I tend to be skeptical of recipes for impressive-sounding main dishes that boast unusually short prep and cooking times. A closer read almost always reveals some work on the front end that’s not accounted for: chop vegetables, grate cheese, squeeze and zest lemons. Each of those tasks may amount to only a few minutes, but they add up.
Before I even opened Clodagh McKenna’s latest cookbook, “In Minutes: “10, 20, 30 Minutes — How Much Time Do You Have To Cook Tonight?” (Kyle Books, $24.99), I assumed I’d need at least twice the projected time to get one of her recipes to the table.
That proved to be the case with the Grilled Vegetable and Couscous Salad I tried, but that’s mostly because I doubled the recipe, which consisted of griddle-seared squash slices, cherry and dried tomatoes, olives, bottled roasted red peppers and instant couscous plumped in boiling vegetable broth. Had I followed the recipe as written and picked up my pace, I just might have been able to pull it off in the 10 minutes allotted.
McKenna is the resident chef on ITV’s “This Morning” and a frequent guest chef on the “Today” show in the U.S. She’s written seven previous best-selling cookbooks and sells lifestyle products inspired by her sustainable homestead in Hampshire in south central England.
Recipes in her latest book are divided in three chapters: 10 Minutes (Warm Lentil Salad with Goat’s Cheese, Topped Flatbreads Four Ways), 20 Minutes (Indian Spinach and Paneer Curry, Crispy Korean Chicken) and 30 Minutes (Sticky Honey Salmon with Smiling Greens, Corn Chowder with Crispy Bacon). Fresh, whole ingredients are the basis of each, with the occasional minimally processed convenience item such as jarred pesto or precooked microwave basmati rice to trim time.
In each recipe, she offers numerous ingredient swaps so you can adjust to what you have on hand. Even if you don’t beat the clock in the kitchen, you’ll shorten a trip to the grocery store.
Susan Puckett is a cookbook author and former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow her at susanpuckett.com.
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