Fisher - Good cheap eats dinner in 30 minutes or less : fresh, fast, and flavorful home-cooked meals, with more than 200 recipes

The Harvard Common Press
www.harvardcommonpress.com

Text and photographs copyright 2015 by Jessica Getskow Fisher
Front cover photograph 2015 by Rick Starkman Photography

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Fisher, Jessica (Jessica Getskow)
Good cheap eats dinner in 30 minutes (or less!) / Jessica Fisher. -- First edition.
pages cm
Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-55832-816-7 (acid-free paper)

1. Quick and easy cooking. 2. Low budget cooking. I. Title. II. Title: Good cheap eats dinner in thirty minutes (or less!) .

TX833.5.F575 2015

641.552--dc23

2014041989

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eISBN 978-1-55832-817-4
v1.0715

To my husband and children, for loving me and supporting me in all my crazy endeavors

Wouldnt it be nice to bypass the long line at the drive-through, to skip the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, and to avoid long hours in the kitchen? What about eating delicious, healthy, wholesome meals on a regular basis? It sounds like a dream. How in the world could this be possible when we are all so pressed for time?

There are lots of things that clamor for our attention these days: family, work, school, community, friends, and, of course, our various modes of entertainment. We are inundated with more opportunity and information than ever before. In most respects this is good, but what happens in real life is that we feel busier than the generations before us. There is always more to do in this Information Age.

Along with all this newfangled technology come more and more food innovations that have us opening boxes and cans, dumping prepared things onto a plate, or eating on the run. Yet sprouting up through all this is the blossoming understanding that processed foods are, in fact, not the best thing since sliced bread. More and more, folks are concluding that home cooking is cheaper and healthier.

Lets be real. How can you quickly get a meal on the table? How can a busy-night supper happen without making a run for the border or passing through the Golden Arches? How can we reconcile healthy intentions with real-life schedules?

With easy-to-prep ingredients and time-saving strategies, you can get a delicious, healthy, home-cooked meal on the table in just half an hour. Thats quicker than I can find my car keys and get through the take-out line at the local burger joint. Thirty minutes: We can all do that!

Why 30-Minute Meals?

Whether you are a college student carrying a heavy load, a busy professional, a full-time homemaker, a working parent, or an active retiree, chances are that you desire a quick, healthy meal. I know I do.

Ive got six kids 18 and under. As you can imagine, ours is a busy household. Between home-school activities, my husbands and my work schedules, and the kids various lessons, classes, practices, and games, our afternoons and evenings are far from humdrum.

When the kids were all little, dinner together was something we made a priority every night, never fail. As theyve grown, weve held on to this family ritual, adjusting mealtimes to fit with our varying outside obligations. This means that I might have only a 60-minute window to get supper on the table between my sons science class and my daughters swim lesson. Things have gotten a little tricky!

Dinner needs to be a quick fix.

While your life might not mirror mine, Ill hazard a guess that youve got nights when you want dinner on the table, like, five minutes ago. You might be tempted to grab a frozen pizza or run out for fast food instead of bustling about the kitchen. I am, too, sometimes. Ive learned, however, that we eat more healthfully and more economically when I take the time to buckle down in the kitchen and give 30 minutes of my time toward dinner prep. What results is delicious and nutritiousand also offers a small taste of home.

Youve got 30 minutes. Put down the tablet, switch off the computer, turn up the music, and get thee to the kitchen.

About This Book

This book is a result of my efforts to get a quality, home-cooked meal on the table before a little one starts whining or a big one is late for karate. (Did you know that the sensei will close the door on you if youre late for karate?)

Dinner doesnt have to come out of a box. With a few tricks and some simple organizational techniques, you can pull off a great meal in the time it takes to watch a sitcomincluding commercials. The tricks are all laid out for you here. Throughout the book, you will find my 101 top tips for saving time in the kitchen. Heed them well, and you can always enjoy good food.

The 200 recipes here are designed to be easy, flavorful, quick to prepare, and kid-friendly. In most cases, they are also frugal meals. Thats how I roll. Im a pretty thrifty shopper, but Im not averse to spending a little extra for something that will cook quickly and keep us away from so-called fast food. In the end, we still save money compared with the cost of eating out.

What youll find in this book are menus composed of pairs of recipes rather than one-dish suppers or three-course meals. A one-dish meal can be a quick fix, but sometimes it feels incomplete, like its lacking in variety. And given how quickly 30 minutes can go by, a three-course meal seems too cumbersome for every day. Im the queen of biting off more than I can chew, so with two-course dinners I keep things exciting without being too complicated.

In each menu, the main event is always listed first, but you can decide how you want to serve the courses. Sometimes Ive paired an obvious main dish with a side to serve on the same plate, such as Honey-Broiled Ham Steak and Cheater Cheesy Potatoes ().

The recipes in each menu are designed to complement one another, but you should feel free to mix and match them to suit your own taste buds. Ive tried to create versatile recipes that lend themselves to many possible combinations. Many recipes can stand alone instead of being part of a menu, and the recipe notes offer lots of alternative serving suggestions. Often a salad or side dish can be quickly and easily adapted into a main dish by adding grilled meat or fish, so please feel free to make yours a one-dish dinner if that suits the day. No matter what you do, dinner will be on the table in a flash!

Each meal in this book will serve at least four adults. For many meals, leftovers will keep well, and you can save even more time by enjoying them the next day for lunch or reheated for supper later in the week. Some dishes take well to preparing and freezing in advance, giving you a bulk-cooking option to save even more precious time.

At my house, we love to end a meal with a bite of something sweet. It doesnt have to be a big, fancy dessert, just a little treat to cap off the meal and help it feel complete. At the end of the book, youll find a roundup of quick-to-prepare desserts. Present them with style and no one will know you didnt spend hours in the kitchen.

If youre a visual person, youll be pleased to know that there is a database of photographs of recipes in this book located at GoodCheapEats.com/gallery30/, in addition to the photos that appear in these pages.