NancyM's Reviews
Cookbook Reviews
When Every Minute Counts
By Joanna Lund
Putnam Pub Group - 2001
The 100 recipes in this book are all easily made in a hurry. And most can be made from staples you have around the house or easily obtainable items from any grocery store. Many call for pre-cooked noodles or rice, but even if you have to take the time to cook those, the recipes are still very quick and easy to put together.
I was pleasantly surprised to see many recipes for things that traditionally take much longer to prepare like Easy Italian Meat Loaf, Grande Corn Chili or Hawaiian Sunset Rice Pudding. Unlike many "quick" cookbooks, the recipes are interesting and familiar without being boring at all. There's real comfort food here that can be whipped up in no time.
The introductory chapters describe the Healthy Exchanges system and are chock full of all sorts of tips and techniques to make cooking healthier, easier and faster. I loved reading this section. I especially like JoAnna's common sense approach to processed foods that she describes in detail. Her recommendations for using (or not) certain processed foods really makes sense. The discussion of weighing whether to purchase a ready-made product or cook from scratch was interesting as well.
Recipes for healthier homemade items like sour cream, evaporated skim milk, sugar-free and fat-free condensed milk, buttermilk and creamy mushroom sauce in the dairy section are all very welcome. I'm sure I will use these many times. And browning ground meat in the microwave is a terrific idea! Can't wait to try that.
The recipes are one per page and are in an easy to read font in black. Each has three nutritional analyses: Healthy Exchanges, Diabetic Exchanges and basic nutritional information like calories, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, sodium etc. This makes the book very easy to use for anyone following their own particular diet or watching certain nutrients. Recipes that freeze well are also noted which I find very helpful. There's nothing faster than taking a homemade dinner out of the freezer!
One feature of the book that I find especially helpful is the listing of each recipe, with page number, at the beginning of each chapter.
My only disappointment with this book is the index. Each recipe is listed by its name, but there are no breakdowns of recipes by ingredient. Grilled Chicken with Italian Vegetables is only found under G.