Desperation Dinners! [Paperback]

Written by two working moms with four kids between them, Desperation Dinners! fulfills its promise to supply you with more than 250 recipes that can be made from start to finish in 20 minutes. With the help of Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, you can serve up appealing and nutritious home-cooked meals on nights when that might seem impossible. There are meaty dishes (Fiery Chinese Beef) and meatless ones (Very Vegetarian Chili), as well as Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper Cream for pasta-lovers, and even Magic Brownies for those with a sweet tooth.

The authors' technique, which calls for using convenience foods (canned, frozen, boxed, bagged, or jarred), is based on the idea that the time saved justifies extra cost and sacrificed quality. Their Desperation Pantry includes staples such as canned beans and broth, along with onion powder, frozen lemon juice, pre-shredded cheeses, and produce that is ready to use, such as chopped garlic and sections of citrus fruit. This is not great cooking, but the meals will rescue families from a surfeit of fast food and boxed-pasta dinners.

Mills and Ross set out to share their solution to preparing meals when working moms come home tired and in no mood to start fussing over the family dinner. All separately employed cooks face this dilemma, and Mills admits to feeling panic at the situation even though she is a newspaper food editor. The authors' prudent first line of defense is a well-stocked pantry, which makes daily trips to the grocery store superfluous. But their cooking thoughtfully avoids using merely prepackaged foods loaded with preservatives and commonplace flavors. Mills and Ross instead recommend combining fresh, frozen, and canned items to produce foods dominated by the cook's personality and taste. Thus, a bit of freshly chopped onion and garlic and additional herbs enliven jejune bottled spaghetti sauce. The imaginative cook will find inspiration here to follow in Mills' and Ross' footsteps. -- Mark Knoblauch, Booklist

What's a Desperation Dinner? How to feed your family well when your spouse is late, the kids are losing it, and the dog is scratching at the door. Features over 250 tempting, nutritious recipes that take brilliant advantage of convenience foods-from individual quick-frozen chicken breasts to chopped ginger in a jar-plus innovative techniques to cut time and "push" flavor. Desperation Dinners Promise: 1. These recipes are not hard. 2. These recipes do not require expensive equipment. 3. These recipes do not lie-every one can be made in 20 minutes, start to finish. 4. Expect to be working, but only for those 20 minutes. 5. These recipes taste good. A Slightly Desperate Cook's Answer to "What's for Dinner?" Skillet Shepherd's Pie Topsail Spaghetti Pork au Poivre Chicken Chili Quesadillas Garlic-Roasted Salmon Buttered Rum-Glazed Ham Fish Florentine Confetti Stuffed Peppers And When You're Really Desperate Southwestern Chicken on the Spot Minute Minestrone Tuna and Fusilli Alfresco Miracle Baked Pork Chops Practically Perfect Peach Crisp "The dinner dilemma is solved! The Desperation ladies deserve to be stove-side in every busy home." -Nathalie Dupree, author of Nathalie Dupree Cooks Quick Meals for Busy Days

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross created Desperation Dinners, part cookbook, part survival guide, part culinary revolution, as the answer to every frantic cook's prayers. Developed from "Desperation Dinners," their nationally syndicated column, the cookbook features over 250 recipes and a promise: With no idea what to cook, without having shopped in days, you'll have a tasty, home-cooked meal on the table in 20 minutes flat. By taking brilliant advantage of convenience foods-frozen chicken breasts, washed and cut vegetables, prebaked pizza crusts, salsas, and more-and using easy-to-master techniques (doing different tasks at the same time, "pushing" flavors with bold seasoning), the authors deliver: Barbecued Shrimp on Spicy Rice. Lazy Lo Mein. Pork au Poivre. Lime-Garlic Chicken Saut,. Minute Minestrone. Garlic-Roasted Salmon. Mom's Mini Meat Loaves. Individual Lemon Ginger Trifles. Heavenly Cream Cake.

