Shop for the Week
We're not the first family to do it, but my husband and I figure out on Sunday what we're going to have for the following week's meals and then shop for all the necessary ingredients. When we don't get our act together for a plan, we have list of standing basics that we know can turn out a few ace-in-the-hole fast meals: eggs, romaine, avocado, spinach, onions, garlic, grape tomatoes, tomato sauce, arborio rice, sweet pork sausages, sharp cheddar, ground turkey meat, white beans, rotisserie chicken. Those ingredients will automatically yield risotto with sausage and spinach; turkey chili, an omelet, roast chicken with a green salad. That's four meals. We can go out on Friday.
Start Making Dinner in the Morning
Like a lot of families, we use the weekend to make a batch or two of Bolognese sauce or turkey chili for the freezer; but in our house most of the advance planning for dinner actually happens in the morning before work. As I'm preparing breakfast, I take a second to think about what I'm going to make for dinner and tackle any small task that will save time later. For whatever reason, taking three minutes to peel potatoes and place them in a pan of water on the stove feels like it saves me a half hour on the other end of the day when I walk in from work. Other things I do in the morning: take frozen meat from the freezer and soak it in a bowl of water to thaw—my babysitter puts it back in the fridge after a few hours; transfer frozen vegetables to the fridge to start thawing; chop any vegetables that will need to be chopped later. Nothing makes me happier than coming home to a chopped onion.
Freeze Sauces
The trick for easy weeknight thawing is to place your sauce or chili or soup in small, separate Ziploc freezer bags, seal them with as little air as possible inside, then spread the bags out flat before freezing. This method saves space (once the contents are frozen you can line up the bags like books on a shelf) and time (it takes about 2 minutes to thaw each bag under running water).
Boil Water
I walk in the door at 6:15 on weeknights. If I don't know what I'm making for dinner, I set a pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. There's a 90 percent chance that I'll need it once I figure out what I'm making.
Deconstruct as You Go
I dream of the day when my family all eats the same meal in the same way ("I don't want sauce!" "I want carrots, not peas." "I want peas, not carrots."), but until then I keep four plates on the kitchen counter as I cook. The two girls' plates get "built" appropriately as I go.
Use Foil
Anytime I'm roasting, I line my baking dish or sheet with foil. It completely eliminates cleanup.
Know Your Sources
The best thing you can do to save time is to have recipes handy that are quick to prepare. I have my own arsenal of favorite sources, but here is a list of the cookbooks and websites that seem to come up over and over again in conversation with busy, food-loving parents.
Cookbooks:
The Silver Spoon
The Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl
How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittmann
Barefoot Contessa, by Ina Garten
Fast Food My Way, by Jacques Pepin
Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, by Martha Stewart Living editors
Food Adventures, by Frances Boswell
Nigella Express, by Nigella Lawson
Jamie's Dinner, by Jamie Oliver
Cook with Jamie, by Jamie Oliver
A New Way to Cook, Sally Schneider
New Food Fast, Donna Hay
Staff Meals, David Waltuck and Melicia Phillips
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan
Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters
