FAST AND FRESH NEW COOKBOOKS HELP BUSY COOKS GET DINNER ON THE TABLE PRONTO.Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor Exhausted. Too tired to cook. Not in the mood. Nothing in the house to eat. These are just a few of the excuses that busy consumers, worn down by hectic days and schedules, use to justify buying takeout food rather than cooking a quick weeknight week·night n. A night of the week exclusive of Saturday and Sunday. week  nights meal at home. ``While it's unrealistic to think people will never buy takeout,'' says Renee Schettler, food editor of Real Simple magazine, who has written ``Real Simple Meals Made Easy,'' it's feasible to put something homemade on the table even when you don't have much time and don't want to expend much brain power or physical effort. Adopt some handy shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. strategies and recipes - and cook according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the season. You'll not only be amazed at the money you save, you'll have the pleasure of sitting down to an impressive, terrific-looking, satisfying, homemade meal in no time. ``A good home-cooked meal doesn't have to be an elaborate production, although some food companies would like us to think that it is,'' says Susan Puckett, co-author of ``The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table'' and food editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There is a lot you can do with good-quality ingredients, yielding maximum flavor in minimum time. Puckett, who avoids takeout because it's too expensive - and she likes control over what and how much she's eating - says, ``It is faster to cook at home, but the trick is distilling ingredients down to the essence in recipes.'' The book has changed her life, she said, in that she has adapted to cooking with just a handful of ingredients. ``You don't need a lot of things.'' For efficiency and to make cooking less stressful, do a pantry and refrigerator raid and discard items you don't use often, Puckett advises. ``By simplifying your recipes, your grocery list, your kitchen - you can have a nice, stress-free meal any night of the week that I guarantee you is going to be quicker and better than anything you're going to get at a takeout place.'' A strawberry spinach salad with pecans and blue cheese (packed in oil and spices); ravioli with salmon and broccoli; and linguine with basil, tomato and brie are some of her reliable standbys. One of her favorite pantry items is Uncle Ben's
Uncle Ben’s is a brand name for parboiled (“converted”) rice and related food products. Owned by Mars, Inc. in the U.S. precooked pre·cook tr.v. pre·cooked, pre·cook·ing, pre·cooks To cook in advance or partially. Adj. 1. precooked - cooked partially or completely beforehand; "frozen precooked meals from the supermarket" brown rice in a pouch. Microwave for 90 seconds and you have fresh rice. For fun, bring a little bit of whimsy whim·sy also whim·sey n. pl. whim·sies also whim·seys 1. An odd or fanciful idea; a whim. 2. A quaint or fanciful quality: stories full of whimsy. to the dinner table with ``no-shop,'' ``no-cook'' and ``shortcut meals'' that take advantage of convenience foods such as rotisserie chicken, frozen toaster See intranet toaster and Video Toaster. (jargon) toaster - 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). waffles and pasta sauces in the jar, says Schettler of Real Simple magazine. These can quickly be transformed into homemade-tasting dinners - creations like ham and cheese waffle See WAFL. sandwiches, french fry French fry n. A thin strip of potato fried in deep fat. Often used in the plural. pie and such. ``We try to take the pressure off cooks and don't want them to take dinner too seriously. The more someone cooks with shortcut products, the more confident they become, and then might try their own variations,'' says Schettler, who advises cooks to take basic concepts, get comfortable and build on them. Television-show host and cookbook author Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968 in Glens Falls, New York[1][2]) is an Emmy-award winning television personality and author, who currently hosts the syndicated talk/lifestyle program Rachael Ray and two Food Network series, suggests doing a big shopping every couple of weeks and then zipping through the quick-check line at markets as needed as needed prn. See prn order. to make the 30-minute creations in her new book, ``Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals.'' Her secret weapon is to keep plenty of versatile ingredients in the fridge, freezer or pantry or on the spice rack. Among her must-haves are ``pasta, EVOO EVOO Extra Virgin Olive Oil (extra virgin olive oil olive oil, pale yellow to greenish oil obtained from the pulp of olives by separating the liquids from solids. Olive oil was used in the ancient world for lighting, in the preparation of food, and as an anointing oil for both ritual and cosmetic purposes. ), tomatoes, canned beans, cheese, salami and the like.'' As for what you should keep on hand, ``It depends on what style of food you enjoy most,'' Ray says. ``If you love Tex-Mex and spicy food spicy food Nutrition Any comestible marinated in and/or which contains chili peppers, mustard with horseradish, curry or other spices that evoke a desired intraoral sensation that crosses pain with pleasure; SFs may elicit an autonomic nervous system , keep lots of beans, tomatoes, dried ground cumin cumin or cummin (both: kŭm`ĭn), low annual herb (Cuminum cyminum) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), long cultivated in the Old World for the aromatic seedlike fruits. , chili powders and canned chili peppers on hand. If you love Italian, go for pastas and grains, tomatoes, EVOO and balsamic vinegar balsamic vinegar n. 1. An aromatic vinegar of Modena, Italy, made from white Trebbiano grape juice that is heated and aged in wooden barrels for several years. 