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Show A, : POPPY SEED BREAD CRUNCH Got 10 minutes? We've got dinner! I 0 J k Robin Mather Jenkins ..' CHICAGO II TRIBUNE and other one: You demanding the end of the of you wants an hour in the kitchen. It's so much easier to let takeout Thai and a glass of wine serve as supper. Scenario two: By the time you get home after picking up the kids from school activities and day care, everyone's yowling with the low blood-sugar Wouldn't it just be easier to do h again? Scenario three: You'd like to hit the gym on the way home from work, but you don't want to eat dinner at 10 p.m. again. Sounds like cereal for supper. What these scenarios have in common is time. Or, to be more precise, a lack of time. Ask around, and you'll find dozens of reasons but one common theme: "There's no time to cook." Sometimes that means "I don't have an hour to invest in dinner." Sometimes it means "I don't have 30 minutes to invest in dinner." But sometimes it means "I barely have 10 minutes to invest in dinner." We've got you covered, friend. We have a fistful of recipes and menus, two hands' worth of strategies and tips and a pantry list that can help you get dinner on the table, start to finish, in 10 minutes or less. "Home cooking is constantly evolving toward ease and speed," writes Andrew Schloss in "Homemade in a Hurry." "Twenty years meal was ago the promoted as fast; since then the notion of speed has devolved from 30 minutes to 20 to 15 to instantaneous." Takeout food may not be the best answer. If the high cost doesn't trouble you, maybe the nasty nutrition profiles should. is easy, to be sure, h but it doesn't set a very good ex' ample for your children. to, Preparing and eating a meal gether provides a decompression time for adults and children. It strengthens bonds and helps children develop good table manners. A 1994 Lou Digest poll revealed that kids who eat family meals tend to do better in school, and that teens who eat with their families are happier and more optimistic about their futures. , Also, study after study show that meals shared with someone else bolster health and a sense of Children in families who eat together get better nutrition and have fewer problems with weight control and substance . abuse, a 2004 University of Minnesota study showed. But it's not just about the kiddies. Friends who eat together share expenses and save time. They reinforce good nutrition for each other, and teach each other to try new things. And singles who take a few minutes q prepare meals for themselves remember that they're worth the trouble. Older singles, especially, benefit from a good evening meal. Scenario sister-- in-law juice-base- heebie-jeebie- drive-throug- Drive-throug- Harris-Reader- 's . After birthing nine children, who now range from 8 to 30 years old, and enjoying five grandchildren, Marci Schramm of Orem decided to return to school to study music education. it is "I love attending UVSC a wonderful, welcoming and inspiring campus," she said. "Old folks are welcome there!" Her husband, Steve, and family would agree: Music personifies Marci. "I seem to spend most of my time doing singing something with musiC in community choirs, practicing my harp, flute, clarinet, oboe and piano," she said. Marci hopes to teach a junior or senior high school choir at some point, and loves learning to compose and arrange music in her college classes. Occasionally, Marci cooks but stays as close to the fresh fruits and vegetables as possible. However, she shares a Poppy Seed Bread recipe that her Irene Farley gave her ages ago. Adding more flavor to it is an orange syrup that Marci pours over the hot bread loaves. "The syrup makes a sweet top crust when it cools, kind of an invisible icing," she said. Before she pours the syrup, she loosens the bread from the sides of the pans. That way the syrup soaks into the sides. For those worried about the extra sugar, the bread is good without the syrup, too. Talking about baking sweets brings back a favorite family memory to Marci. She tells the story of her now daughter, Megan, when she was a toddler. "I made a big batch of Poppy Seed Bread and had the perfect loaves cooling on the counter. When I came in the kitchen Megan had climbed up and was sitting in the middle of a big mess. She had shredded every one of them and was sitting in the middle of a pile of sweet crumbs." Maybe she was making a statement of how delicious the BOB FILAChicago Tribune Recipes Ten-Minu- te Piperade Easy Polenta Lasagna (Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and I Preparation time: 3 minutes I Mlcrowaving time: 5 minutes I Standing time: 2 minutes peppers) I Preparation time: 5 minutes I Cooking time: 5 minutes I Yield: 4 servings 1 Yield: If you have eggs in the fridge, dinner's just around the corner. This Basque dish onions and combines them with pre-cu- t peppers and canned tomatoes. This version is adapted from Elizabeth David's "French Country Cooking." I I tablespoon olive 4 servings Precooked polenta and jarred pasta sauce make a dinner of polenta lasagna just minutes away. To make this a vegetarian dish, choose a marinara sauce and eliminate the pepperoni. II jar ounces) pasta sauce precooked polenta, ounces) (18 cut into inch slices 1 1 package (3 ounces) sliced pepperoni 1 1 bag (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella (24-2-6 1 1 tube oil cups mixed precut onions and bell peppers 1 1 teaspoon dried tarragon 1 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, 12 drained 1 8 eggs, beaten I Vi teaspoon salt I Freshly ground pepper k Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and tarragon; cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes; cook, stirring, until the mixture begins to thicken, about 1 minute. Pour the eggs over the vegetables. Cook, stirring often with a spatula, until eggs are almost cooked through, about 2 minutes (they will continue to cook of Season with salt and pep-pe- r non-stic- Spread half of the pasta sauce in the bottom of a shallow microwave-saf- e dish. Add half of the polenta slices; top with half of the pepperoni. Scatter half of the shredded cheese over the pepperoni. Repeat the layers. Microwave on high (100 percent power) until the cheese melts and the sauce bubbles, about 3 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes. Steamed Salmon with Confetti Vegetables I Preparation time: 2 minutes minutes I Cooking time: I Yield: 4 servings 5-- 7 See RECIPES, is! Poppy Seed Bread 1 I 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt . V-h- teaspoons baking powder 3 eggs 2 cups sugar cup oil 1 H 11 cups milk Vh teaspoons vanilla extract ft Vh tablespoons poppy seeds 1 1 teaspoons vanilla flavoring ft Vh teaspoons butter flavoring Mix together flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, poppy seeds and flavorings. Add the mixed dry ingredients and mix well. Line the bottoms of 4 baby loaf pans inches) with waxed paper. Divide batter into pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 (7'i-by-3'- i! Sometimes we forget about steaming, to taste. bread d hour. . D2 well-bein- Syrup ft I A ready pantry ft menu means stocking your cupboards wisely. Being ready to cook a Here are some pantry staples that can help you get dinner on the table in a nanosecond: I Canned Items: Beans, tomatoes (diced and whole), meat and vegetable broths. I Jarred Hems: Pasta sauces, salsas, chutneys, relishes. rice and rice blends, couscous, Hems: I Precooked or d Heat-and-ser- polenta. dell meats, rotisserie chicken, Mashed potatoes, precut vegetables and fruits, citrus fruits andor juices, salad mixes, eggs, sausages, shredded cheeses. I Refrigerated Items: thick-slice- d I ft cup sugar cup orange juice teaspoon almond extract teaspoon vanilla flavoring Vi teaspoon butter flavoring V4 Boil together the sugar and orange juice, then add extract and flavorings. Pour syrup over hot loaves. Cool loaves and remove from pans. Peel waxed paper off. Slice and serve or wrap in plastic. See D2 for Marci's Salsa recipe that she serves with chips, in tortilla wraps or adds to chicken for a scrumptious salad. |
