For caregivers and those receiving care, mealtime offers the opportunity to find respite from the hectic day, a time to refresh with nourishment and companionship. It is, as would seem appropriate at the height of spring, a moment to stop and smell the crocuses. As you enjoy the season, consider adorning the table not just with these easy-to-make and nutritious dinners, but also with a colorful flower in a bud vase or a full bouquet. Or, set up a table outside for al fresco dining. You’re sure to find that serving up such simple pleasures provides not only nutriment for the body but also welcome mental refreshment.

RECIPE NOTES
Our composed Salad Niçoise is ready whenever you are, making it perfect for time-starved caregivers. All the ingredients are common enough to always be on hand and ready to be attractively arranged on the salad greens before drizzling on the dressing. At your convenience, prepare the components you plan to include and keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to compose each salad. Those tasks might include grilling tuna, making a salad dressing, cooking green beans, slicing tomatoes, chopping olives and hard-boiling eggs, depending on which accoutrements you incorporate. Or, if time’s tight, use canned tuna and bottled dressing, and omit some or all of the extra ingredients.

If time allows, consider tossing each component—other than the salad greens—with some dressing so they can marinate in the refrigerator until you’re ready to artistically arrange each plate.

It’s hard to make a mistake when preparing our Gingered Pork with Chutney Yogurt. Simply cook the pork until it’s slightly pink in the interior; avoid overcooking it, which will make it dry. Your timing will depend on the thickness of the chops and how far you place them from the heat source. The thicker the chops, the more time you may need; the closer to the heat, the less time. Keep a watchful eye.

There’s no need to peel the fresh ginger before grating, just rub it against a microplane or other grater. Store the unused portion in an airtight plastic bag or plastic wrap in the freezer.

If you have extra time to thicken the yogurt by draining it (see recipe), you can find many other uses for it. For instance, add shredded cucumber and some garlic for a tasty Greek spread called tzatziki, or use in place of sour cream or mayonnaise in non-cooked recipes to save lots of fat and calories.

There’s nothing much simpler to make than our Chicken Piccata, using thinly sliced chicken breasts that cook in an instant. Dip the chicken into seasoned flour, cook it in a skillet, and then deglaze the pan with broth and lemon juice. Deglazing simply involves adding liquid to the pan and stirring to loosen browned bits in the pan’s bottom to make a quick sauce.

Paninis have replaced wraps as the trendy American sandwich. And like wraps, you can easily make this grilled, pressed (I call them squished) sandwich with Italian origins—such as our Mozzarella-Red Pepper Panini—at home. Start with a prebaked pizza crust (such as Boboli) sliced in half horizontally. Or use ciabatta bread, focaccia or even individual kaiser rolls. Place the sandwich in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and weigh it down with another heavy pan, about the same size as the one you’re cooking in, to compress the sandwich. If panini’s are to your liking, you might consider buying one of the many panini presses now available.

Salad Niçoise
An Express Lane Cooking® recipe
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cooking Time: 0 minutes
Servings: 2 to 3

Necessities
Prewashed romaine lettuce (10-ounce bag)
White albacore tuna (7-ounce can), drained and flaked
Tomatoes (2), cut into eighths
Pitted Niçoise olives, chopped (1/4 cup)
Favorite bottled oil & vinegar salad dressing (1/3 cup)

On Hand:
Salt
Black pepper

Not So Necessary:
Cooked green beans
Sliced hard-boiled eggs

How to: Divide salad greens between plates. Arrange tuna, tomatoes, olives and, if desired, green beans and eggs in separate piles on the lettuce. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle salad dressing over all.

More Time?: Use fresh tuna in place of canned. Grill it, approximately 5 minutes per inch on each side (one-inch thick tuna would grill a total of 10 minutes). Make own dressing. Cook 1/2 pound small red potatoes in salted boiling water until tender; cool slightly and add to salad.

Go withs: Crusty bread, fresh fruit
©2006 Bonnie Tandy Leblang

Gingered Pork with Chutney Yogurt
An Express Lane Cooking® recipe
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cooking Time: 12 minutes
Servings: 4

Necessities
Fresh ginger, grated (2 tablespoons)
Lime juice (2 tablespoons)
Pork chops, well-trimmed (4), about 3/4-inch thick
Plain yogurt; regular, low-fat or fat-free (1/2 cup)
Mango chutney, regular or hot (3 tablespoons)

On Hand:
Olive oil
Curry powder
Ground cumin

Not So Necessary:
Ground cayenne (red) pepper

How to: Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon curry powder, ginger, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon cumin and, if using, a pinch of red pepper in sealable plastic bag. Add pork; shake to coat. Let stand on counter 10 minutes. Combine yogurt, chutney, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon curry powder. Set aside. Heat broiler. Remove pork from bag, place on broiler pan and cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Serve with a spoonful of the yogurt mixture.

More Time?: Let meat marinate in refrigerator 1 hour. Place yogurt in paper coffee filter in a strainer set over a bowl to drain for 1 hour before combining with chutney.

Go withs: Basmati rice, green beans
©2006 Bonnie Tandy Leblang

Chicken Piccata
An Express Lane Cooking® recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4

Necessities
Thin-cut chicken cutlets (1 pound)
Chicken broth (1/4 cup)
Juice of a lemon (1/4 cup)

On Hand:
Flour
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil
Butter

Not So Necessary:
Grated zest from lemon
Watercress

How to: Season 3 tablespoons flour generously with salt and pepper to taste on waxed paper. Dip in chicken and shake off excess. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden, turning once, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Do not crowd. Remove to plate. Add chicken broth, lemon juice and, if using, lemon zest to skillet scraping up bits that stuck to pan. Stir in 1 teaspoon butter, pour over chicken. If desired, serve on bed of watercress.

More Time?: Make parsley-buttered new potatoes: Boil potatoes until tender, then toss with butter and chopped fresh parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Go withs: Green beans, new potatoes, warm breadsticks
©2006 Bonnie Tandy Leblang

Mozzarella-Red Pepper Panini
An Express Lane Cooking® recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

Necessities
Focaccia or prebaked pizza crust (1 large)
Roasted red peppers, jarred (4 halves)
Fresh mozzarella (1/2 pound), sliced
Prewashed baby spinach leaves (6-ounce bag or 2 cups)

On Hand:
Olive Oil

Not So Necessary:
Marinated olive salad, jarred

How to: Slice crust in half horizontally. Cover bottom half with red peppers, then sliced mozzarella, spinach leaves and, if using, 3/4 cup drained olive salad; drizzle with 2 tablespoon olive oil. Replace top crust. Place in large frying pan over medium-high heat; weight sandwich with a heavy pan to compress it (the bottom of another skillet works fine). Cook 5 minutes, flip; replace weight and cook 5 minutes more until bread is golden and cheese melted. Cut into wedges.

More Time?: Roast fresh peppers in a 500ºF oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until shriveled. Place in a bowl; cover and let cool. Peel, discarding skins, seeds and stems.

Go withs: Fresh fruit