Pamela Salzman - Quicker Than Quick 140 Crave-Worthy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Foods in 30 Minutes or Less

In memory of my remarkable father, Mario Mignone, who taught me so many things: to put family first, to work hard at something I love, and that without health, nothing else matters.

A few years ago, I had finished teaching a cooking class with recipes that were a little quicker to prepare than usual. I typically dont teach ultrasimple or fast recipes in my classes since I prefer to demonstrate more complicated recipes that really benefit from live instruction. Two of my students came up to me after class and said, Pamela, we need more recipes that are quick. I responded, Like the ones I just taught? Those were pretty quick. To which one of them replied, Then, we need quicker than quick. I started to hear the same pleas class after class. Pamela, we love the really quick recipes! Give us more of those! I took note.

As I wrote in my first book, Kitchen Matters, my students help me be a better teacher. They come to my classes from different stages of life, with different priorities, at different skill levels, in different comfort zones. They tell me about their fears, obstacles, weaknesses, and needs. Then, I develop class content accordingly. When I first started teaching, my goal was to help people be the healthiest versions of themselves by starting with food. (I also had children in mind, which is why my first classes were with mothers of school-aged children.) The way I knew I could impact peoples health was to teach them how to incorporate whole, unrefined foods in their cooking. The more we cook from scratch with a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods, the less processed food we eat. I started with simple, whole food recipesand while food trends come and go, ultimately with respect to my approach to cooking, not much has changed since then. My goal continues to be to empower my studentsand youto really feel comfortable in your own kitchen and understand the value of cooking from scratch.

There has been an undeniable grassroots movement to eat more real food, buy local, and cook more. More people than ever understand the connection between what we eat and how we feel, and the resulting implications of those choices on both short- and long-term health. So, why isnt everyone, including me, cooking three meals a day, seven days a week? The most common reason I hear is time. Life, especially for people with children at home, whether one works outside the home or not, is really, really busy. In a perfect world, we would write out our meal plans for the week, shop accordingly, do a little meal prep on Sunday, and cook those nutritious meals every day with ease. Some days, that happens, but life does not always proceed according to plan. Some days, the orthodontist visit runs late, or theres more traffic than usual, or the chicken was never defrosted, or a million other reasons. And some days, we just dont have the energy to cook for an hour even if we have the time.

Enter this book. Granted, I cannot teach you how to cook in no time. But if you give me thirty minutes, you can make almost everything in Quicker Than Quick. It is the book you will reach for when you need to make something quick but nutritious. You will not need to marinate, soak, or cook any of the ingredients in advance. Yes, you have to actually have the ingredients, but in the pantry section, well go over what you should have on hand at all times so that you can make something wonderful. The goal of this book is not only to solve the problem of lack of time, but to show you faster ways to carry out many tasks as well as to demystify much about cooking. Needless to say, I worked thoughtfully to develop quick recipes that are still healthful and downright delicious. These are recipes my students have learned and loved, and ones I feed my own family.

Just as in my last book, I have provided ways to adapt almost every recipe to be gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and/or vegan. Not only do I believe that there is no one diet that works for everyone, but I also believe that each individual has different needs as we go through various life phases. I want this book to be one you keep for the ages, not just while you audition a plant-based or Paleo diet.

Furthermore, I want this book to show you ways to adapt recipes based on the season or based on what you have in your pantry. Food waste is a huge global problem with negative implications for the environment. And what is bad for the environment is ultimately bad for us and our health. These recipes are meant to be flexible, for you to adapt to your tastes and whats in your fridge, as well as your budget. If you are on a limited budget, planning meals, learning how to adapt recipes, and having a strategy for stretching leftovers, can make the difference between cooking a wholesome meal from scratch versus ordering more costly and less healthful takeout. And, regardless of budget, we can all benefit from cooking at home more.

Wherever you find yourself, I am grateful for the trust you have put in me and this book, for bringing me into your kitchen and your life, and for paying it forward. Your act of cooking a meal for your family and loved ones not only expresses love and caring, but a way to influence the health and well-being of others. And now you can do it that much more quickly.