More Six O'Clock Solutions: Fast and Easy Dinners for Family and Friends

Arlene Gryfe is a Toronto-based professional nutritionist and home
economist.

In these busy times, almost everyone welcomes suggestions for quick,
tasty meal preparation. Ruth Phelan and Brenda Thompson have been
creating fast and easy recipes in the Vancouver Sun Test Kitchen for
many years. This sequel to their bestselling Six O’Clock Solutions has
chapters on meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetarian dishes, plus a few
hearty soups that can double as a meal. No desserts are included (any
quick meal can be tastefully completed by a serving of fresh fruit).

Any of the more than 150 recipes can be prepared in 30 minutes, and
more than half in about 20 minutes. To ensure speediness, a
comprehensive pantry guide suggests many items to keep on hand in
cupboards or refrigerator. The authors also encourage the use of
pre-assembled foods, such as ready-to-use vegetables or salad greens,
pre-baked pizza crusts, and flavored oils and bottled sauces.

Recipes are in both imperial and metric measures. Protein, fat,
carbohydrate, and calorie counts are provided for each recipe, along
with indications of “good” or “excellent” sources of various
vitamins, minerals, or fibre. All recipes are prefaced with an
interesting comment, as well as useful tips (e.g., dried lentils, unlike
other legumes, don’t need soaking) or suggestions for substitutions.

There is a table of contents, an extensive recipe index, and a very
useful index of tips. Blue sketches add interest throughout. Whether
rushed or not, any cook will delight in these quick, flavorful, and
interesting recipes.