Part cookbook, part survival guide, part "whole new way of cooking for your family," here is the answer to every busy cook's prayers. What's a Desperation Dinner? How to feed your family well when your spouse is late, the kids are losing it, and the dog is scratching at the door. Features over 250 tempting, nutritious recipes that take brilliant advantage of convenience foods-from individual quick-frozen chicken breasts to chopped ginger in a jar-plus innovative techniques to cut time and "push" flavor.

Desperation Dinners Promise
1. These recipes are not hard.
2. These recipes do not require expensive equipment.
3. These recipes don't lie--every one can be made in 20 minutes, start to finish.
4. Expect to be working, but only for those 20 minutes.
5. These recipes taste good.

A Slightly Desperate Cook's Answer to "What's For Dinner?"
Skillet Shepherd's Pie
Topsail Spaghetti
Pork au Poivre
Chidken Chili Quesadillas

And When You're Really Desperate
Southwestern Chicken on the Spot
Minute Minestrone
Tuna and Fusilli Alfresco
Miracle Baked Pork Chops

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross have been writing together as a team for almost ten years. Their weekly newspaper column, Desperation Dinners, is syndicated by United Media and appears in over 90 newspapers nationwide. Ms. Mills lives with her husband and two children outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Ms. Ross lives with her husband and two children in Raleigh, North Carolina. Their Web site is www.desperationdinners.com.

PRESTO PESTO CHICKEN SOUP 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 2/3 pound total), fresh or frozen 1/2 teaspoon olive oil 3/4 cup frozen chopped onions 2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) fat-free chicken broth 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic 1/2 cup half-and-half 1/4 cup commercially prepared pesto Salt and black pepper to taste 1. If the chicken is frozen, run hot water over it so you can remove any packaging. Place the chicken on a microwave-safe plate and microwave 2 minutes, uncovered, on high, to begin defrosting. 2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 4 1/2-quart Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-low heat. Cut the chicken (fresh or partially defrosted) into bite-sized chunks, adding them to the pot as you cut. Raise the heat to medium, add the chopped onions, and cook 2 minutes, stirring from time to time. 3. Add the broth and raise the heat to high. Cover, and bring to a boil. Drain the tomatoes and add them to the pot, along with the Worcestershire and garlic, keeping the lid closed as much as possible. When the soup boils, reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook at a slow boil until the chicken is no longer pink but is still tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. 4. Stir in the half-and-half, pesto, and salt and pepper. Let the soup rest off the heat for 1 1/2 minutes, then serve. Serve 4 generously HARVEST PORK CHOPS 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) fat-free chicken broth 1 1/2 cups water 2 1/2 cups "instant" (5-minute) rice 4 boneless center-cut loin pork chops (each about 3/8 inch thick; about 1 pound total), fresh or frozen 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 1 medium onion (for 3/4 cup slices) Black pepper to taste 1 large tart apple, such as Granny Smith (for 1 cup slices) 1/2 cup apple juice, white wine, or water 1 tablespoon dark or light brown sugar 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar 1 bag (8 ounces) cabbage coleslaw mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch 3 tablespoons water 1. Combine 1 cup of the chicken broth and the water in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, begin step 2 (if necessary) and step 3. When the liquid boils, add the rice, cover the pan, and remove from the heat until ready to serve. 2. If the pork chops are frozen, run hot water over them so you can remove any packaging. Place the chops on a microwave-safe plate and microwave 2 minutes, uncovered, on high, to begin defrosting. 3. Meanwhile, melt the butter over low heat in an extra-deep 12-inch nonstick skillet that has a lid. Peel the onion, cut it in half lengthwise, and cut each half into 4 crescent-shaped slices, medium and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 4. Add the pork chops (fresh or partially defrosted) to the skillet, pepper them to taste, and cook until brown on the first side, about 3 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, cut the unpeeled apple in half, core i