That hint of fall in the air signals a return to the table. But who has time to cook?! Returning to the kitchen is like riding a bike: You remember how, but it’s still a little painful at first. To ease the transition, we’ve polled cooking teachers, pored over the latest quick-cookbooks and asked the neighbors for time-saving tips that make getting dinner on the table no labor at all.
“These days everyone is so anxious to cook everything from scratch that we’ve turned out a generation of frustrated cooks … we seem to have forgotten that it’s OK to use store-bought products to cook up delicious meals,” says Emyl Jenkins in “From Storebought to Homemade.” She says it’s OK to use frozen vegetables, canned soup, cornbread mix and even Cool Whip, because “family, friends and laughter are much more important than a homemade cake or a from-scratch home-cooked meal.”
On the flip side, Colorado State University home economist Shirley Perryman warns in her weekly column that “convenience foods are high in salt and added sugar and fat but low in fiber, vitamins and minerals,” citing a study that found 92 percent of us eat ready-made foods at home every day.
Perryman suggests shortcuts that will pay off in time saved and nutrition, by increasing fiber, controlling sugar, salt and fat, and adjusting portion size.
Her tips kick off our list of 30 ways(one for each day of September) to save time and effort on the way to the dinner table.
1.
Bulk up
(your cooking, that is)
Set aside a convenient time for relaxed cooking, perhaps during the weekend or on a weekday evening. Double or triple a recipe and cook it in the oven or on the stovetop. Divide the finished item into individual serving-sized portions and freeze them, says Perryman. When time or energy for cooking is limited, defrost portions of your healthy, previously homemade meal in the microwave and serve.
2.
Make a date
When Perryman’s children were small, they always looked forward to Saturday-night pizza. “It was fun because everyone could pitch in. Even little hands can sprinkle the cheese over the top. It was good for us because we could choose healthy toppings like Canadian bacon instead of pepperoni, add more veggies and use half the cheese normally put on pizzas delivered to the door. The plus is that you don’t have to think about preparing something different every night of the week,” she says.
3.
Make it ahead
Watch grocery sales ads to save time and money. If you see, for example, that turkey breast is on sale, you can create several meals easily. While the turkey roasts, you can do other things. After it has cooled, slice some and place in freezer bags to serve as part of the main course for a future dinner. Dice some to be used in salads or casseroles. Bonus: Freeze the carcass to toss in the crock pot on a cool autumn day to make soup, says Perryman.
4.
Easy grating
Spray a box grater with nonstick cooking spray before you grate semi-soft cheese to keep it from sticking. Bonus: Grate extra and freeze it for next time.
5.
Stock up on cans
Sure, the farmers market is fun, but when you need tomatoes or beans in a hurry, it’s handy to have canned goods ready in the pantry. Use canned tomatoes within six months, as they can develop a tinny taste. Bonus: Cooked tomatoes contain more lycopene, a cancer-fighting antioxidant.
6.
One platter two ways
When grilling, cover a platter with plastic wrap or foil to carry raw meat to the grill, then discard the wrapping to use the same platter for cooked meats, which should never touch raw.
7.
Stay sharp
Learn good knife skills so you can chop with speed and efficiency, says Susan Stevens, owner of The Seasoned Chef cooking school. The faster you can chop, slice, dice and mince, the faster you can get dinner on the table. And meals will be healthier with more vegetables. If you are really in a hurry, use pre-cut veggies and bagged salad greens, she says.
8.
Bowl ’em over
When you have a lot of chopped ingredients for a stir-fry, layer them in one large bowl in order of cooking, rather than dirtying a bunch of smaller bowls.
9.
Counter intelligence
Get all the ingredients organized and ready before you begin to cook (“mise en place”). Having everything at hand will make cooking faster and easier, says Stevens. Use disposable bowls to save cleanup time. Bonus: For a little extra space, pull out a drawer and top it with a cutting board.
10.
Roasting peppers
Rather than roasting them whole and ending up with some parts raw and some burnt, slice off the top and bottom of the pepper, remove the stem, membrane and seeds, and slice through one side to flatten it out. Lay it skin-side up on a foil-lined cookie sheet and broil until skins are charred. Cover with plastic wrap to loosen skin. Peel when cool.
11.
Paint your chicken
Dress up a dry roast chicken with an Asian glaze: Mix 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, a minced garlic clove. 1 tablespoon chopped ginger, juice of half a lime and 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro. Brush over the hot, cooked chicken.
