Final Thoughts on Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals

Before attempting numerous recipes from this cookbook, I had only tried two recipes in the many years that I owned the book. Those two recipes have been family favorites that we have made often over the years. This fact coupled with the fact that I have tried many other Rachael Ray recipes in the past that the family has enjoyed makes me wonder why I never decided to try more recipes from this cookbook before. Through the process, I was very surprised by how few of these recipes our family has decided are recipes that we would like to add to our regular recipe rotation.

I believe this was her first cookbook that was published and in my opinion, her recipes have improved over time. There are some recipes that can be made with a faster method, but that doesn't mean that they should be attempted in this manner. Some flavor combinations just take a lot of time to become the full robust flavors that have made them classic dishes and they cannot be rushed into 30 minute meals.

There are a few recipes in this book that are quite good. Here below I have listed the posts for each of the recipes I have tried and what my family thought. They are listed by category that each of the recipes came from and then by name.

30-minute pastas
   Cupboard Cooking
         Pasta Puttanesca

   Restaurant Row ... Pastas from the Menu of your Favorite Italian Restaurant
         Spaghetti Carbonara: Pasta with Bacon and Eggs

   Pastabilities ... More Pasta Meals in Minutes
          Pasta Amatriciana: Penne with Pancetta, Tomato, and Crushed Red Pepper Sauce

Salads and other green stuff
   Bistro Salads
         Manny's Orange and Oregano Salad

   Salads As Suppers
         Greek Diner Salad

make your own takeout
   Pizzas
        Winter Greens Pizza

   Sandwiches
        My Monte Cristos

   Tex-Mex in No Time
        Southwestern Chicken and Black Bean Burritos

   Indian and Asian Take-Out
        Thai It, You'll Like It Chicken

        Cashew! God Bless You Chicken

   Better Burgers
        Meatza Pizza Burgers

30-minute comfort foods
   Mediterranean Comforts
        Minestrone: BIG Beans and Greens Soup

   Tex-Mex One Pots
        Cajun Chili

   Continental Favorites
        Quick Coq au Vin