[.ca] Rachael Ray: Just in Time: All-New 30-Minutes Meals, ... (ISBN 0307383180)

Perfect for an Adult Couple with Adventuresome Tastes Who Can Read Blue Type and Want Leftovers:
The cover of this book is reassuring: The photograph shows a Rachael Ray who seems to have trimmed down and started showing her enthusiasm again. Maybe there's hope for all of us who eat her tasty, but calorie-laden, foods to become slimmer and happier. Seriously, this cookbook is for those with high metabolisms. The book's inside seems to have been designed by someone who lives in New Mexico where the prevailing architectural colors are heavy on blue and orange. Seriously, the recipes are printed in blue type. Now, I've grown accustomed to blue corn tortillas . . . but I'm not ready for a cookbook with blue type. If you are colorblind, you're lucky. However, I found the white type on an orange background even more challenging to read. It's a good thing I had my cataracts done last year! Rachael Ray is at her best when she puts lots of flavors together. Clearly, the woman is a genius at appreciating how to add little dibs and dabs of flavor to take simple ingredients and make something new. For those who are looking for new flavors, this book delivers. Don't expect that your tykes are going to like this food, however. This is an adult cookbook. Strangely, the recipes are for four. No one entertains that much so there will be a lot of leftovers generated. The downside of all those flavors is that you'll have to do careful shopping to be ready for a week of these meals or you'll be spending an extra five hours a week heading out for ingredients you don't have. I think this book would have been a lot better with a list of ingredients to stock on a regular basis, along with suggested quantities. Here's an example, for Spanish-style stuffed pepper you need slivered almonds, the ubiquitous EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), white rice, chicken stock, red bell peppers, all-white meat ground chicken, sweet paprika, onion, garlic cloves, piquillo peppers, golden raisins, dry sherry, tomato sauce, flat-leaf parsley leaves, and manchego cheese. I've got four of those ingredients in my kitchen now. How about you? That raises another issue, cost. She's using more expensive as well as more ingredients in these recipes . . . all the more reason why this cookbook is going to be for company in most cases. The recipes are exciting to read. I have a good imagination for anticipating the flavors of foods. As I read down each page, my palate was piqued in unique and intriguing ways. Here's an example: lamb patties on fattoush salad. The ingredients include pita bread, ground lamb, yogurt, parsley leaves, garlic, cumin, oregano, paprika, grill seasoning, cinnamon, EVOO, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, red onion, tomatoes, feta cheese, kalamata olives, pepperoncini peppers, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. That list will bring up another issue, I'm sure. Can you really do these recipes in the time allotted? With so many ingredients, I'm skeptical that I can. I have no doubt that the whirling dervish, Ms. Rachael Ray, can. But with this book, I didn't mind because she's going up on taste quite a lot. I'm willing to spend more time for an intriguing new taste. The book also features 15 and 60 minute recipes, as well as the expected 30 minute ones. Here's how the book is organized: Chapter One is for sandwiches, wraps, and pizza. Chapter Two is for hot pots (stoups, choups, chilis, and stews). Chapter Three is for pastas and couscous. Chapter Four is devoted to main course salads and vegetarian dishes. Chapter Five is all about fish. Chapter Six is devoted to chicken, turkey, and eggs. Chapter Seven is for beef, veal, pork, and ham lovers. There's a breakdown based on time needed for preparation that begins on page 8 that will be handy if you pull out the cookbook when you have 18 minutes to finish preparing the meal. Those who are visual will be disappointed that only 8 dishes are illustrated in color. Here are the dishes that intrigued me the most: Provencal tuna melts Fresh tuna blt (supposed to be 15 minutes, but I doubt it) Red, wine, and blue burgers with baked jalapeno poppers Sloppy cubanos Sloppy dude Swordfish burgers New England chicken patty sammies Tomatillo and chicken tostadas Poquito and Grande: taquitos and burritos Stuffed pepper stoup Spicy lentil stoup Oven-roasted cioppino Chicken or shrimp fajita-tortilla soup Mu shu stoup Spicy sausage, chicken, and bean pot Roasted poblano and sliced steak chili Moussaka pasta toss and spanakopita salad Cold chicken satay noodles Paella in quince (20 ingredients in 15 minutes?) Pasta with shrimp, grape tomatoes, and baby arugula Drunken spaghetti (two bottles of red wine to prepare the pasta) Meatballs in meat sauce with rigatoni Tomato salad stuffed artichokes Whole wheat pasta arrabbiata with fire-roasted tomatoes and arugula Crab-stuffed shells Italian surf 'n' turf salad Green caponata with sweet creamy polenta Beef, leek, and tomato salad Charred chili relleno with green rice Spanish-style stuffed peppers Shrimp scampi verde Thai shrimp curry with chopped lettuce and basil-lime couscous Shrimp with tarragon tomato sauce Sea bass with herb butter and a frisee salad Curry-seasoned cod with cool-spicy yogurt sauce Crispy prosciutto-wrapped cod and caramelized onion-asparagus salad Fish with ginger-orange-onion sauce Sea bass with creamy leeks and soy jus Halibut with puttanesca salsa Sesame-battered fish tacos with seared cabbage and avocado cream Cuban surf and turf Mom's baked stuffed sole (not like your Mom made, I'm sure) Skillet tamale pie Southern-style shepherd's pie Steak stroganoff Sliced steak, mushrooms, and green onions with warm Dijon potato salad Gorgonzola and herb tenderloin steaks and pasta with roasted garlic and grape tomatoes Sweet 'n' spicy red-eye ham steaks, cheese grits, and seared chard Roasted pork loin and gravy with roasted veggies and potatoes Maple-glazed pork chops with scallion smashed potatoes and escarole Hazelnut-crusted veal scaloppini with cognac tarragon sauce and fennel salad Are you hungry yet?