Cooking the Quick and Easy Way

Celiac.com 07/16/2021 - I’d like to serve a healthy, home-cooked dinner to my family, but it takes too much time.

I frequently hear these words from harried cooks who are probably among the 75 percent of us who—at 4 PM on any given day—don’t know what they’re having for dinner that night, except that they want it to be quick and easy.  

Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
A recent study by the NPD Group ( a market research organization) found that while the majority of Americans say they want to eat healthy—that is, more whole grains, fiber, calcium, and vitamin C and less fat, calories, cholesterol, and sugar—the driving force in their eating habits is convenience.  

Everyone loves a home-cooked dinner, yet few of us have time to prepare one from scratch.  Over the years, I’ve discovered some principles that make food preparation quicker and easier.  They’re in my latest cookbook, Gluten-Free Quick and Easy, (Avery/Penguin Group, August, 2007).  Here are some excerpts from that book.

Planned-Overs Save Time and Reduce Waste

While some people turn their noses up at leftovers, smart cooks know that using them in new and different ways not only disguises them, it also saves time and reduces waste.  In fact, these clever cooks intentionally create leftovers.  However, we call them planned-overs to show that we have definite plans for how we intend to use them again.  

For example, if I roast a chicken, I automatically know that a couple of days later we’ll have chicken pot pie or some other kind of chicken casserole.  The chicken bones immediately go into the stockpot to make chicken broth, which usually simmers during dinner.  Later that evening, after the broth has simmered, it goes into the refrigerator to cool—right in the stockpot.  The next day, I skim off any unwanted fat and freeze the broth in 2-cup containers.  If I have any leftover broth after filling all of my containers, I whip up a quick chicken noodle soup.  If there is any leftover chicken meat, it goes into a gluten-free tortilla wrap for a quick lunch.  Nothing goes to waste.  As you can see, that single roasted chicken determined several meals for later that week.  

Prepping Ingredients Ahead

Sometimes it pays to prepare larger amounts of ingredients that you know you’ll use in the near future.  For example, when I buy bacon, I fry the whole package until not quite done and freeze it in heavy-duty food-storage bags.  Layered between two paper towels, a slice just takes a few seconds to become crispy in the microwave when I need it quickly for a recipe.  

Perhaps your recipe calls for a half cup of chopped onion.  Why not chop the whole onion and store the remainder in the refrigerator or freezer in a food storage bag?  Or, perhaps a recipe calls for a half pound of browned ground beef.  Brown the whole pound and freeze the remainder.  Need a quarter cup grated cheese?  Grate a whole cup and store it for a future pizza (it will grate faster if it’s really cold or slightly frozen and the grater is coated with cooking spray).  That way, it’s ready when you need it and you trim precious minutes off preparing a future meal.  

Suppose you have a recipe that calls for a pound of browned ground beef.  Why not buy two pounds and cook both of them, freezing the extra pound for later use in pizza, sloppy Joes, or beef goulash—shaving precious time off food preparation on a busy weeknight.  

This “extra” technique works for side dishes, too—extra mashed potatoes top a shepherd’s pie later in the week and two cups of cooked rice becomes pork fried rice.  Cooked vegetables show up in a couple of days as a hearty soup.  Too many apples?  Peel, then fry them in a pan with a little butter and cinnamon to cook up some chunky applesauce.

Even the preparation of small, seemingly insignificant ingredients can reap time savings.  Grate zest from lemons or oranges before you squeeze them—even if the recipe doesn’t call for zest—and freeze it in a container.  Wash and dry an entire bag of lettuce, rather than just the amount you need today and store it in a plastic food storage bag in your vegetable crisper. 

Fewer, But More Flavorful, Ready-Made Ingredients

We can reduce our time in the kitchen by using fewer, but more flavorful ingredients.  For example, a splash of vinegar or lemon juice in a sauce can jazz up the flavor and reduce the need for more salt.  Chicken broth is more flavorful than water; sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar is more flavorful than plain vinegar.  Dried herbs are far more potent than fresh ones and don’t require washing and chopping.

Since the Food Allergen and Consumer Protection Act of 2006, we can use more ready-made ingredients because the label will indicate whether they contain wheat.  For example, I make a wonderfully easy black bean soup with 3 ingredients: canned black beans (rinsed and drained), chicken broth, and enough Mexican tomato salsa to bring the flavor to the desired intensity.  

Everything in Its Place for Efficient Organization

You’ve probably heard chefs use the term “mise en place” (pronounced meez-ahn-plahs).  This elegant French culinary term simply means “everything in its place,” or having all the ingredients ready on your work space (measured, chopped, etc.) so you can cook quickly and efficiently.  It’s particularly important in baking, where precision and accuracy are critical.  

This concept of “everything in its place” can also apply to a tidy, organized work space as a major time-saver.  A messy kitchen counter slows you down if you constantly have to push other items aside to make room to do your work.  As you organize your kitchen, sort through appliances, utensils, bakeware, and cookware.  Toss (or donate) anything that isn’t being used and organize the things you do use so that they’re easy to access.  

Use a Grocery List to Maximize Shopping Time

Efficient cooks have a system to know what to buy and when, much like a company maintains its inventory.  That’s where a grocery list comes in handy.  To minimize your shopping time, you need a grocery list format that works for you and doesn’t make you run back and forth between aisles, wasting precious time.  

If you already have a master grocery list, great!  If not, here’s how to make one.  Lay out the list in the order in which you walk the aisles of your favorite grocery store, ending up at the checkout line.  Organize it by what foods are in each aisle.  If possible, assemble this master list on your computer so you can print a supply of forms.  Carry this list with you at all times so you can add to it when necessary.  

Reap the Benefits of Saving Time in the Kitchen

Getting a healthy, safe dinner on the table every night can seem daunting, especially when we’re pulled in so many different directions at that time of the day, but it can be a reality if you follow these quick and easy principles.  At the least, they should help you get dinner on the table sooner, freeing up the rest of the evening for other chores such as helping the kids with homework, doing the laundry, or spending a few precious minutes with that special someone.