kitchen secrets

When working with short ingredient lists and straightforward procedures, recipes depend on quality ingredients. Choose your ingredients carefully, follow a few simple strategies, and you, too, can master the art of Fresh Food Fast. First, start with fresh, quick-cooking proteins, such as fish fillets, pork chops, lamb chops, ground beef, and chicken breast halves. Combine these with fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, plus a few high-quality, high-flavor convenience foods (see “The 15-Minute Pantry” on the facing page). Rely on cooking methods that can produce flavorful results fast, such as sautéing or broiling. Finally, pair the dish with a simple side (see “Speedy Sides,”) or even an easy dessert.

8 Super Shortcuts

1 Purchase prepared ingredients such as sliced mushrooms, prechopped vegetable mixes, or bagged salad mixes.

2 Use a food processor to chop onions or shred cabbage.

3 Slice larger cuts of meat like pork tenderloin into medallions or thin strips to shorten cooking times.

4 Choose dual-duty ingredients such as olives, capers, or sun-dried tomatoes. Capers, for example, impart acid and a briny saltiness, allowing you to use fewer ingredients to achieve robust results.

5 Gather all the ingredients before you begin to cook.

6 To bring water to a boil more quickly, preheat the pan on the stove, start with hot tap water, and cover the pot until the water reaches the boiling point.

7 While you wait for the oven to preheat or water to boil, prep the ingredients.

8 Pay a little extra at the fish counter to have your shrimp peeled and deveined.

The 15-Minute Pantry

We use these ingredients and convenience products to shave time from recipes. Keep them on hand, and your next meal is only minutes away.

Staple Pantry Items

Alcohol and liqueurs: beer, bourbon, Grand Marnier (orange-flavored liqueur), rum, and wine

Anchovy paste

Balsamic glaze

Bottled roasted red bell peppers

Breadcrumbs: dry and panko

Broth: low-fat low-sodium beef, chicken, and vegetable

Canned beans: black, cannellini, garbanzo, kidney, and navy

Canned or packaged tuna

Capers

Chili paste and curry paste

Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

Chutneys

Cooking spray: regular, butter-flavored, and olive oil–flavored

Dried fruits and vegetables: cranberries, figs, raisins, and sun-dried tomatoes

Dried herbs, spices, and spice blends

Extracts: almond, vanilla

Grains: barley, bulgur, quick-cooking oats, grits, and polenta

Honey and syrups: regular and lavender honey; chocolate and maple syrup

Jams, jellies, and preserves

Ketchup

Mayonnaise: light and reduced-fat

Mustard: Dijon, prepared, and whole-grain Dijon

Nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts

Oil: canola, dark sesame, extra-virgin olive, and olive

Olives: black, green, and kalamata

Pastas: angel hair, couscous, farfalle, orzo, penne, rotini, soba, and spaghetti

Pasta sauce

Relishes: dill pickle and sweet pickle

Rice: Arborio, basmati, brown, jasmine, long-grain, white, and wild

Salad dressings

Sauces: barbecue, chili, fish, hoisin, low-sodium soy, picante, and Worcestershire

Sugars: dark and light brown, granulated, and turbinado

Tomato products, canned

Vinegars: balsamic, cider, Champagne, red wine, rice, sherry, white balsamic, and white wine

Produce Department

Bagged salad and salad mixes

Fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs

Fresh garlic and ginger

Fresh salsa

Lemons, limes, and oranges

Pesto

Prechopped vegetables and vegetable mixes

Tofu, extra-firm

Dairy Case

Butter

Cheeses: Asiago, blue, cheddar, cheddar-Jack, cream cheese, feta, Fontina, goat, Jarlsberg, mascarpone, Mexican blend, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, Muenster, Parmesan, pepper-Jack, provolone, queso fresco, and Swiss

Milk: low-fat and nonfat buttermilk, fat-free, half-and-half, 1% low-fat, whole

Sour cream: light and reduced-fat

Yogurt-based spread

Yogurt: lemon meringue light, nonfat Greek, plain fat-free, and vanilla fat-free

Refrigerated Section

Fresh pasta

Fresh pasta sauce

Eggs

Egg substitute

Deli, Meat, and Seafood Counter

Deli Meats: ham, roast beef, and turkey

Bacon

Sausage: hot turkey Italian sausage and turkey breakfast sausage

Beef: ground, roasts, steaks, and tenderloin

Lamb: ground and loin chops

Pork: chops and tenderloin

Chicken: breast cutlets, drumsticks, rotisserie, skinless breast halves, tenders, and thighs

Turkey, ground

Fresh fish and shellfish: catfish, flounder, grouper, halibut, littleneck clams, lump crab meat, orange roughy, red snapper, salmon, sea scallops, shrimp, tilapia, trout, and tuna steaks

Freezer Case

Frozen fish and seafood

Frozen fruits and vegetables

Ice cream

Speedy Sides

The perfect accompaniment can take a meal from mediocre to mouthwatering. Yet our readers tell us that side dishes are the first item they eliminate when they’re in a time crunch. Here are creative side-dish solutions when time is of the essence.

