cover image The Weekend Chef: 192 Smart Recipes for Relaxed Cooking Ahead

The Weekend Chef: 192 Smart Recipes for Relaxed Cooking Ahead

Barbara Witt. Simon & Schuster, $21.95 (193pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-2991-3

People too busy to cook during the week will find some helpful hints for preparing meals on their days off in this new volume by Witt (coauthor of Great Food Without the Fuss and George Foreman's Big Book of Grilling, Barbecue and Rotisserie). Witt begins by offering guidelines on stocking the pantry, then suggests some websites for those who only have time to shop from the office. Organized into broad categories of food that usually freeze or keep well--soups, ground meat and stuffing, side dishes, sauces--the book includes recipes for Chicken and Vegetable Broth, Garlicky Roasted Tomato Soup and Pumpkin-Pear Soup. For meat dishes, there's the Chicken with Spicy Sausage, Okra, and Tomatoes (if cooking ahead, Witt recommends keeping the okra separate until the dish is ready to serve), Mexican Meat Loaf, and Pork Meatballs with Orange Plums and Almonds, which is served over egg noodles. Serving size for these often simple if ordinary dishes ranges from between four and six, guaranteeing multiple courses for individuals or a meal for the entire family.