh herbs and you only have the dry version, use one-third the amount called for. Instead of 1 tablespoon of fresh basil, substitute 1 teaspoon of dry basil. Don’t forget to add the dried basil during cooking, not at the end. And always crush dried herbs with your fingers to release the flavoring oils before adding the ingredient to a food.





As much as I rely on dry herbs, I treasure having a few herb pots in the kitchen. During the winter, when I can’t remember what a green lawn looks like, I reach for the thyme plant and smell the scent of spring. (Check out Figure 3-3 to see what thyme and some other fresh herbs look like.) It adds a quick burst of flavor to my meal and a hint of sun to my disposition. Rosemary, chives, and parsley round out my indoor garden. To harvest and store fresh herbs:





1. Hold the plant under a spray of cold water to rinse the leaves


2. Take a small pair of scissors and snip the leaves directly into the food that you’re cooking. Don’t go overboard in trimming herbs, or you’ll kill the plant.


3. Wrap stem ends of fresh herbs with a damp paper towel. Place the herbs in a plastic bag with a resealable top. Close the bag, squeezing out excess air.


4. Refrigerate the herbs up to a week, changing the paper towel every other day.




Coming out of the closet with spices





Light and heat destroy the color and flavor of spices. The expert advice is to keep spices in tightly covered jars in your cupboard. But I disagree. As someone who can be easily distracted when cooking, I want my spice arsenal at arm’s reach, not tucked away on some dark shelf. My spices sit under the kitchen windowsill in a shaded area. Look around and see if you can find an area near the stove but away from direct heat and light.




Chapter 4



Focusing on Efficiency



In This Chapter





Clearing the clutter and the cobwebs


Multitasking in the kitchen


Approaching meal preparation with a plan

Recipes in This Chapter


Tortellini and Sugar Snap Peas with Alfredo Sauce


Linguine with Shrimp and Broccoli


Farmer Breakfast






A ll the best and sure-fire 30-minute meals can turn into 60-minute meals if you’re disorganized. A nothing-is-where-you-can-find-it kitchen can throw a monkey wrench into the best-laid plans of mice and chefs.


Getting organized not only makes you a faster, more efficient cook but a less frantic one as well. Knowing where the butter is without ripping the refrigerator apart can have a calming effect. Putting a pot of water on to boil as soon as you go into the kitchen saves you time when you’re going to cook spaghetti or boil vegetables.


Kitchen organization isn’t something that comes naturally, but you’ll discover that you can keep your kitchen organized if you make it a habit. I know that you didn’t buy this book to have someone lecture you on cleaning up your cupboards, and I won’t do that. However, I will share the tips that can help you find the ingredients that you need in record time.


I also provide some tips and techniques that you can use when you’re actually ready to cook as well. Doubling up on some cooking chores also shaves time. I show you how to multitask without getting frazzled. This chapter shows you how to put rhythm into food preparation and provides all the coaching that you need to become more efficient in the kitchen.

Organizing, Schmorganizing


Dismissing kitchen organization is easy. Most likely your life, like mine, is pretty structured. Having one area in which you can let loose is a relief. Besides, you may think that putting things away in a specific place is one more chore that eats into your schedule. Getting organized the first time isn’t much fun, but after you’re set up, your going to gain plenty from your newfound organization:


Money: I’m embarrassed to admit all the times that I’ve discarded slimy lettuce, because I forgot that it was in the refrigerator until the greens were well past their prime.


Space: If you never have enough room for the groceries, check to see what you’re stocking. Maybe you’re buying duplicates of foods that you already have instead of eating down your inventory. Being organized can prevent this duplication. And consciously arranging all those boxes, cans, and jars may free up even more space.


Time: During the five minutes that it takes to find the lid for the sauté pan, you could put your feet up and take a look at the newspaper.

Developing Storage Options


The displays at your local storage or linens store can provide you with plenty of storage ideas. You can also look for functional and well-built storage pieces in restaurant supply houses. Wire bins on metal frames allow you to see what’s in each compartment without pulling out drawers. Look for storage units on wheels that you can roll out of the way when you want more space.






