August 6, 2012
10-Second Recipes: 'Summer' Can Be Code for 'See More of Family'

(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)

By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate

Fortunately, lots of people happily agree that summer time is family time. Therefore, if there's any time you don't want one parent stuck in the kitchen preparing meals while the rest of the gang is off gallivanting, it's during these fun, warm weather months. Even quick cooking doesn't cut it: you need super-fast solutions. The following are the keys to a couple of nights off: multicourse, imaginative, healthful dinners that require split-second preparation, like a spicy melon appetizer or cold-cut pizza that's pepped up with pesto.

Fun fare like this is proof that cooking can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast. They take just 10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The meals are delicious evidence that everyone has time for tasty home cooking and, more importantly, the healthy family time around the kitchen table that goes along with it! Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you - or your kidlet helpers - choose to use can't help but draw "wows" at the family dinner table.

TIME-SAVER MEAL 1

Appetizer
Fruit Gone Wild
Toss together chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew with a little cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes, unsweetened flaked coconut, and your favorite low-fat vinaigrette dressing.

Entree
Tacos of Another Type
For every one part ground turkey, include one-half part crumbled firm tofu while browning, and then combine with taco flavoring mix and any ingredients the mix calls for. In addition to being healthful, this will add some needed moisture that can be lacking with ground turkey compared to ground beef. Follow taco flavoring mix cooking instructions. Include shavings of raw unpeeled zucchini and shredded cabbage among your toppings.

Healthy Dessert
Conquer These Cones
Fill the bottoms of ice cream cones with small amounts of dark chocolate-covered raisins and candied walnuts and top with sugar-free frozen yogurt and sprinkles.

TIME-SAVER MEAL 2

Appetizer
Green with Envy over These Green Beans
Twist the ends off fresh green beans, cut green beans into bite-sized pieces, discard ends, and dip green beans into honey before quickly sautéing and topping with sunflower seeds, finely chopped red bell pepper, and freshly ground black pepper.

Entree
Chill with this Cold Cut Pizza
 Heat a store-bought pizza shell, and afterward, top with a light layer of store-bought pesto and layers of low-fat cooked deli ham, strips of provolone cheese, fresh spinach, fresh mushroom slices and chopped olives.

Healthy Dessert
Simple Ice Cream-Free Strawberry "Sundae"
Chill strawberries that you've dusted with a no-calorie natural sweetener like stevia. When very cold, drizzle with melted dark chocolate that's preferably at least 70 percent cacao (noted on label), because the health benefits go up along with the percentage of cacao. Let harden for a few moments and top with chopped peanuts, dried cherries and whipped cream.

QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: Stealing, of course, is usually not a good thing. However, when it comes to saving time in the kitchen, it just might be the right thing to do. Sometimes recipes are long and layered. You probably skip right over those. But often these "gourmet" choices can help you end up with much simpler, sophisticated results if they have a part for you to "steal." Quickly scan through such recipes, and if they have a sauce, stuffing, salad dressing or other part that is separate in terms of both its ingredient list and instructions, consider those easy parts only and think about how you might incorporate them alone into a quick homemade or store-bought convenience meal. 

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet (Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com. 

Posted by Staff at 7:03 AM