Bite - Good bite weeknight meals: delicious made easy

This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright 2011 by Good Bite. All rights reserved Photography 2011 by Matt Armendariz Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Graphic Design by Joline Rivera No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.

The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Good Bite weeknight meals : delicious made easy / photography by Matt Armendariz. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-470-91658-2 (cloth); 978-1-118-11032-4 (ebk); 978-1-118-11039-3 (ebk); 978-1-118-11040-9 (ebk) 1.

Dinners and dining. 2. Quick and easy cooking. I. GoodBite.com. II.

Title: Weeknight meals. TX737.G57 2011 641.555--dc22 2010037999 Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To food bloggers everywhere. Thanks for leading us back into our kitchens. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Good Bite is grateful to all the people whose hard work has made this book possible. Thank you to each of the bloggers who contribute to Good Bite and to those who participated in this book; there never would have been a GoodBite.com without you. Thank you to our photographer, Matt Armendariz; food stylist, Adam Pearson; prop stylist, Emily Henson; and food stylist assistant, Jenny Park.

Your beautiful photos speak for themselves. Thank you to Sepideh Saremi, our talented editor. Sepi, this book would never have come together without your multitude of talents. Thank you to Stacey Glick, our tireless agent, and Justin Schwartz, our editor at John Wiley and Sons. And a special thanks to Shauna Ahern, who graciously made those introductions. Thank you to our terrific team at DECA, who launched the Good Bite website and video series and continue to keep things running smoothly: Michael Wayne, Chris Kimbell, Christian Sanz, Beth Le Manach, Kat Odell, and the whole gang.

Special thanks to Katie Hall, who was helpful in selecting the recipes for this book. And last but certainly not least, thank you to all the users, viewers, and readers of Good Bite, who have made the site what it is today and are the reason this book came to be. INTRODUCTION If you are wondering what to cook for dinner tonightor if youre wondering whether you have the time or energy to cook dinner at allthis book is for you. Good Bite Weeknight Meals: Delicious Made Easy grew out of GoodBite.com, a website and online series that launched in 2009 to bring the worlds best food bloggers together on video. With more than a million visitors each month, Good Bites original format of a roundtable of bloggers talking about their favorite recipes has expanded to nearly a dozen different video series, all devoted to simple, good cooking. Since the very beginning, Good Bites motto and mandate has been delicious made easyto us, that has always meant good, fulfilling food that is prepared simply and quickly, with recipes that are approachable for beginners while still being appealing to more seasoned home cooks.

While cooking dinner after a long day might feel like a burden to you, we promise that this book will make it easy and even fun. And it will certainly be delicious. The Good Bite Philosophy: Delicious Made Easy Spending an hour on a perfectly planned meal can be interesting and satisfying, but on most weeknights its unrealistic, if not impossible. All of the 141 recipes in Good Bite Weeknight Meals were developed by busy people in their own home kitchens. None of the dishes are high-flying or unachievable (though some will seem downright impressive). Recipes were put to the test in real-life situations, complete with long workdays, late meetings, homework, conflicting schedules, and picky eaters.

Each recipe in this book is satisfying, delicious, and simple. Most recipes call for between 5 and 10 ingredients, and very few require more than 15 to 30 minutes of hands-on time. Youll get speedy comfort food like One-Pot, Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese. Healthy dinners with a contemporary spin, like Halibut Pesto Kabobs. Easy renditions of exotic favorites, like Better Butter Chicken. Many of the recipes focus on fresh ingredients, though some are perfect for those nights when youre low on fresh ingredients and need to dip into your pantry stockpile.

While most of these recipes can be prepared right before youre ready to serve them, weve also included a few slow-cooker favorites that require just a tiny bit of planning but are still quite easy to whip together. How This Book Is Set Up The recipes in this book are divided into eight chaptersChicken & Turkey, Beef & Lamb, Pork, Seafood, Pasta, Vegetarian, Soups & Stews, and Side Dishes. About half of the recipes include Make It Easy tipsquick tricks from our bloggers that they use in preparing these dishes. Wherever possible, weve provided substitutions for ingredients that might not be readily available, and suggestions for ways to make these dishes your own. Weve also included serving suggestions for many of our main dishes, so you dont have to think about what might work with a certain dish. The Good Bite Pantry: Quick Meals, Every Night For last-minute meals that taste like planned ones, a well-stocked pantry (and fridge and freezer) will be your best friend.

In this section, we list most of the items youll need for the recipes in this book. That includes nonperishable staples as well as items worth seeking out at specialty foods stores and Asian, Indian, and Latin grocers. To help stock the fridge, weve listed versatile and handy ingredients that are smart to have on hand for the recipes in this book as well as for snacking; you can tailor this list depending on your personal taste and how often you shop. Weve listed basic produce items that dont need refrigeration and have a relatively long shelf life; these, too, will be useful for both cooking and snacking. And finally, youll also find key ingredients to keep stashed in the freezer. An ample freezer stash is a lifesaver for the days you just cant make it to the store.