Buy a waist-high set of drawers on wheels and add a butcher-block top to the unit. You not only get storage options, but you gain another work surface as well. (Check out one version in Figure 4-1.)





Figure 4-1: Rolling down Organization Avenue.









See the following listing for more storage ideas:


For compact storage, buy bottles of herbs and spices and place them in a heavy-duty clear plastic box. If you have spices, say cinnamon, that you always measure (instead of simply shaking), remove the perforated top, so you can get a measuring spoon into the jar faster. Mark the lid of each jar with the name of the seasoning, so you see what you need at a glance. Then store the box in a cupboard or on a kitchen counter away from heat and light.


Attach a measuring spoon on a colorful piece of yarn to your coffee canister, so you don’t have to hunt for a spoon every morning. You can also tie a tablespoon measure to your bottle of olive oil and keep the bottle near the stove. You’ll be ready whenever a recipe calls for olive oil.


If you use much flour in your cooking (to flour chicken or thicken sauces, for example), place the flour in a canister and keep it on the counter. I also bury a graduated measuring cup in the container.


Transfer your brown sugar to a container with an airtight lid to keep it from getting hard. If it’s too late, soften hard brown sugar in your microwave. Spoon, or chop, the amount you want, place it in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat it at medium or medium-high for 1 minute. Repeat if necessary.


You can also soften a rock-hard sugar lump by adding a few apple slices, sealing the container, and setting it aside for a day. Supermarkets also sell granulated brown sugar. The granulated variety isn’t appropriate for cakes and cookies, but it’s fine in most other recipes.


Pour sticky honey into a small bottle with a squirt cap, so it’s less messy to use.


Buy squeeze bottles or tubes of your favorite condiments. Just add a squirt of mustard to a vinaigrette dressing instead of spooning it out of a jar.


Buy a plastic spray bottle for cooking oils and spray your pots and pans with oil. You’ll save time measuring the oil and probably use less of the highly caloric fat. If you cook with both olive oil and a vegetable oil, buy two bottles in different colors.


Keep coarse salt in a small open bowl as chefs do. Reach for a pinch to season foods as you cook.


Use a magic marker to date everything that you put in the cupboard and fridge. It only takes a minute and then you don’t have to worry about how long you’ve kept a food.






Discard canned foods that bulge or leak. Don’t open and taste any food to see whether it’s okay. The most deadly toxins don’t have an off-taste. Also, don’t toss the damaged cans or opened cans of spoiled food in a shallow garbage can or box where children or pets can get to them.


Getting organized can make cooking more enjoyable. If this idea really appeals to you, pick up Organizing For Dummies by Eileen Roth and Elizabeth Miles (Wiley) for more in-depth organizing guidance.




Dangerous storage spaces


Household accidents can result from carelessly storing everyday items. Here are a few scenarios you may want to think twice about:


Using a microwave as a storage space. Avoid storing papers or packaged foods here. You don’t even have to turn on the microwave to spark a fire, say the experts from Underwriters Laboratories, an independent, not-for-profit product-safety testing and certification organization. A power surge can trigger a fire in the microwave oven. Keep an oven empty unless you’re using it. (Visit Underwriters Laboratories on the Internet at www.ul.com/consumers for all kinds of household and general safety advice.)


Storing items in a toaster oven. Turning a toaster oven on requires only light pressure to the switch. If you inadvertently flip the switch, any contents could go up in flames.


Repackaging nonfood items in food containers. Poisoning can occur when people eat what they think is food because it’s in familiar food packaging. Various poison-control centers often receive reports of people drinking weed killer or other dangerous household chemicals that are stored in food containers such as old juice jars.


Repackaging food in different food containers. You don’t want someone with food allergies accidentally eating a food that he or she is allergic too because that person thought it was something else. Keep food in its original containers with the original labels. Occasionally this isn’t practical. For example, you may want to transfer opened canned food to a plastic container with a lid so the food is less likely to spill if the package is knocked over. In that case, take the original label and paste it on the container just to be safe.

Ready, Set, Cook!


