Sauces/30 recipes

Sweet potato pie with bourbon cream sauce: a spiced, custardy sweet potato filling in a flaky shell, scattered with pecans and crowned with a boozy bourbon cream. The microwave does the baking, so it's table-ready in under 30 minutes.

Ginger glazed salmon broiled with a soy, lime and brown sugar glaze, served with a bright green herb sauce of cilantro, mint, parsley, and jalapeno. A restaurant-style dinner ready in under 30 minutes.

Skillet fiesta chicken and rice cooks in one pan in about 30 minutes: chicken browned until golden, simmered in a chili-spiced creamy sauce, then topped with melty cheese. An easy weeknight Tex-Mex dinner the whole family cleans off the plate.

Lamb and pine nut stir fry: quick microwave stir fry with thinly sliced lamb, bok choy, mushrooms, and oyster sauce. Toasted pine nuts on top for crunch. Ready in under 30 minutes over rice.

Paprika-almond chicken breasts pan-sear pounded cutlets, then drape them in a Hungarian paprika cream sauce built from the pan drippings and white wine. Toasted almonds on top, ready in about 30 minutes.

Boneless chicken breasts pan-seared in butter under a generous paprika and garlic crust, then finished in a quick Alouette cheese sauce. A modern shortcut version of classic chicken paprikash, ready in 30 minutes.

This is a very easy dish to put together, just a matter of mixing all the ingredients together and baking for 30 minutes. The sauce needs to be reduced at the end of the cooking, but that only takes about 5 minutes. I suggest that you serve it with a Saag aloo and rice.

Pan-fried turkey breast cutlets pounded thin and dredged in seasoned flour, cooked in butter until golden. A simple, 30-minute protein-forward dinner that works as a base for gravy, lemon sauce, or sandwiches.

Veal scaloppine Modena-style: thin cutlets dredged in flour, pan-seared in butter and olive oil, then finished in a balsamic vinegar and chicken broth pan sauce. The Emilia-Romagna classic ready in 30 minutes.

Angel hair pasta tossed in a chili-spiced cream sauce and topped with sautéed SPAM, corn, red and green bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, and cilantro. A colorful 30-minute weeknight dinner bursting with Southwestern flair.

Pantry linguine with clams, marinated artichoke hearts and black olives in a garlicky olive oil sauce. A 30-minute Italian-style pasta built entirely from cans and jars, finished with grated pecorino and red pepper flakes.

Turkey breast with mushrooms, snow peas, carrots, and scallions in a ginger-soy sauce, all made in the microwave and served over brown rice with toasted almonds. A 30-minute stir-fry without ever firing up the stove.

Salsa soy peanut chicken stir-fries chicken breast and green pepper in a sauce of salsa, peanut butter, soy and ginger. Pantry-shelf fusion that lands somewhere between Thai satay and Tex-Mex. Ready in 30 minutes flat.

Risotto is an Italian rice dish. It is made by briefly sautéing the rice in olive oil or butter, then adding a little bit of stock, stirring almost constantly until the rice absorbs the stock, then adding a bit more stock, stirring, adding, stirring, adding until it’s done. It usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes of stirring. When it’s done, the rice is cooked through and bound in a wonderful creamy sauce that is made as the starch leaches out of the rice grains and combines with the stock.

Pan-sauteed mushrooms are mixed with a mixture of barbeque sauce, tomato paste, cider vinegar and pickled chipotle pepper, which makes a delicious filling to the quesadillas. An easy, tasty yet wholesome week-night meal.

Spread some pizza sauce over a few slices of toast, arrange a few marinated artichoke hearts and half fried egg over each toast. Drizzle a bit hot sauce on top. A quick, easy and tasty crostini is ready within 10 minutes.