(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)
By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate
Fresh foods are often the most economical. After all, processing - even though it's not the best for our health - takes time and money. Save both of yours by instead following innovative advice about vibrant foods like these: grilling thick portabella mushrooms brushed with olive oil and garnished with a soy ketchup; topping rich carrot coins with a paste of ground almonds, dates and curry powder; or turning store-bought vanilla pudding into a masterpiece of spices and flavors.
Everyone can use a little help planning weeknight meals - and if that only takes seconds, that's even better. The three nights of menus that follow offer a lifeline during a busy week and prove that cooking can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast - as these menus of family-friendly sensations prove. They take just
10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The meals are delicious proof 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.
QUICK MENU 1
Appetizer
Olives Make Soup Sing
Puree broccoli and cauliflower, blend in vegetable broth and soymilk, season with freshly ground black pepper, salt substitute and chili powder and heat thoroughly. Top with garnish of finely chopped black and green olives.
Entree
Nifty Nacho Chili
Top your favorite chili with multigrain tortilla chips, melting pepper jack cheese, finely chopped tomatillos, red onions and cilantro, nonfat sour cream and guacamole.
Healthy Dessert
Pudding with Pep to Spare
Stir ground cinnamon, a dash of both cumin and mole sauce into store-bought vanilla pudding. Top with finely chopped dried cherries and crushed dried banana chips.
QUICK MENU 2
Appetizer
Dip to Get Choked Up Over
Microwave red potatoes and sweet potatoes until cooked and tender. Mash, including skin, sprinkle in ranch dressing mix and combine well. Reheat in microwave until warm. Use cooked artichoke leaves for dipping.
Entree
This Shrimp is a Giant of a Meal
Marinate shrimp in a mixture of honey, diet root beer and diet ginger ale. Grill and serve over wild rice drizzled with a warm honey and Worcestershire sauce mixture.
Healthy Dessert
Mushy but Magnificent
Marshmallows have no fat and are relatively low in sugar and calories. To make your own confections, break dark chocolate into small pieces and push them and finely chopped peanuts into the center of marshmallows.
QUICK MENU 3
Appetizer
Rich with Carrot Coins
Cut carrots into coins and top with a paste of ground almonds, dates and curry powder prepared in a food processor or a strong blender.
Entree
Rush to these Mushrooms
Brush large portobella mushroom halves with olive oil and grill until hot. Top with freshly ground black pepper, diced onions and shredded low-fat cheddar cheese. Serve with toasted whole-grain hamburger buns spread with ketchup that's been mixed with a small amount of light soy sauce.
Healthy Dessert
Fresh Fruit Feast
Create a fruit plate with slices of watermelon, honeydew melon, strawberries and orange. Drizzle with fresh lime juice, a dash of red wine vinegar and finely chopped pistachios.
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: Most of us have heard of fusion cuisine - where two or more distinct methods of ethnic cooking are melded into a unique new flavor fest. There are shortcuts, too, to these types of treats. One route is through your spice cabinet. Maybe you usually stick to Italian spices when cooking Italian food and Spanish when preparing the foods of Spain. Next time, shake it up a little, perhaps sprinkling some Italian favorites, like basil and oregano, along with French ones, such as herbes de Provence, when seasoning a roast chicken or before baking fish. Asian five-spice powder would blend well with curry powder on ribs, hamburgers or even in omelets. Stir some cinnamon, saffron and mace, often used in English foods, into a Mexican mole sauce. Kicks of fusion spices show there is no need for borders in the kitchen!
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.