12.
Freeze, then slice
Stick meat in the freezer for about an hour to make it easier to slice thinly, as for stir-fry or soup.
13.
Get dressed in the bowl
Make salad dressing in the serving bowl, then add salad ingredients and toss.
14.
“Spice tea”
Put herbs and spices for a soup or sauce in a large mesh tea ball instead of loose or in cheesecloth – much easier to remove.
15.
Separated tortillas
While it might seem labor-intensive, separate tortillas with sheets of parchment or wax paper before freezing them. This way, you won’t have a solid frozen mass and can use them one at a time.
16.
Jump-start the grill
Partially pre-cook thick meats and dense veggies in the microwave to cut grill time.
17.
Keep it clean
Tidying as you go makes the post-meal cleanup easier. Wash the dirty knives, wipe off counters, put ingredients in cupboard or fridge after you’ve measured.
18.
Always have the basics
Stay stocked with carrots, garlic, onions, potatoes and salad greens. Bonus: Add veggies to soups, roast with meat, pair with a salad for a quick meal.
19.
Freeze small
Instead of freezing two pounds of ground beef, form it into patties and freeze them.Defrosting is faster, making quick meals easier. Same goes for meatballs (freeze in groups of six) and bacon (six-slice bunches). Ladle stock into muffin tins for just-right amounts. Once frozen, tip the “muffins” into a freezer bag.
20.
Liven up a dull soup
Add 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil, 1/4 cup cream, 1/2 cup puréed tomatoes or a handful of fresh herbs to add flavor to a boring broth.
21.
Chop together
When adding a bunch of different fresh herbs to a recipe, there’s no reason to chop them all separately. Roll thyme and rosemary up in sage leaves, then chop them together. (Exception: Parsley added at the end should be chopped individually).
22.
Use it anyway
Slightly stale bread is perfect for a quick bread salad. Simply cube it, then add chopped tomatoes, red onions, fresh herbs, plenty of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Let it sit for a couple of hours, then serve with broiled chicken thighs. Bonus: Make croutons – homemade always taste better.
23.
Raid the garage
Sometimes the best kitchen tools are found in the hardware section. Paintbrushes come in many more sizes than pastry brushes, and nothing works better than a pair of needlenose pliers for getting bones out of a salmon fillet. Eggshell in your omelet? Grab the tweezers.
24.
Boil once, eat twice
Cook twice the amount of pasta you need for tonight’s penne dish, then drizzle the rest with olive oil and refrigerate. Tomorrow, toss it with flaked tuna, chopped olives, artichoke hearts, crumbled feta cheese, oregano and red pepper flakes for lunch. Bonus: Cook extra rice and freeze it in resealable plastic bags.
25.
Marinate the night before
Marinate a skirt steak before bed for maximum flavor tomorrow. Lay a 2-pound steak in a rectangular baking dish. Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce, juice of 1 orange, 1 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, a pinch of Kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. Pour it over the steak, cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Then grill it.
26.
Stock up
Nothing makes a quick pasta sauce taste better than a half-cup or so of chicken stock. Always have a few boxes or cans in your pantry. We like Pacific Foods brand broths.
27.
Re-package
For some reason, flour and sugar companies continue to package their product in unwieldy paper sacks. Transfer flour into easier-to-manage plastic or glass containers, making sure the mouth is wide enough for measuring.
28.
Sweet and savory surfaces
No matter how clean and disinfected you get them, wooden chopping boards pick up flavors like garlic and onion, which can find their way into your fruit salad. Mark one side for savory flavors, and the other for chopping fruit.
Bonus: Splurge on two.
29.
Add texture
Top soft foods with crunch: add toasted nuts to fruit and cheese, sautéed onions or garlic with steak, croutons over soup … you get the idea.
30.
Think fruit for dessert
Fresh fruit is much quicker and healthier than that chocolate cake.
Bonus: Have the fruit as a salad and the cake, too.
Tucker Shaw contributed to this story.
Sources: The “New Healthy Kitchen” series from Williams-Sonoma; “The Best Kitchen Quick Tips” by Cook’s Illustrated; “Pop It, Stir It, Fix It, Serve It” by Laura Karr; “A Cook’s Book of Quick Fixes & Kitchen Tips” by Anne Willan; “The New Food Lover’s Tiptionary” by Sharon Tyler Herbst; “Cooking Basics for Dummies”; “Kitchen Sense” by Mitchell Davis