2. Any of various similar vinegars. .'' In the book, Ray includes a master list of the 70 items she always has on hand for her mixed bag of cooking styles, ranging from Mediterranean to Mexican to Asian to American. Lynn Vettle, a senior test-kitchen manager for Pillsbury and the mother of three teenagers, says, ``From a personal and professional standpoint, I'm always looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. quick and easy ideas to bring the family together, even if only for 15 minutes.'' With recipes like the ones in the ``Pillsbury Fix It Fast: Dinner Ready in 25 Minutes or Less'' cookbook, ``you can feed your family really easily without feeding them fast food,'' she says, ``but some organization is necessary.'' Explore stores and pick up resealable bags of produce (fruits and vegetables) and other food items (preshredded cheeses) along with tubes of herbs and jars of condiments and sauces to add flavor fast. Check out the deli and buy precooked meats or rotisserie chickens, then store them in the freezer in two-cup portions, if desired. ``Reorganize your kitchen,'' Vettle says, ``and make sure you surround yourself with time-saving appliances and kitchen gadgets - microwave, toaster oven, wok ... kitchen shears (use for snipping herbs, cutting canned tomatoes, etc.), a pizza cutter A pizza cutter (or pizza wheel) is a utensil that is used to cut pizzas. There are two main types of pizza cutters. The most common uses a wheel that rotates in a circle while a person moves the cutter in a direction that they would like to cut the pizza. (to cut pizza, quesadillas, dough into strips) and a microplane grater (for grating lemons, oranges and Parmesan cheese a kind of cheese of a rich flavor, though from skimmed milk, made in Parma, Italy. See also: Parmesan ).'' One of her favorite salads is the super-fast ranch club made with turkey breast from the deli, precooked bacon, tomatoes and shredded lettuce that can be tossed together in 10 minutes. Another favorite is frozen cooked tortellini mixed with cooked chicken breast, asparagus and heated store-bought Alfredo sauce. Natalie Haughton, (818) 713-3692 natalie.haughton(at)dailynews.com SZECHUAN BEEF STRI-FRY 1 (10- to 16-ounce) package fresh vegetable stir-fry blend (see Note) 3 tablespoons water 2 beef shoulder center steaks (Ranch Steaks), cut 3/4-inch-thick (about 8 ounces each) OR use 1 pound beef top round steak, cut 3/4-inch thick 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 cup prepared (store-bought) sesame-ginger stir-fry sauce (or other favorite stir-fry sauce flavor) 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper red pepper: see pepper. 2 cups hot cooked white OR brown rice, prepared without butter or salt 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts Combine vegetables and water in large nonstick non·stick adj. Permitting easy removal of adherent food particles: a frying pan with a nonstick surface. nonstick Adjective skillet; cover and cook over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove and drain vegetables. Set aside. Meanwhile, cut steaks into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Heat same skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1/2 of beef and 1/2 of garlic; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Repeat with remaining beef and garlic. Return beef and vegetables to skillet. Add stir-fry sauce and red pepper; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with peanuts. Makes 4 servings NOTE: Four cups assorted fresh vegetables, such as sugar snap peas, broccoli florets, bell pepper strips and shredded carrots, may be substituted for 1 package vegetable stir-fry blend. From ``The Healthy Beef Cookbook,'' by National Cattlemen's Beef Association National Cattlemen's Beef Association or NCBA, an advocacy group for beef producers in the United States, reports that it works "to increase profit opportunities for cattle and beef producers by enhancing the business climate and building consumer demand. and American Dietetic Association The American Dietetic Association (ADA) is the United States' largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, with nearly 65,000 members. Approximately 75 % of ADA's members are registered dietitians and about 4 % are dietetic technicians, registered. . THAI CHICKEN PIZZA 1 pizza dough (If you use a 13.7-ounce tube of refrigerator pizza dough you'll get 1 rectangular pizza; if you prefer to stretch your own into a circle, use up to a 1-pound ball of fresh dough) 1/2 cup duck sauce Noun 1. duck sauce - a thick sweet and pungent Chinese condiment hoisin sauce condiment - a preparation (a sauce or relish or spice) to enhance flavor or enjoyment; "mustard and ketchup are condiments" OR plum sauce 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 (10-ounce) bag (2 cups) shredded provolone pro·vo·lo·ne n. A hard, usually smoked Italian cheese. [Italian, augmentative of provola, a kind of cheese.] OR Monterey Jack cheese “Monterey Jack” redirects here. For other uses, see Monterey Jack (disambiguation). Monterey Jack is a type of semi-hard cheese using cows milk. It is commonly sold by itself, or mixed with Colby cheese to make a marbled cheese known as Colby-Jack (or Co-Jack). 