42 second recipes

Salmon scallops pounded paper-thin, flash-cooked in seconds, and served over wilted garlicky spinach with a bright lemon-parsley pan sauce. French bistro technique for sky-high quality dinner.

A noodle crust filled with seasoned ground beef, cottage cheese, mozzarella, and pepperoni. Vermicelli pie is like lasagna and pizza had a baby, and the whole family will fight over seconds.

Hunter's minestrone with cubed beef, kidney beans, pasta shells, and red wine simmered for four hours in three stages. A hearty, meaty Italian soup built for cold weather.

Five-second banana breakfast smoothie with skim milk, nonfat yogurt, and optional protein powder or chocolate syrup. Blend it, grab it, and get out the door. Morning fuel that actually tastes good.

A light, soufflé-style chocolate cake loaded with crushed Girl Scout Thin Mints, topped with rich chocolate ganache and a second layer of cookie crumbs. Your sleeve of Thin Mints, leveled up.

Low-fat orange raisin muffins with wheat germ and an orange juice glaze, made with egg whites and skim milk. A wholesome breakfast muffin that freezes well and reheats in seconds in the microwave.

Apple pie topped with halved marshmallows that brown into golden, gooey peaks under a slow second bake. Tart apples, just sugar and nutmeg, no top crust. The midcentury trick that turns weeknight apple pie into something special.

Raspberry Alaskas tuck fresh raspberries and vanilla ice cream inside crisp puff pastry shells, then cloak the whole thing in glossy meringue and flash it under high heat for a hot-and-cold dessert that hits the table the second it browns.

Fiery Thai tofu soup with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, enoki mushrooms, and fresh chilies. A tom yum-style broth that's vegan, fragrant, and ready in 30 minutes.

This smoothie packs a real superfood punch with a combination of wolfberries, hemp seeds, chia seeds, maca and spirulina. Wolfberries, hemp seeds, chia seeds and spirulina are all complete proteins. In addition, chia seeds and hemp seeds are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Maca is a great hormone regulator and has traditionally been used to enhance fertility. Spirulina is one of nature's wonder foods and its GLA content (gamma linolenic acid, an important fatty acid) is second only to mother's milk.