Quick-Cooking Tips
Organization is key when it comes to quick cooking. Professional chefs follow a philosophy called mise en place. Literally meaning “everything in its place,” it refers to a system of advance preparation that is designed to help the cooking process unfold more smoothly. The quick cook's version of mise en place includes advance preparation, making use of convenience foods, and incorporating leftovers.
Thinking Ahead: Advance Preparation
At home, get a head start on meal preparation by chopping vegetables and cooking rice or noodles to use during the week. How much advance prep work you do will depend on how much time you have during the week, as well as whether or not you enjoy it.
If the thought of peeling and chopping onions after a long workday is enough to send you out the door to the nearest restaurant, do the prep work on the weekend when you're not so stressed. Store the amount you need for each meal in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate until needed.
Saving Time with Leftovers
Incorporating leftovers into your meal plan is a great way to speed up cooking time during the week. When preparing pasta or rice for dinner, it's just as easy to cook a double portion and store half to use later. (This is a particularly good idea if you're not a fan of instant rice.)
Similarly, it's easy to broil or grill an extra chicken breast, piece of beef, or seafood steak. Besides saving time later, preparing a double portion of sauce may actually add extra flavor to your meals, since the sauce ingredients will have more opportunity to blend together. Just be sure to always follow basic food hygiene rules for storing and reheating food.
Alert
In order to avoid foodborne illnesses, always follow the four “Cs” of food hygiene. Make sure your hands and work area are Clean before you begin cooking. Cook food through to the required level of doneness. Make sure food is Chilled at the correct temperature. Finally, avoid Cross-contamination by keeping cooked and raw food separate, and by using different cooking equipment and work surfaces for raw and cooked foods.
Many leftovers can be frozen until needed. Wrap the food in individual portions in freezer bags, label with the date, and store until needed. When it comes time to cook, simply reheat the frozen food in the microwave, oven, or stovetop as required.
A Matter of Convenience
Be sure to take advantage of your supermarket's selection of convenience items. Cooked deli chicken, precut vegetables from the salad bar, and prepared fruit (such as cored pineapple) are great timesavers. Just bag them into individual meal portions when you get home, store in the refrigerator, and you're all set!
Thanks to growing demand from consumers, many supermarkets are expanding their offerings of prepared canned and bottled foods — it's becoming easier to find everything from canned squid to bottled minced garlic. Greater awareness of the need to eat healthy meals means that many of these foods are low in fat and sodium.
Essential
Always be sure to label leftovers with the name and date before storing them in the freezer. The length of freezing time will vary depending on the type of food. Besides, it can be difficult to differentiate one solid mass of frozen food from another!
The freezer section of your supermarket is a great resource for prepped foods — such as precut vegetables — along with specialty items such as frozen cooked meatballs.
Regularly incorporating frozen foods into your meal plan will reduce preparation and cooking times. And if you're concerned about the nutritional value of frozen foods, relax: freezing is the healthiest form of food preservation. Studies have shown that the nutritional value of frozen vegetables is equal to, and sometimes even surpasses, that of fresh vegetables.
