Summer Mission: Finding Shortcut Versions of Tempting Dishes

We’ve all done it… scrolled the internet late at night and watched videos of chefs of all skill levels cooking dishes that look SO delicious that we wanted to taste them at that exact moment. Obviously, that’s not always possible due to a number of factors. 1.

We don’t have the items on hand and 2. The nearest supermarket is usually a few miles (or more) away and venturing out late at night probably isn’t the smartest idea. To solve this ongoing problem, I searched for a few shortcut versions of some of the most appetizinglooking dishes that contain ingredients that most of us have on hand.

First, I watched with fascination as someone stirred together a version of Shoney’s famous strawberry pie. It’s a simple recipe, but I didn’t have fresh strawberries, Jell-O and a pie crust on hand to make the delicious dessert. However, I DID have three items that I strive to keep in my freezer at all times: frozen strawberries in sugar, a container of Cool Whip and Sara Lee All-Butter Pound Cake. Topping a slice of defrosted pound cake with the remaining two ingredients created the perfect late-night snack. My version wasn’t as good as Shoney’s, but it sufficed until I could buy the ingredients for Shoney’s pie the following day.

Watching another home cook make an intricate Korean beef and noodles dish piqued my interest and taste buds. But spending 11/2 hours working on the dish in a hot kitchen wasn’t the best use of my time or patience. Using a bottle of Korean marinade, pre-sliced beef and ramen noodles (something I literally hadn’t tasted since college), the end result was surprisingly delicious and filling.

Last, I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, but after running out of ideas on ways to use a large package of chicken, I watched another video of a chef creating

Salsa Verde chicken. He made the sauce from scratch, but I decided to substitute a cup of jarred sauce, which is often used as a dip. While it won’t replace my favorite chicken parmigiano, it was tasty and here’s the best part, only took 15 minutes to make.

Try these two shortcut dishes to help make the most of summer days filled with lots of fun things to do while continuing to get dinner on the table. Since you’ll save time on dinner prep, spend a little time making Shoney’s most famous dessert. If you don’t have the recipe, drop me an email and I’ll send it to you.