Pantry Raid: Out of the Cupboard Cooking

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

This book was created for today’s hectic lifestyles. In her
introduction, McCauley says that a well-stocked pantry is the key to
getting off the expensive and unhealthy fast-food treadmill that has
trapped so many Canadian families who think they are too tired or short
of time to put together a decent meal at the end of a long workday.
McCauley was a test chef in Canadian Living magazine’s test kitchen, a
food editor for Homemaker’s magazine, and chef and co-owner of Pangaea
restaurant. With that kind of schedule, it is no wonder that she learned
how to get her kitchen organized.

McCauley divides her recipes into five sections: “Starters and
Snacks,” “Soups, Vegetables and Other Salads,” “Main Courses,”
“Side Dishes,” and “Desserts and Sweet Nothings.” Each recipe is
laid out in easy-to-follow steps. Special icons are used to tell the
reader at a glance if the meal can be made ahead of time; is fancy but
fast; is meatless; or requires something you may not readily find in
your pantry, freezer, or refrigerator. Most of her recipes have a
definite Asian or Mediterranean base, such as Warm Goat Cheese Spread,
Curried Cheese Ball, Sushi Stack Canapés, Hot and Sour Scallop Soup,
Moroccan Chunky Tomato Soup, Nutless Basil Pesto, Asian Pear and Pecan
Salad, Green Curry Tuna Salad, Egg-Topped Portobello Bakes,
Basil–Balsamic Chicken and Pasta Toss, South Pacific Flank Steak,
Weeknight Paella, and Lemongrass Crиme Caramels. All are appealing.
Elizabeth Baird, food editor for Canadian Living, supplies the foreword.