Meals in No Time

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Here are three books in one—Rush-Hour Recipes (2002), Recipes For
Leftovers (2004), and 30-Minute Weekday Meals (2005)—on how to shave
time off meal preparation. The omnibus approach yields an instant
library of recipes for foods that go from idea to table in just a few
minutes. The emphasis in on unpretentious, family-acceptable dishes that
use readily available ingredients and the simplest of cooking methods.

Canned, frozen, and packaged ingredients are the norm, and leftovers
are prized. The objective is not to create culinary masterpieces but to
feed the family attractive, nutritious, and tasty meals in the few
minutes available before they troop off to hockey practice or music
classes. Soups, salads, sandwiches, entrées, side dishes, pasta dishes,
and desserts are all represented. Favourites (such as smoothies, pizza,
meat balls, burgers, wraps, tacos, chili, and subs) provide comfort
food, while creations (such as carrot pie, tostadas, pork marsala, and
chicken shortcake) give lots of opportunities for innovation.

The volume is rich with full-colour photos illustrating more than 100
dishes (making the recipes enticing), offers innovative tips for quick
meal prep, lists non-perishable items to have on hand to bring
flexibility to short-order cooking, and includes witty sayings to keep
the harried cook smiling. Add to this combo a sound nutritional analysis
for each recipe, imperial and metric measurements, a kitchen-friendly
layout, measurement conversion tables, and a really good index for each
of the three books in the volume, and the result is a practical work
that will become a much-used kitchen “bible” for everyday family
favourites.