Kitchen Shortcuts

A few months ago, I was rummaging through, Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine, and I came across a brilliant article. The site was not up at the time, so I saved it.

The article gives you tips on how to save an extra trip to the supermarket. You can use products that you may have in your kitchen as an alternative.

Corn Muffin Mix
The added flour, sugar, and salt means it has more flavor than plain cornmeal.
-Add dried herbs and use in place of breadcrumbs for a crunchy chicken-cutlet coating.
-To make a delicious topping for a fruit crisp, crumble with cold butter and brown sugar.
-Use the corn bread mix to replace half the flour in a homemade pancake batter for textured cornmeal hotcakes.

Pesto
Look for a container of this herb sauce in the supermarket. The first ingredients should be basil and olive oil.
-Toss with pasta, tomatoes, and shredded chicken.
-Spread on a sandwich.
-Add a squeeze of lemon juice or red-wine vinegar and use as a flavorful salad dressing.

Coleslaw
This crunchy blend of shredded cabbage and carrots is a great refrigerator staple, because it stays fresh longer than other bagged greens.
-Saute with olive oil and a dash of cider vinegar, then serve with pork tenderloin.
-Mix with sour cream and lime juice and use to top fish tacos.
-Toss with bacon pieces, sunflower seeds and vinaigrette.

Creole Seasonings
Using a spice blend means you get complex flavor from a single jar. This spice adds the right amount of zing to all sorts of dishes.
-Sprinkle onto chicken or fish before baking or toss with shrimp before grilling.
-Fold into softened butter and spread on corn on the cob or cornbread.
-Mix into ground beef to make Cajun-spiced burgers or taco filling.

Soba Noodles
These long, thin Japanese noodles take just 5 minutes to cook and are great, hot or cold. Made with nutritious buckwheat flour, they have a slightly nutty flavor.
-Cook, then add them to a stir-fry during the last minute of cooking.
-Toss chilled noodles with snap peas, radishes, and a simple vinaigrette for a cool soba salad.
-Add cooked noodles to hot chicken broth with scallions and a poached egg.

Frozen Shrimp
Fresh shrimp are highly perishable, so they're often flash frozen, which means frozen shrimp may actually be fresher than the thawed ones at fish markets. Defrost just before using fora quick-cooking protein source.
-Skewer, season, and grill.
-Steam shrimp, toss with olive oil and lemon, then roughly chop and use to top a salad. Throw into a soup and cook until pink.