If you’re like me, doing two things at once is probably the bane of your day. But handling more than one chore at a time in the kitchen is actually a timesaver, not a headache. If you’ve ever opened your mail while chatting with a friend or read the newspaper while drinking coffee, you can multitask in the kitchen without feeling frenzied.






Chefs have years of experience cooking 50 to 100 meals a night to guide them. But they still start each day making a schedule for themselves and their staffs. Writing out your plan gets you in the habit of moving efficiently. Keep a list on the refrigerator of what you should be doing to get dinner ready. After the moves become second nature, scrap the list and keep mental notes.


Some cooking steps don’t need your constant attention — thank goodness — so you’re free to take care of other kitchen chores. For example, in the 10 to 15 minutes it takes a pot of water to boil, you can do one of the following cooking-related activities:


Sauté boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, shrimp, or fish fillets.


Make a quick sauce to serve over pasta. Sautéing chopped onions, garlic, and tomatoes takes about 10 minutes.


Make a salad and dressing. (Chapter 10 has excellent salad suggestions.)


Set the table — or better yet, call someone else to set the table.


Heat up bread in the oven. (For garlic bread, start by slicing a baguette — a loaf of French bread — lengthwise. Then mix garlic salt with butter that’s softened from being left outside the fridge. Spoon and spread the mixture in between the slices, wrap the loaf in foil, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees.)


Uncork a bottle of wine. Take a taste.


Put your feet up for 5 minutes.




Making mealtime easier


I probably do some food preparations simply because that’s what I was taught, and now they’ve become a habit. I guess you do likewise. But, when you’re in a time bind, decide whether all the prep that you do is really necessary. I try to eliminate the following:


Potato peeling: If you cook and serve potatoes with the skins on, you not only skip the peeling part, you also increase the amount of dietary fiber that you get.


Thawing frozen vegetables: For soups or skillet dinners, simply add your vegetables while they’re still frozen, breaking up any solid blocks with a wooden spoon.

Cooking vegetables and pasta together


Fresh pasta cooks in one-third to one-half the time of dried pasta. As a marvelous coincidence, pasta cooks as fast as many vegetables. Taking advantage of that means that you can add fresh pasta and vegetables to one pot of boiling water. You won’t have extra cookware to wash or additional steps to take. Just don’t tell my Italian cooking instructor what I’m suggesting, or she’s going to call on me with her rolling pin in hand.

Tortellini and Sugar Snap Peas with Alfredo Sauce


Tortellini are stuffed pasta squares (filled with meat, cheese, vegetables, or a combination of these ingredients) folded and formed into rings. I recommend using fresh tortellini, because it’s plumper and more filling, and it cooks faster. Find fresh pasta in the supermarket refrigerator cases near the cheese products. Add a salad of mixed greens and a vinaigrette dressing to round out this meal.


Preparation time: 10 to 15 minutes


Cooking time: 10 minutes


Yield: 4 servings


1 tablespoon salt


2 packages (9 ounces each) cheese-filled tortellini


4 cups sugar snap peas, 8 to 9 ounces, well rinsed


1 cup half-and-half


1/4 cup butter


1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


2 tablespoons minced fresh chives


1/4 teaspoon pepper


1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the salt. Add the tortellini and sugar snap peas. Cook 5 minutes or until the tortellini are tender and float. Drain the tortellini and sugar snap peas well and return them to the pot.


2 Add the half-and-half, butter, cheese, chives, and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until the half-and-half thickens slightly and coats the tortellini.


Speed It Up! Substitute 1 1/2 cups of Alfredo sauce for the half-and-half, butter, and cheese. You can find refrigerated Alfredo sauce near the fresh pasta. You can also use a jar of Alfredo sauce. Include the fresh chives for color and flavor.


Per serving: Calories 541 (From Fat 236); Fat 26g (Saturated 15g); Cholesterol 77mg; Sodium 716mg; Carbohydrate 58g (Dietary Fiber 9g); Protein 22g.





