Fast-food from a restaurant is not as fast as you think. There is drive time to and from the restaurant, waiting time to pay and collect your food, and then it still takes a few minutes to sort through it and set it on the table at home. (Assuming you don’t just eat it in the car.) But if you are willing to invest a few more minutes of time for a more healthful option, you can still make a homemade meal from scratch in less than an hour, writes Martha Rose Shulman in this week’s Recipes for Health column:
This week, in response to readers’ requests on the Recipes for Health Facebook page, I focused on quick one-dish dinners. You may have a different opinion than I do about what constitutes a quick meal. There are quick meals that involve little or no cooking — paninis and sandwiches, uncomplicated omelets, scrambled eggs, and meals that combine prepared items with foods that you cook — but I chose to focus on dishes that are made from scratch. I bought a cabbage and a generous bunch of kale at the farmers’ market, some sliced mushrooms and bagged baby spinach at Trader Joe’s, and used them in conjunction with items I had on hand in the pantry and refrigerator.
I decided to use the same rule of thumb that a close French friend uses. She refuses to spend more than a half hour on prep but always turns out spectacular dinners and lunches. My goal was to make one-dish meals that would put us at the table no more than 45 minutes after I started cooking (the soup this week went over by 5 or 10 minutes but I left it in because it is so good). For each recipe test I set the timer for 30 minutes, then let it count up once it went off. All of the meals are vegetarian and the only prepared foods I used were canned beans.
I do believe that it is healthy — and enjoyable — to take time to prepare meals for the family (or just for yourself), even when you are juggling one child’s afterschool soccer practice and homework with another child’s dance recitals and homework. Sometimes it is hard to find that half hour, but everybody benefits when you do.
Here are five new one-dish meals that you can make in an hour or less.
Soft Black Bean Tacos With Salsa and Cabbage: Canned black beans and lots of cabbage combine in a quick, utterly satisfying one-dish taco dinner.
Couscous With Tomatoes, Kale and Chickpeas: A comforting topping that is both a stew and a sauce.
Mushroom and Spinach Frittata: A hearty frittata that is good for any meal of the day.
Quick Tomato, White Bean and Kale Soup: A hearty minestrone that can be made in under an hour, start to finish.
Stir-Fried Cabbage, Tofu and Red Pepper: The chopping is the most time-consuming part of this recipe, but you can still be eating within 35 minutes.
Well: One Dish, One Hour
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Well: One Dish, One Hour
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Well: One Dish, One Hour
