Dinner in Minutes: Memorable Meals for Busy Cooks - Hardcover

Dinner in Minutes deliciously delivers what it promises--interesting meals ready in nearly no time when you follow Linda Gassenheimer's efficient methods. Derived from Gassenheimer's "Dinner in Minutes" newspaper column, this book's complete approach to cooking includes keeping the pantry stocked with rice, raisins, assorted vinegars, and other useful basics, and buying the remaining fresh ingredients for several meals at a time. She groups her recipes into meals, including a menu of baked snapper elegantly stuffed with mushrooms and cheese, and accompanied by buttery Glazed Carrots and red-skinned, whole Lemon Butter Potatoes, and a dinner of tangy White Bean Vichyssoise and Red Pepper Pizza, made with sautéed peppers heaped on crusty French bread.

Don't let the butter or cream soup scare you. Most meals in Dinner in Minutes get 30 percent or less of their calories from fat. Insipid food is not a concern, either: Gassenheimer's cooking is appealingly flavorful. And, thanks to juggling a career with raising three sons, she has perfected the art of preparing meals with minimal effort.

Each includes the menu, plus a shopping list, a list of required staples, and the "Countdown," a listing of steps that, if followed in order, get your dinner on the table in 45 minutes, from the time you enter the kitchen to when the meal is on the table.

Since Dinner in Minutes can be useful for singles who entertain as well as for a bigger household, think of it for newlyweds and for anyone else setting up housekeeping. --Dana Jacobi

Linda currently lives in Miami, Florida.