Cooking shrimp and pasta together


Cooking shrimp in water while it’s coming to a boil has two advantages: The shrimp aren’t exposed to the high heat that makes them tough, and you finish half the cooking while the water heats up. Unfortunately, this method has one downside. Shrimp and other protein foods produce an unpleasant-looking brown foam as they simmer. Use a slotted spoon to skim off the foam before you start cooking the pasta.

Linguine with Shrimp and Broccoli


This all-in-one meal takes almost no effort on your part, yet it yields an elegant dish. It doesn’t hold up well, so make the dish just before you’re about to sit down to dinner. You can put a kitchen helper to work browning a small, chopped onion in a little butter. Add the onion to the finished dish just before serving.


Preparation time: 5 minutes


Cooking time: 25 minutes


Yield: 4 servings


1 tablespoon salt


1 pound raw, large peeled shrimp


8 ounces dry linguine


4 cups broccoli florets, cut into 1-inch pieces


3/4 cup half-and-half


1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


1/8 teaspoon pepper


1 Fill a large pot with water and add the salt. Add the shrimp. Partially cover and cook over high heat for 10 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and firm and the water just comes to a boil. Scoop out the shrimp with a slotted spoon and set aside. Skim off any foam from the water. Keep the water over high heat.


2 Add the linguine and cook 8 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook another 2 to 3 minutes or until the linguine and broccoli are both tender. Drain the pasta and broccoli well and return to the pot. Add the shrimp, half-and-half, crushed red pepper flakes, and pepper. Cook over medium heat 1 minute or until the half-and-half thickens slightly and coats a spoon.


Vary It! Substitute asparagus cut into 1-inch lengths for the broccoli.


Speed It Up! Substitute 1 pound frozen, cooked shrimp for raw. To change the recipe, bring the water to boiling. Add the linguine and broccoli as directed. If the shrimp are still frozen, add them with the broccoli. Otherwise, add thawed shrimp with the half-and-half.


Per serving: Calories 359 (From Fat 66); Fat 7g (Saturated 4g); Cholesterol 185mg; Sodium 369mg; Carbohydrate 45g (Dietary Fiber 5g); Protein 28g.





Breakfast in a pan


You know how you can cook more than one food in a large pot. But keep reading to discover how you can also get double or triple duty from a sauté pan. Preparing a hearty brunch, including toast, eggs, and bacon in one pan requires that you have all your ingredients in place. The inspiration for the Hole-in-One Farmer Breakfast recipe in this section is a favorite camp recipe from my childhood, called Moon Over Miami. (See Figure 4-2 for the particulars. And for other, non-breakfast, one-pan meals, see Chapter 12.) You can make this recipe in your kitchen or over a campfire.










Music is the speed demon’s muse


Okay. Call me perverse, but I can’t listen to soothing music when I’m in a hurry. Ordinarily, I’d love to sit back and listen to a little Bach, but when time is of the essence, give me James Brown. When I blast that voice through the kitchen, I move to a quicker beat. Do you have a favorite radio station that supplies upbeat, high-energy music? Turn it on. While you’re turning the dial, check out my fave five when it comes to cooking:


“Good Golly Miss Molly” by Little Richard


“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” by James Brown


“I Got You (I Feel Good)” also by James Brown


“I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye


“Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis

Farmer Breakfast


Bacon, eggs, and toast — all the fixings of an old-style farm meal — come together in minutes. Serve this for Sunday brunch for two with a fruit salad on the side.


Preparation time: 5 minutes


Cooking time: 13 minutes


Yield: 2 servings


4 strips bacon


2 slices sourdough bread, sliced 1/2-inch thick


2 eggs


1/4 teaspoon salt


1/4 teaspoon pepper


2 slices cheddar or provolone cheese


1 Arrange the strips of bacon in a large nonstick sauté pan. Fry the bacon over high heat 2 minutes per side or until crisp. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Cover and keep warm while making the rest of the dish.


2 Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat in the skillet. Using a cookie cutter, cut a 2-inch hole in the center of each bread slice. Add the bread to the skillet and sauté 1 minute.


