Speedy Suppers

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Treating your family to a delicious meal every night of the week is easy with a few simple tips and recipes. Courtesy Minute Rice

Don’t think you have time to make a delicious meal for your busy family? Think again. With these handy tips and easy recipes, which call for just four ingredients each, you can get a satisfying supper on the table in no time.

Use these tips to make meal prep easier during busy nights:

Stock Up. Always keep some basic ingredients on hand to make last-minute cooking a lot easier.
Frozen vegetables. Frozen veggies can be served as a side or added to soups and rice dishes.
Broth. Beef, chicken and vegetable broths can be used to make soups and sauces, and to add flavor when cooking vegetables and rice.
Add-ins. Nuts, sesame seeds, parsley, dried fruit and cheese can be added to main dishes, sides and salads to make them even more flavorful and nutritious.

Plan Ahead. If you have more time on the weekend, you can do some prep work to cut down on your weeknight cooking time.
Prep ingredients. Chop vegetables and shred cheese, and keep them in storage containers or resealable bags in the refrigerator. You can also brown ground beef and cut any meats into recipe-ready pieces.
Herb cubes. Put a tablespoon of chopped herbs in each well of an ice cube tray. Fill with either water or olive oil, then freeze. Once frozen, pop them out and store in a freezer bag so you’ll have fresh herb flavor in a flash.
Cook once, eat twice. Double a recipe, then freeze half for later. Or, plan a second meal around leftovers. For example, use Monday night’s taco meat for Tuesday night’s taco salad.