On busy nights – those evenings when ordering takeout sounds a little stale, but you’re not in the mood to set forth on a full-scale cooking operation – you may look to your favorite quick-and-easy meals for inspiration. They’re the answer for getting a simple dinner on the table with a few ingredients that are high on flavor and low on effort, letting you move on to your next task of the day.
Amanda Nelson Varner once owned a catering company/cooking school, Dish ‘T Pass, that involved wearing many hats – those of a mom and full-time businesswoman – rushing from one job to another, fitting two to three days’ worth of work into one, she says. It was then that she began appreciating the beauty of meals that required a minimum of ingredients.
Now, though, the kids are grown and she’s closed her business, and her new career as marketing director for Alchemy Spice Co., where she is charged with creating recipes, video content and live cooking events, gives her a little flexibility and regular working hours. It’s also renewed her appreciation for those meals that don’t involve a lot of fuss, enabling her to spend less time in the kitchen and more pursuing her new-found freedom.
“Those meals with just a few ingredients usually rely on quality ingredients,” she says. “They’re typically fresh, in season and full of flavor, which means they are nutrient-dense, making them so much better for you, too.”
Robin Derryberry, on the other hand, says her days as owner of Derryberry Public Relations can get quite long. However, she strives to maintain a goal of having dinner on the table for her and husband, Andy, no later than 7:30 most evenings.