Minutes for dinner let me show you how.

written by Linda Gauthier

We all have busy schedules and even more so at this time of the year.  So if I could show you how to put an entire meal together, from start to finish, in 30 minutes, would you be interested?  No, I don't mean phone the Pizza place!  I mean a proper nutritious meal, which will fit your budget, and your desire to have a tasty quick meal.

Menu tonight: 
                          Chicken poached in apple cider with apple and 
                          sage and garlic
                          Acorn squash, brown sugar and spices for chutney
                          green beans amandine
                          Couscous with Epicure's Cherries and Berries,          
                          sultana raisins, Mediterranean style.

The above are the ingredients I used, and please note the time is 5:36 pm

Step 1, place chicken breasts in the Epicure rectangular steamer (Aubergine colored item in the picture)
Pour 1/2 cup apple cider on chicken, shake herbs on top, place in microwave for 4 minutes. 

Boil water to make couscous, measure 1 cup of couscous out 

Cut acorn squash in half,  remove seeds,  put Epicure Chutney Spices and brown sugar in cavity of acorn squash, set aside.

4 minutes have passed, remove chicken and check, give it a quick stir and return to microwave for an additional 3 minutes.

Water has boiled, measure 2 cups out, and pour on couscous, stir in dried fruit, place over low heat, stir until the all the water is absorbed.  Approximately 5 minutes.

Chicken is now cooked, remove from steamer.  Place on serving tray in low oven to keep warm.  Rinse steamer, place acorn squash in steamer.  Cook in microwave for 6 minutes.

In the meantime, brown almonds in Epicure Eclipse non-stick fry pan.  When toasted, remove from pan, set aside.  Place frozen green beans in warm pan, pour 1/4 cup water into fry pan, cook until warmed through and cover.  Drain, place pat of butter on beans, add almonds. 

Dinner is now all done please look at the time:

Time total to cook 30 minutes

Complete about ready to plate

A complete and balanced meal.

Complete dinner from start to finish: 30 minutes
Total cost: $3.75 per portion

I use the Epicure Steamers nightly and it is so easy to have a great meal ready in no time and easy clean up.  For further information about the Epicure Steamers, and their versatility, I have added a couple of links to some recipes on YouTube.

Asian style fish


Epicure Steamer Coconut Curry

Information about the steamers