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Dinner in Minutes

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DINNER IN MINUTES

Linda Gassenheimer
Linda Gassenheimer has been writing for the Herald since 1987. Her column, Dinner in Minutes, features quick and easy dinners using foods bought in one stop at the supermarket. Her Helpful Hints and Shopping List make getting dinner on the table a no-brainer event. Linda is the author of fourteen cookbooks. Her newest books are The Portion Plan: How to Eat the Foods You Love and Still Lose Weight and Prevention's Fit and Fast Meals in Minutes. You can hear Linda on WLRN 91.3 FM every Thursday 1:30-2 p.m. Visit Linda's Web site, DinnerInMinutes.com, for quick and easy recipes.

Email Linda at lgassenheimer@miamiherald.com.


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Spaghettini with clams sauce is adapted from 'Silver Palate' author Sheila Lukins.
NISSA BENJAMIN/MIAMI HERALD STAFF

DINNER IN MINUTES

Fresh-from-the-sea (and garden) pasta

''Spaghetti and clam sauce is easy to make, flavorful and gutsy,'' Silver Palate cookbook author Sheila Lukins told me in a recent interview. She adds raw tomatoes, scallions, basil and dried tarragon for unexpected fresh flavor in this Italian favorite.

  • Butterflying the pork and microwaving the squash speed today's dinner to the table.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    October flavors accent pork tenderloin

    What's Halloween without apples and cider? Add them to pork with a hint of rosemary for a real treat. The pork tenderloin is butterflied for quick cooking.

  • Autumn meatloaf with mashed sweet potatoes.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Lighten and sweeten up your meatloaf

    A brown sugar and Dijon mustard glaze gives tonight's meatloaf a sweet and tangy flavor. I find that ground veal makes a light meatloaf. Forming small loaves and baking them on a sheet pan at 400 degrees makes this a fast dish, too, because it allows the hot air to circulate directly around the meat. The whole dish takes only 25 minutes.

  • Sesame seeds and oil add crunch and flavor to this chicken served here with snow peas and brown rice.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    A fast chicken dish with an Asian accent

    Honey, ginger and soy sauce lend a sweet-savory flavor to today's quick-cooked chicken. A coating of sesame seeds brightens the dish and adds crunch.

  • A grilled snapper fillet pairs with colorful basil orecchiette.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Fish as they like it in Apulia

    With its long coastline, Apulia (Puglia), in the heel of the Italian boot, has an abundance of seafood. Today's fish dinner was inspired by a conversation with Giuseppe Alemanno, a native of the Apulian town of Lecce.

  • Mexican-Asian tostados with sesame pair with microwaved corn on the cob.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    East meets Southwest in this quick meal

    Hot Thai peanut sauce and shiitake mushrooms give a new twist to tostados. Traditional tostados have a deep-fried base, but it's easier and healthier to crisp the tortillas under the broiler.

  • The fish for today's dish is cooked briefly on medium-high and left to finish in its residual heat.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    This isn't your mom's tuna salad

    Here's a cool meal for a hot summer evening. The wonderful flavor and texture of fresh tuna tops a refreshing salad of lettuce, sugar snap peas, corn and grape tomatoes.

  • This colorful, Asian-inspired dish is perfect for a summer meal.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Celebrate Olympics with one-dish dinner

    Celebrate the start of the Beijing Olympics with this main-dish salad, a simple meal made with shiitake mushrooms, chicken, cashew nuts and an Asian dressing. It's perfect summer evening fare, warm or at room temperature.

  • Use microwaveable rice and our tilapia dinner will leave you with just one pan to wash.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Mango chutney tops mild tilapia

    Mango chutney makes a sweet-savory topping for sautéed tilapia, a flaky-white, farm-raised fish that's one of the most reasonably priced in the seafood case.

  • Summer berries add color, flavor and nutrition to our steak salad.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Berries sweeten a meaty pasta salad

    Here's a cool, fresh berry and steak salad for warm summer evenings. It's a one-dish meal that can be ready in less than 15 minutes.

  • Curry powder and mango chutney flavor today's shrimp dinner.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Shrimp and rice spiced up Indian style

    guing combination of sweet, hot and savory flavors make this quick dinner of plump shrimp a passage to India. I use curry powder from the supermarket, a Western adaptation of the spice blends that Indian cooks make from scratch. Curry powder is best replaced after three or four months, as it loses potency.

  • Raisins sweeten Sicilian swordfish, served with broccoli linguine.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Hook Dad with hearty swordfish

    Father's Day is around the corner. Tempt Dad with juicy, Sicilian-style swordfish steak. Tomatoes, olives and garlic are staples of zesty Sicilian cooking. Raisins add sweetness and a tantalizing contrast.

  • Lemon dill sauce perks up moist poached salmon, served with a side of arugula pasta.

    DINNER IN MINUTES

    Poaching is secret to moist salmon

    Salmon steaks are thick and juicy and a nice alternative to salmon fillets. The lemon dill sauce takes only minutes to mix together. Gentle poaching is a fail-safe method of cooking salmon -- it remains moist, juicy and flavorful. The secret to poaching salmon is to slightly undercook it. It will continue to cook in its own heat for a few minutes after it is removed from the poaching liquid.


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