1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 tablespoons tamari ta·ma·ri n. Soy sauce made without wheat. [Japanese.] 1 rounded tablespoon smooth peanut butter 2 teaspoons hot sauce 2 teaspoons grill seasoning (such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning) 4 chicken breast cutlets, 1/2 pound total 2 tablespoons honey2 tablespoons cider vinegar OR any white vinegar on hand 1/4 seedless Seed´less a. 1. Without seed or seeds. Adj. 1. seedless - lacking seeds; "seedless grapefruit" seedy - full of seeds; "as seedy as a fig" seedless adj → cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks 4 green onions, white and green parts, chopped 1 cup bean sprouts A palmful of fresh chopped cilantro leaves 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts Form pizza crust on a baking sheet or pizza pan. Top with duck sauce, spreading it around like pizza sauce. Sprinkle with some red pepper flakes, then top with cheese and bell peppers. Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven 15 to 17 minutes, until golden and bubbly. In a small bowl, combine oil, tamari and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce (10 seconds). Coat chicken evenly with mixture and let stand 10 minutes. Preheat a grill pan or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken cutlets 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until firm and cooked through. Slice chicken into very thin strips. While chicken cooks, mix honey and vinegar in a medium bowl. Add cucumber and turn to coat in dressing. When pizza comes out of oven, top with chicken, green onions, sprouts and cilantro. Drain cucumber and scatter over pizza. Garnish with peanuts. Cut into 8 wedges and serve. Makes 2 to 4 servings From ``Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals: A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook.'' GREEK SALAD 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup fresh basil leaves 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 8 ounces feta fet·a n. A white semisoft cheese usually made of goat's or ewe's milk and often preserved in brine. [Modern Greek (turi) pheta, (cheese) slice, from Italian fetta, slice cheese, thickly sliced 1 medium cucumber, chopped (peel first, if desired) 8 ounces cherry OR grape tomatoes, halved 3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted if desired 1 (12-ounce) jar pepperoncini, drained 2 (14-ounce) jars dolmades 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 lemon, cut into wedges In a blender or food processor, puree pu·rée or pu·ree tr.v. pu·réed or pu·reed, pu·rée·ing or pu·ree·ing, pu·rées or pu·rees To rub through a strainer or process (food) in a blender. n. oil, basil and salt; set aside. Arrange feta, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini, and dolmades on a platter or on individual plates. Drizzle with basil oil and sprinkle with pepper. Serve with lemon wedges on the side. Makes 4 to 6 servings From ``Real Simple Meals Made Easy,'' by Renee Schettler. RAVIOLI WITH CORN AND CILANTRO 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated re·frig·er·ate tr.v. re·frig·er·at·ed, re·frig·er·at·ing, re·frig·er·ates 1. To cool or chill (a substance). 2. To preserve (food) by chilling. roasted-chicken-and-garlic-filled OR cheese-filled ravioli 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced, OR 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1 (11-ounce) can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (OR use 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil OR 1 tablespoon dried basil) Cook ravioli as directed on package. Drain. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Add corn and salt; cook until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Add cooked ravioli; toss to coat. Sprinkle with cilantro. Makes 3 servings (1 1/4 cups each) From ``Pillsbury Fix It Fast, Dinner Ready in 25 Minutes or Less,'' by the Pillsbury Editors. CHICKEN ENCHILADAS 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat shredded 1 (15-ounce) can pinto OR black beans, rinsed and drained 2 cups salsa 2 cups shredded Cheddar OR Monterey Jack cheese 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas In a bowl, combine chicken, beans, 1 cup salsa and 1 cup cheese; mix well. Divide mixture evenly among tortillas. Roll tortillas up and place seam side down in a lightly oiled 9x13-inch baking pan. Top with remaining 1 cup salsa and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese melts and enchiladas are heated through. Serve extra salsa or sour cream on the side. Makes 6 to 8 servings TIP: For added flavor, some supermarkets now offer a spicy or ``Mojo''-flavored rotisserie chicken. For easier shredding, do it while the bird is still warm. From ``The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table,'' by Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett. SHRIMP WITH ARUGULA arugula or rocket Yellowish-flowered European herbaceous plant (Eruca vesicaria sativa), of the mustard family, cultivated for its foliage, which is used especially in salads. AND COUSCOUS cous·cous n. 1. A pasta of North African origin made of crushed and steamed semolina. 2. A North African dish consisting of pasta steamed with a meat and vegetable stew. 1 cup instant couscous 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced 1 (5-ounce) bag arugula 1 (1-pound) bag frozen uncooked shrimp, thawed 1 lemon, cut into wedges Prepare couscous according to package directions. After cooking, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add arugula and cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate. Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp, lemon wedges and remaining salt and pepper
Makes 4 servings From ``Real Simple Meals Made Easy,'' by Renee Schettler. ON THE SHELF Some recently published cookbooks are designed to help you pull off dinner almost effortlessly - in 30 minutes or less. (Some, however, have a smattering of recipes that require a little more oven or cooking time.) ``Real Simple Meals Made Easy,'' by Renee Schettler (Time Inc. Home Entertainment; $24.95). This handsome book includes 75 tested recipes for different ways to get dinner on the table - no-cook, one-pot, shortcut, etc. The recipes, mostly from the pages of Real Simple magazine over the last six years, are accompanied by gorgeous color photos, luring busy cooks with inspiring glimpses of the finished dishes. ``Rachael Ray, Express Lane Meals: A 30-Minute Meal cookbook (Clarkson Potter/Publishers; $18.95). As the subtitle notes, Ray tells you ``What to Keep on Hand, What to Buy Fresh...'' with a quick trip through the express lane at the supermarket. Ray divides her recipes into three categories according to your mood: ``Meals for the Exhausted,'' ``Meals for the Not Too Tired'' and ``Bring It On! (But, Be Gentle''). ``The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table,'' by Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett (Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. ; $13). You'll find lots of delicious, half-hour-or-less fresh solutions for time-crunched cooks, each employing five ingredients (water, salt and pepper don't count). Some are microwave meals without the plastic containers. About a third of the recipes are based on a popular column of the same name in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an outgrowth of readers wanting quick recipes. ``Pillsbury Fix It Fast: Dinner Ready in 25 Minutes or Less,'' by the Pillsbury Editors (Wiley; $19.95). You'll find 140 options here, ranging from quick sandwiches and super soups and chowders to hearty pastas, skillet dishes and main-dish salads - some of the recipes are earmarked superfast. There are also lots of practical tips and clever ways to use everyday kitchen items - plastic storage bags, nonstick cooking spray, cooling racks, kitchen shears - to make cooking a snap. ``Moosewood Restaurant: Simple Suppers, Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table,'' by the Moosewood Collective (Clarkson Potter/Publishers; $32.50). This volume, filled with 150 recipes for busy cooks, aims to deliver fresh, imaginative, healthy, quickly prepared dishes so families and friends can sit down at the dinner table together year-round. ``Ciao Italia Pronto pron·to adv. Informal Without delay; quickly. [Spanish, from Latin pr  mptus; see prompt. !, 30-Minute Recipes From an Italian Kitchen,'' by Mary Ann Esposito Mary Ann Esposito is the host and creator of the television program, Ciao Italia, television's longest-running cooking program .With roughly 1.4 million weekly viewers , Ciao Italia has aired on more than 270 PBS stations nationwide since its debut in 1989. (St. Martin's Press; $27.95). Host of the PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, television series ``Ciao Italia,'' Esposito has designed the more than 70 recipes to get you organized and in and out of the kitchen with little effort but without compromising the authenticity and taste of Italian food. Cook with in-season fruits and vegetables and take advantage of ready-cut varieties found in the produce section, she advises. ``The Healthy Beef Cookbook,'' by Richard Chamberlain and Betsy Hornick (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; $21.95). Filled with 130 beef recipes - salads, steaks, stir-fry and more - almost 75 percent of the recipes have 400 calories or less per serving. Nutrition information is included with each, and many of the recipes can be on the table in short order. - Natalie Haughton CAPTION(S): 12 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Simple? you bet! Homemade dinners - with just a little help (2 -- color) SHRIMP WITH ARUGULA AND COUSCOUS Photo by Anna Williams from ``Real Simple Meals Made Easy,'' Time, Inc. Home Entertainment (3 -- color) THAI CHICKEN PIZZA Photo by Ben Fik, from ``Rachel Ray Express Lane Meals: A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook,'' Clarkson Potter/Publishers (4 -- color) SZECHUAN BEEF STIR-FRY (5 -- color) RAVIOLI WITH CORN AND CILANTRO (6 -- color) ``Real Simple Meals Made Easy'' (7 -- color) ``Rachel Ray, Express Lane Meals: A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook'' (8 -- color) ``The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table'' (9 -- color) ``Pillsbury Fix It Fast: Dinner Ready in 25 Minutes or Less'' (10 -- color) ``Moosewood Restaurant: Simple Suppers, Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table'' (11 -- color) ``Ciao Italia Pronto!, 30-Minute Recipes From an Italian Kitchen'' (12 -- color) ``The Healthy Beef Cookbook'' Box: ON THE SHELF (see text) |
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