DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709090044

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BETTY DOUGLASS, CORRESPONDENT 
                                            LENGTH:   44 lines

SKILLET SOLUTIONS

NOW THAT summer has all but faded, school and work activities are back on the calendar, leaving little time for meal preparation. But there are methods to cooking great-tasting, healthful, weeknight meals that don't require a lot of time and attention.

One-skillet meals are easily prepared and use ingredients found in most supermarkets. Some recipes call for staples such as rice, pasta and canned vegetables you probably have on hand. IF you have to make a run to the market at all to make these dishes, it will most likely be for meats or fresh produce.

When shopping, look for precut vegetables in the produce section, salad bar or freezer. Also consider the packaged ready-to-use, prewashed salad and slaw mixes available.

Many meat departments now feature smaller pieces of meat and poultry that cook faster. These include pork tenderloin cut into brochette-size chunks, beef and chicken cut for stir-fry, and pre-cooked sausage crumbles. And of course, precooked chicken pieces are time savers.

To save even more time, pastas and rice can be cooked in advance and frozen. When you're ready to cook, you don't even have to defrost these grain items. And don't overlook items such as couscous, which is prepared in just five or 10 minutes.

The recipes that follow cook in an hour or less, so you'll have plenty of time to make dinner and get the children to soccer practice. Use a deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid for best results.

It saves time to have all your ingredients ready before heating the skillet. If the recipe requires you to saute, add cold oil to a hot skillet. (This helps prevent sticking.)

All these meals can be prepared for quick serving or they can be left on the back burner for latecomers. A salad and a loaf of bread complete the meal, leaving only one pot to wash.

Finally, don't toss the leftovers. They all reheat well for lunch the next day. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

LAWRENCE JACKSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Couscous With Ratatouille and Feta Cheese...

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