3 One at a time, break each egg into a cup and then pour them into the holes in the center of the bread slices. Season each egg with 1/8 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper. Fry 3 minutes to slightly set the eggs. Using a spatula, gently turn the eggs over. Arrange the cheese slices over each egg. Cover the sauté pan and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the eggs are set and the cheese is slightly melted. If the bacon is cold, return it to the pan for 1 minute to heat through. Serve immediately.


Vary It! Slice a couple of tomatoes and sauté them with the bread slices.


Speed It Up! Use precooked bacon slices instead of raw. To start the recipe, melt 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine in the sauté pan. Add the bread, eggs, and cheese as directed. Either add the bacon strips during the last minute to heat through or heat separately in a microwave oven, following the package directions.


Per serving: Calories 489 (From Fat 252); Fat 28g (Saturated 12g); Cholesterol 259mg; Sodium 922mg; Carbohydrate 35g (Dietary Fiber 2g); Protein 25g.





Getting a Head Start


Cooking more food than you serve for one meal gives you a head start on the week’s dinners. Accept it as a bonus in your menu planning. I know I do. In fact, I cook extra portions of ingredients that I know I’m going to use in two consecutive dinners. You’ll find that you save time and energy by doubling up on some cooking steps.


In this section, I describe foods you can prepare in bulk for maybe a little more time than it takes to cook smaller amounts. Your reward is having cooked ingredients on hand for other recipes. (If this concept appeals to you, check out Chapter 8 for information on big batch cooking in the truest sense.)






I often double up on the six ingredients that follow to jumpstart subsequent meals:


Eggs: Hard-cook 5 or 6 eggs at a time. Store the extras in a bowl in the refrigerator to add to a pasta or rice salad (or for the egg salad sandwich in Chapter 11).


Rice: Cook double the amount of rice you need for a recipe. Two cups of rice cooks in the same amount of time as one cup of rice. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator to use for rice salad. Or for a quick light meal or snack, stir rice into chicken broth for soup.






Rice becomes hard at the center when it’s refrigerated. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of water over the rice and reheat it in a microwave oven or add it to a dish that you’re cooking. As the cold rice heats up, it becomes as tender as just-cooked rice.


Couscous: My family loves toasted couscous, a large pearl couscous that’s also called Israeli couscous. Although toasted couscous sticks together when cooked and chilled, it separates into individual pearls when you add it to a soup or stew for an additional meal.


Ground beef: Browning twice the ground beef that you need for a given meal only takes a few more minutes, and you only have to clean up once. Refrigerate cooked, browned beef for up to two days or freeze it for up to one month. (You can use the cooked ground beef in my 8-Minute Chile in Chapter 17.)


Onions: Chopping extra vegetables takes only a little more time, and you save yourself from washing that skillet again. Store cooked onions in the refrigerator and pull out your convenience food every time a recipe begins with “brown the onions.”


Vinaigrette: Pouring oil and vinegar into measuring spoons isn’t a big deal, but if you can do it less often, why not? Fill a fancy bottle with vinaigrette dressing and keep it around. I prefer to refrigerate vinaigrette dressings, though not everyone agrees with me. Remove refrigerated vinaigrette and bring it to room temperature about 15 to 30 minutes before dinner.




The pinch hitters


All cooks, even the most organized of them, have reached onto the shelf for an ingredient only to find that they’ve run out. It happens to me, and I bet it happens to you too. When the cupboard is bare, don’t panic and don’t rush to the store to waste your cooking time in a grocery line. Instead be flexible and think about substitutions you can make. The Cheat Sheet at the front of this book suggests things that you can use in place of the ingredient you’re missing. You may want to rip that page out of the book and put it on your refrigerator door.


But I do have one additional bit of advice to keep in mind when you’re tinkering with substitutes: Taste as you cook. You may want to add or eliminate other ingredients to compensate for the changes. For example, if you’re using a bouillon cube instead of broth, taste your dish before you add salt because bouillon cubes are salty. And your homemade ketchup may not be as thick as the store-bought version, so you may want to cook it over high heat for a couple of minutes to thicken it.

Part II


Mastering Skills for Speed