Combine vegetables and starches in one side dish. Double-duty side dishes like Sweet Pea and Fresh Mint Couscous pair both in a simple preparation. The combination makes the dish more interesting and allows one side dish to do the work of two at mealtime. Add chopped chicken, pork, or beef to leftovers for a one-dish meal another night.

Use familiar vegetables and starches in different ways. Even your favorite side dishes may begin to pall if prepared in the same way time after time, but applying new flavors or cooking techniques keeps them interesting. Low-sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, and dark sesame oil in Spicy-Sweet Broccoli put an Asian twist on a standard green vegetable, for instance.

Create vegetable medleys. Combining two or three vegetables into one dish, such as Grilled Zucchini and Red Bell Pepper with Corn, adds appeal. Mix vegetables like peppers, onions, and spinach in a simple sauté, or roast a few with chopped herbs, shallots, and garlic. Vary the shape, color, taste, and texture of ingredients to boost interest.

Try new ingredients. Using dried figs to pep up Fig, Carrot, and Ginger Rice Pilaf provides a fresh look and texture to a plain rice dish. If edamame, horned melons, pine nuts, or heirloom tomatoes are unfamiliar to you, try them. Experiment with one new ingredient a week. Each new food you enjoy broadens your options.

Sauce it. Veggies and grains can change personality with the addition of vinaigrettes or ethnic condiments. Spice up potato or rice sides with a tablespoon or two of chutney.

Side Staples

When it comes to rounding out your plate, reach for wholesome, satisfying options. This short list includes the choices we turn to time and again:

Frozen mashed potatoes

Refrigerated mashed sweet potatoes

Presliced refrigerated potato wedges

Fresh pasta

Boil-in-bag rice

Couscous

Quick-cooking grits or polenta

Bulgur

Rice sticks or cellophane noodles

Quick-cooking fresh vegetables such as green beans, zucchini, etc.

4 Fail-safe Sauces

Quick homemade sauces dress up sautéed chicken breasts, grilled steaks, or pork chops any night of the week. The vinaigrette and pesto also pair well with pasta or rice. While these sauces can be made in mere minutes, they add incredible depth and intensity of flavor.

Horseradish mayonnaise: Combine ¹/₃ cup light mayonnaise, 1¹/₂ tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish, and ¹/₄ teaspoon salt, stirring well.

Basic herb vinaigrette: Combine 2 tablespoons chopped shallots, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, ¹/₄ teaspoon salt, and ¹/₈ teaspoon black pepper, stirring well. Stir in 1¹/₂ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

Arugula pesto: Combine 2 cups trimmed arugula, 3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic, and ¹/₄ teaspoon salt in a food processor; process until smooth.

Sweet-and-spicy pan sauce: Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic and ¹/₂ teaspoon bottled ground fresh ginger to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth and ¹/₄ cup apricot preserves; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick.

NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS

HOW TO USE IT AND WHY Glance at the end of any Cooking Light recipe, and you’ll see how committed we are to helping you make the best of today’s light cooking. With chefs, registered dietitians, home economists, and a computer system that analyzes every ingredient we use, Cooking Light gives you authoritative dietary detail like no other magazine. We go to such lengths so you can see how our recipes fit into your healthful eating plan. If you’re trying to lose weight, the calorie and fat figures will probably help most. But if you’re keeping a close eye on the sodium, cholesterol, and saturated fat in your diet, we provide those numbers, too. And because many women don’t get enough iron or calcium, we can also help there, as well. Finally, there’s a fiber analysis for those of us who don’t get enough roughage.

Here’s a helpful guide to put our nutrition analysis numbers into perspective. Remember, one size doesn’t fit all, so take your lifestyle, age, and circumstances into consideration when determining your nutrition needs. For example, pregnant or breast-feeding women need more protein, calories, and calcium. And men older than 50 need 1,200mg of calcium daily, 200mg more than the amount recommended for younger men.

IN OUR NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS, WE USE THESE ABBREVIATIONS:

sat   saturated fat

mono   monounsaturated fat

poly   polyunsaturated fat

CARB   carbohydrates

CHOL   cholesterol

CALC   calcium

g   gram

mg   milligram

DAILY NUTRITION GUIDE

	WOMEN AGES 25 to 50	WOMEN OVER 50	MEN OVER 24
Calories	2,000	2,000 or less	2,700
Protein	50g	50g or less	63g
Fat	65g or less	65g or less	88g or less
Saturated Fat	20g or less	20g or less	27g or less
Carbohydrates	304g	304g	410g
Fiber	25g to 35g	25g to 35g	25g to 35g
Cholesterol	300mg or less	300mg or less	300mg or less
Iron	18mg	8mg	8mg
Sodium	2,300mg or less	1,500mg or less	2,300mg or less
Calcium	1,000mg	1,200mg	1,000mg

The nutritional values used in our calculations either come from The Food Processor, Version 7.5 (ESHA Research), or are provided by food manufacturers.

METRIC EQUIVALENTS

The information in the following charts is provided to help cooks outside the United States successfully use the recipes in this book. All equivalents are approximate.