Race you to the table! - quick meals - includes recipes and related information on staples and convenience foods

Vegetarian Times, August, 1996 by Lisa Bertagnoli

No time to shop and no time to cook? Here are 18 meals that are as close to instant as physically possible.

If you're new to vegetarian cooking, you might find some comfort in knowing that this month's Getting Started subject can vex even seasoned cooks: What do you do when dinner has to be on the table quickly, and you've been caught unprepared?

Other than skip dinner or snack on whatever's lurking in the fridge--neither of which are options if you have children to feed--there are a few viable alternatives. If you have time to shop but not to cook, the easiest instant dinners are there for the buying. Nearly every major supermarket chain offers a large-scale deli and bakery, and you can probably find a salad or two and some crusty bread that will do as dinner. If you live near one of the healthful-food chain stores, such as Whole Foods or Fresh Fields, you're in luck. A recent visit to one of those deli counters turned up goodlooking vegetarian and vegan dinner fare, such as vegetable patties puttanesca, vegetarian Dot Dies and acorn squash stuffed with orange-caraway polenta.

This option has its advantages and disadvantages. Whatever you pick up most likely will be tasty and somewhat unusual, such as the squash. However, it might also be expensive. The patties puttanesca, for instance, weighed in at 55.99 a pound, and for a family of four you'd probably need at least two pounds. Same with the squash and pot pies.

Your second option is turning to frozen convenience foods--you know, frozen pizzas, pot pies and the like. As with option No. 1, this has its pluses and minuses. The plus is that these meals are one hit wonders: just heat and eat. The minus is that while you can zap one or two dinners in the microwave, heating four (or one big pizza) requires an oven--which requires upwards of 3 0 minutes. If you had 3 0 minutes to make dinner, you probably wouldn't be bothering with frozen foods, would you? And there's the cost factor, too. While frozen pizzas are on the inexpensive side, it's probably cheaper to make your own; see idea No. 7.

The third option, and the one we're here for, is making dinner at home. This, however, takes planning, both in the long term and short term. For starters, you need a decently stocked kitchen. "You can't make something out of nothing," says Jeanne Lemlin, a cook by trade and author of Quick Vegetarian Pleasures (HarperCollins, 1992). According to Lemlin, quality is more important than variety: She suggests shopping around for good brands of canned beans, spaghetti sauce and other quick-dinner bases. See "Quick Staples," for suggestions.

Lemlin also counsels cooks to develop "a new way of thinking" about meals. For one, think about dinner early in the day. "Try to decide what to have while you're getting ready for work in the morning," she says. "If nothing else, you can grate some cheese or put on a pot of brown rice." That way, you'll at least have part of dinner ready when you get home.

Finally, Lemlin advises taking advantage of supermarkets, bounty, if not at the deli case then in other aisles. Good quality bread can form the base for lots of meals, or add a little lift to plain old spaghetti with tomato sauce. Hummus and other vegetarian spreads are inexpensive and available at most mainstream supermarkets. They make a great dinner companion for that bread.

The above advice in mine, here are 18 ideas for fast dinners. Depending on your family's eating habits, you might need to round them out with breads, salads or dessert, if there's time. If the foods these dinners call for aren't in your pantry, shop at lunch or after work, or send one of the kids after school if they're old enough. Once you're ready to start cooking, enlist the help of your dining companions with chopping, pulling ingredients off the shelves or setting the table. Deputizing a few "sous chefs" will speed up dinner preparation and keep the whole family involved.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG MEXICAN

1. Quick Quesadillias. Place frozen whole wheat tortillas on a cookie sheet. Top each with grated cheese, rinsed canned beans, salsa and chopped scallions, if you have them; heat in oven for 10 minutes.

2. Basic Burritos. Thaw tortillas in oven. Drain and rinse canned black or pinto beans; heat together with grated cheese. Fill warmed tortillas with bean-cheese mixture and whatever vegetables you have on hand; finish with salsa. Alternative fillings: canned chili, canned refried beans.

3. Nanosecond Nachos. Cover baking sheet with tortilla chips; top with heated refried beans, grated soy or dairy cheese and salsa. Heat in oven until cheese melts.

4. Tasty Taco Salad. Add package of Mexican-spiced, baked tofu and rinsed canned pinto beans to packaged salad mix; top with cheese and salsa. Serve with store-bought cornbread or tortilla chips.

5. Mexican Wok and Roll. Lemlin suggests tossing rice (either brown made in the morning or quick-cooking basmati) with sauteed chopped onion, chili powder, salsa and canned kidney or pinto beans. Serve with store-bought cornbread or corn muffins.