Fast Meals Cookbook
I am a physician, which means I work a lot of hours (a resident right now, so even more) and I have a 1 year old and a husband. I am looking for quick meals that are decent. We try not to cook down to our chowbaby too much, so anything we eat she eats and vice versa, so we are not looking necessarily for a kid's meal cookbook, just a cookbook with fast recipes and help with planning and shopping for meals. In the past I have used Mark Bittman and New Joy, but that can really only be for special occasions, as even the time it takes to look for easy meals in there is too much! Is Rachael Ray as bad as everyone says?
I am sure there have been threads about this in the past, but part of my problem is time so anyone who can point me to the previous threads would be appreciated as well.
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I like Nigella's cookbooks, and in How to Eat she has a whole section on fast food, which I have found to be useful and good. I like that she provides menus for a whole meal (salad/main/dessert) as well. She also has a chapter in the book on feeding babies, and she also subscribes to your view of not cooking down for kids. The magazine Real Simple provides not just menus, but shopping lists, and they often group recipes and lists to cook for a week or longer. I've liked everything I've made from their recipes.
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This isn't so much a recipe book recommendation as a suggestion as to what you might want to use to cut down on cooking time.
Couscous is ready in less than 10 minutes and there is no actual cooking involved. Just add hot water and cover until the grains have soaked up all the liquid. To make it more interesting, I add one can of black beans that have been drained and rinsed. Some chopped tomatoes, red pepper, and green onions.
For meat, marinade beforehand and then cook to specifications.
I had to do quick cooking in hostels when I was travelling and this was the way to go. There's no hesitation in low budget travelling and cooking.
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re: yayadave
PBSF
Aug 12, 2006 04:04 PM
I agree with the previous post on Jacque Pepin. All his books tied to his recent television series are excellent. Most of his recipes are easy and sensible, perfect for everyday meals. He uses a lot of fresh fruits in his desserts and many are really easy to make and healthy.
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gansu girl
Aug 11, 2006 09:42 PM
While some of Rachael Ray's stuff is good, I have found it impossible to make most of her recipes in 30 min - as the other poster said, you need someone to have prepped all the ingredients to pull it off.
I'll put in a plug for the Everyday Food magazine - the recipes are tasty, generally healthful, use fresh ingredients and are quick. I get the most "keepers" from this magazine. What's more, you get some rotating variety - which even a family in a hurry craves . . . .
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I really enjoy the recipes in Diane Rossen Worthington's "Seriously Simple." I have made many quick, easy and elegant meals from this book. She also suggests simple variations to the recipes so that you can follow tried and true techniques again and again without getting bored. Unlike so many many resources for quick family cooking, this book contains recipes for good food that happens to be quick and easy, as opposed to dumbed down or adjusted recipes for food that can't be made well in a short time or is simply uninteresting.
We also prepare a lot of multi-meal foods, like soups and stews that can be cooked once and reheated (even after freezing) for several meals later in the week. Another "trick" I use for quick dinners is to make a meal that has naturally tasy leftovers, like grilling a large tri-tip roast or extra chicken breasts one night to have good salads or sanwiches later in the week. The San Francisco Chronicle had a great article with recipes fo this type of meal planning within the last couple months.
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Do an Amazon search on Pierre Franey and Marian Burros. Both wrote columns for the New York Times and have written cookbooks on fast cooking. Franey is best known for his 60 Minute Gourmet cooking. I don't know if 60 minutes is too long for you. I like it because it doesn't dumb down gourmet foods, it gives instructions for simpler gourmet dishes. He's no RR, but a classically trained French chef.
Marian Burros has a no-nonsense approach to cooking which appeals to me. She has a 20 Minute Menu cookbook which is sensible and practical, she also emphasizes the healthy aspect of cooking. I look through her book for ideas when I'm planning weekday meals which need to be fast.
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Candy
Aug 11, 2006 07:14 PM
It is not that RR's food is bad it is her personality that is teeth grinding.
If you look at Food Media and News from a couple of days ago, I think, there was a discussion about whether anyone could really pull off the meals that she says can be done in 30 minutes could really happen. The answer is yes if all of your prep work is done and you have someone around to set stuff up for you like having the right sized pan at hand and all of those little details that eat up time in food preparation.
I think you might want to pick up her magazine and see if her recipes appeal to you and family and if you can meal plan for several days in a row and do all of your prep, chopping, slicing, dicing etc. and have it in plastic bags ready to go you can save considerable time when you are rushed on cooking. Another tip, if you are buying fresh mushrooms that you are going to slice, buy the sliced ones they cost the same, I am amazed what one can find now in the produce setion ready to use, a salad bar in a grocery may cost a bit more but if you can buy something already prepped that is another time and step saver.
Hope that helps.
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I recommend Peter Berley's "Fresh Food Fast". This is actually a vegetarian cookbook, but I think that meat-and-potatoes types would like it too (my husband and I are both meat-eaters, but like the recipes in the book). Three additional pluses: the recipes are organized by season, there are menu suggestions, and shopping lists are provided.
