Whether you only have twenty minutes or an hour—or something in between—you can deliver a delicious entrée and side dish to the table with these quick, easy, and crowd-pleasing recipes. Organized by “available time” rather than by “kind of dish,” this unique cookbook is designed to help the time-conscious cook with dinner planning. Enjoy “Mac and Cheese with Candied Sausage and Green Peas” from the “20-Minutes or Less” section. You can create a hearty “Vegetable Stew with Blue Corn Chips and Poached Egg” in forty minutes. If you have sixty minutes in the morning to prep, you can make “Sweet and Spicy Turkey Taco Salad” in a slow cooker. And if you’ve got more time, plan ahead by making easy-to-freeze dinners on the weekend for a quick bake-and-serve weeknight meal.

As a busy mother of four, Kate Otterstrom also makes dinnertime fun with recipes you might not expect could work for dinner—including “Toothpick Appetizers for Dinner” and breakfast favorites like “Slow-Cooker Cheese, Sausage, and Mushroom Strata.” With the ingredients paired side-by-side with the instructions, it is easy to learn a new recipe or pick up where you left off after an interruption. Since Kate is gluten-intolerant herself, each recipe also includes instructions on how to adapt it for a gluten-free option, along with a dedicated space for you to jot down notes for additional variations. In today’s busy world, time is precious, and this cookbook can help you get dinner on the table with however much time you have.

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Review

I am always on the lookout for cookbooks with recipes that can be made in a short amount of time on the days when I need that quick meal. I discovered this cookbook and was intrigued that it had three different time frames to prepare a meal for the family.

The title is a little misleading since there is a section that does include time-consuming dinners with recipes for sushi, homemade noodle soup, and more.  However, the bulk of the book is comprised of recipes that require an hour or less to prepare and serve.

The book starts with a few pages of items to have in your kitchen – cookware, utensils, etc. There is also a page with what is called The Essential Pantry – items to have on hand to whip up one of these recipes. Because the pantry items are processed foods, most of the recipes will include these. I prefer to cook from scratch, but sometimes you just need something fast.

The recipes are grouped by the time frame needed to prepare them. It starts with College-Style Dinners that are 20-35 minutes, moves to Quick Prep Dinners that are 35-70 minutes, and so forth. I like that each section has a colored “tab” that is on the outside edge of the pages so you can quickly look up what is in that category. There is even a slow cooker section which is always nice because who doesn’t like to come home to a meal that is ready to go? Just add a salad.

Some of the recipes are very simple and reminiscent of my college and single days. Others are a little more robust. There are even gluten-free alternatives.

I enjoyed reading the author’s comments on each recipe. It provides a little background on why it is included or the memories it brings back.

I think this cookbook is geared toward someone with a busy life or just starting to experiment in the kitchen. I’m sure I’ll find a few recipes that will become family favorites.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Kate Otterstrom earned her undergraduate degree in zoology before working for two years as a researcher. She returned to graduate school and obtained her law degree from Seattle University. She is married and the mother of four children. She lives in Spokane, Washington.

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