For dinner, make it FAST AND EASY
Delicious, satisfying homemade meals in 30 minutes or less
Some days, you just don’t feel like cooking lobster thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle paté, brandy and a fried egg on top.
Some days, you want to cook something easy. Something fast.
Not throw-a-frozenblock-of-something-intothe-microwave-and-hopefor-the-best fast. I’m talking about a delicious, satisfying homemade entrée in 30 minutes or less, from start to finish.
I happen to have four such dishes right here. They are sure to join your weeknight cooking rotation — but honestly, they are all good enough for weekend cooking, too.
I should warn you, though, that some of them require a bit of time management to keep them under a half-hour. While part of the dish is cooking, you may have to be chopping or otherwise prepping some of the other ingredients.
This requirement is a deviation from the standard mise en place method of cooking, in which all the ingredients are prepared before the cooking begins. That method works best, in general, and ensures there will be no unforeseen problems. But it does not save as much time as prepping while cooking.
For instance, I made poached salmon. The fish gets much of its flavor from the court bouillon — the liquid in which it is simmered — and that gets its flavor from a number of ingredients that have to be prepped.
So you just have to put it together methodically. While you’re gently cooking chopped onions, peel and chop a carrot. Add it to the pan and chop a rib of celery. While that cooks, peel and chop a few cloves of garlic, and so on. Before you know it, you’ll have a highly flavored court bouillon to bring a complex depth to a luscious piece of salmon.
One key to making dinner in less than 30 minutes, of course, is to choose food that doesn’t take long to cook. For pork, that means the tenderloin or chops.
I made Easy Honey Garlic Pork Chops, which are seared, then glazed, then broiled. It still takes less than 30 minutes, guaranteed.
There isn’t a particular secret to this dish, but if there were one it would be that the chops are first fully cooked on the stovetop before the glaze is applied — or even before it is assembled, if you choose — and before it is broiling. It is broiled for just a minute or two, enough time to make the honey glaze adhere to the meat and to char the edges just a bit.
The pork comes out blissfully juicy, with a delightful sweet-and-sour edge.
For my vegetarian option, I chose a pasta dish that looks as good as it tastes. The pasta almost glows with a vibrant red sauce — but it doesn’t have any tomatoes.
Instead, the extraordinary color of Bucatini With
Bell Pepper Sauce comes from red bell peppers, though you could also use yellow for a different, equally appetizing appearance. Frankly, I’d stay away from green bell peppers for this one.
While a big pot of water for your pasta heats to a boil, you can chop the peppers, onions and garlic. You can chop them roughly, which will save some time, because after they are sautéed they will all be blitzed together in a blender or food processor. Meanwhile, you can be cooking the bucatini or other long pasta that holds sauce well.
Chicken piccata was next. It also comes together in almost no time at all. You simply pound chicken fillets flat, until they are an even thickness. Dredge them lightly through flour, pan-fry them lightly in just enough olive oil, and then whip up a quick sauce with garlic, white wine, capers, butter and lemon juice.
It’s a simple dish, and sometimes simple is best.