Top Tips for Fast Vegetarian Meals

by Linda Gassenheimer

Also see our Vegetarian Cookbooks and Menu Guide

I don't know about you, but when I get home from work, I hit the kitchen on the run. I need no-brainer dinners. My family wants them to taste great. Otherwise my sons (I have 3) will get after me. Their favorite phrase is "Mom don't embarrass us in the newspaper." And, I want healthy meals.

So, how did I do all of this?

I developed quick cooking techniques and I give shopping guidelines. I also learned to give them flavor or forget it!
Quick shopping is as important as quick cooking. Working in a supermarket everyday I hear people say, boy I hate to shop.
All of the ingredients can be bought at your local supermarket.
Each dinner has its own shopping list.
Let the supermarket help you. Use washed salads, peeled baby carrots, precut stir-fry vegetables.
Use my countdown, which organizes your cooking schedule. There's nothing worse than being ready to cook the pasta and finding you forgot to put the water on to boil.
Helpful Hints give you tips. One reader told me she feels like her mother is standing by her side.

Pantry Staples
Each dinner has a shopping list organized by how you would buy ingredients. When a recipe asks for 1 cup of mushrooms, how many do you buy. My list tells you. There is also a staples list with each dinner and a general one at the beginning of the book. If you keep these staples on hand, you only need to pick up a few things at the market at peak shopping times.

from:
Vegetarian Dinner in Minutes
by Linda Gassenheimer
Chronicle Books, $16.95 paperback
144 pages; March 8, 1998
Reprinted by permission.