Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals: What to Keep on Hand, What to Buy Fresh for the Easiest-Ever 30-Minute Meals Reviews

• Rachael does fast cooking with a sound new twist.

  
  By A20IIR0422G3A5 on 2006-04-21
  `Express Lane Meals' by Rachael Ray, the '30 Minute Meal' diva does `pantry cooking' right where almost everyone else gets some important part of this concept wrong.
  
  I always feel the need to justify my liking Rachael Ray's books and TV Show, since my personal taste in cooking runs to masters of the serious and elaborate recipes of Julia Child, Paula Wolfert, and Marcella Hazan.
  
  First, Rachael has a twist to her '30 Minute Meal' shows which I have seen no one else do. That is, like a printed recipe, Rachael starts by ticking off the ingredients she will need for her. Then, she gives more than the average information on how she preps and how to do it for the 30-minute meal objective.
  
  Second, Rachael uses very few gadgets and tricks in her prep work. I usually see no more than a very good Santoku knife, a microplane, some wooden spoons, a spatula and a vegetable peeler. She occasionally uses the food processor she rarely uses the microwave. To be sure, she uses a lot of pots and pans, but one would probably be able to do everything Rachael does with two large skillets, two large saute pans, an 8 or 12 quart stock pot, and a two burner grilling surface.
  
  Third, Rachael manages to carry out her 30-minute strategy with relatively few prepared products. And, one can always easily make your own versions of those prepared items such as stocks, salsas, and sauces if you wish.
  
  Fourth, Rachael rarely gets into the `weekend prep ahead' mode popular with some quick cooking advocates. I suspect that if you really have not much more than 30 minutes to cook on a Monday, your weekends are probably also pretty well booked up, so you don't really have much time to do 3 to 4 hours of prep work, labeling, and freezing.
  
  Fifth, I really believe that most of Rachael's recipes can be done within 30 minutes, IF you have good kitchen skills and a well organized kitchen and you can move around the kitchen quickly AND you know the recipe by heart. That's a lot of ifs, but if you are serious about good cooking quickly, these are things you must have.
  
  I have seen many cookbooks claim to present whole chapters of pantry only recipes, where every recipe includes at least one ingredient I, who cooks every day, would not imagine keeping in my pantry. Rachael solves that problem by billing her message in this book as how to shop and cook based on the two or three items you can buy quickly on the way home to supplement what you will have in your pantry. Rachael also avoids the stance that you must run out and buy all the things in her pantry list. She is much closer to the sage advice from Madhur Jaffrey who said that you build your pantry by buying what you need for each recipe. What Rachael's list gives you is the assurance that a particular pantry item such as capers or shallots is a genuinely useful thing to have around for recipes in her books.
  
  I have mixed feelings about Rachael's advice on the spice cabinet. I once read a distinctly minority opinion claiming that the value gained by throwing out spices over 6 months old is misplaced. This writer said she commonly checks all her spices by smell before using in a recipe and if they seem just a bit weak, she simply uses more of them. I submit that this makes sense especially if you avoid dried herbs and spices that simply don't work very well, such as basil and parsley, and if you get the whole spices such as nutmeg and black pepper. I have a bottle of whole nutmegs which is easily a year old, and my freshly ground spice from this bottle would put ground nutmeg fresh off the supermarket shelves to shame. But I still endorse her suggestion of getting the smallest size available (except for the really frequently used stuff like salt, pepper, cinnamon, and thyme).
  
  Overall, I think Rachael's list of pantry items is one of the best I have seen, although I have a few suggestions. For example, I would not buy pre-grated Pecorino Romano. I'm also just a bit surprised that Rachael calls for two bunches of parsley in the fridge, yet she makes no provision for backup storage (what the bookstores call `overstock') of extra (usually unrefrigerated) unopened containers of mustard, mayonnaise, capers, hot sauce, and Worchestershire sauce. I also think the suggestions from the `wine rack' could have been better. Instead of 750 ml bottles of wine, I get the 3 liter (4 bottles worth) `wine in a box' packages which last me for about 3 months of cooking and `sampling'.
  
  My biggest arguments with Miss Rachael concern canned tomatoes and her `diced fire roasted tomatoes'. First, every serious Italian cooking writer recommends using canned whole tomatoes rather than diced, crushed, or pureed product. I confess that the time taken to mush up the whole tomatoes may take a bit from the precious 30 minutes, but I suspect the difference in quality of the final dish is worth it. And, I have been listening to Miss Rachael for about a year now putting `diced fire roasted tomatoes' into her recipes and I have finally located a Muir Glen product in the Health Foods section, thanks to reference from my far flung correspondents!
  
  The very best thing about this book is that Rachael mantains her pantry / express line shopping technique throughout the book, by for every recipe citing the things you will want from your pantry and the things you will want to pick up on the way home.
  
  This is one of Rachael's better books.
  
  
  

• Too busy to cook or shop? Not any more!

  
  By A2ME8QMG05MGY9 on 2006-04-20
  "Rachael Ray is a very busy lady" - so says the back of Ray's new book, "Express Lane Meals". With a show on the Food Network, a slew of cookbooks and a recent magazine venture, you would think that she has no time left to write another book. But obviously, this wonder woman has found the time to do it again!
  
  This book is focused on those of us who come home from work, exhausted, but still want a good, quality meal on the table without a lot of fuss. In Express Lane Meals, Ray emphasizes that this can be done - with a well stocked pantry and freezer - plus a few simple ingredients that you can pick up at the store on your way home. The secret is this - about every two weeks (or less depending on your usage), you do a "big shop", where you buy all the staple pantry/freezer/fridge ingredients that you keep on hand(ex: eggs, Parmesan cheese, pasta, frozen corn, lemons, canned beans, etc.) and then, you combine these ingredients with a few fresh items - and presto - you have quick, delicious dinners faster than you can say checkout!
  
  The food is typical Ray fare: lots of pastas, some Tex-mex and Asain, plus plenty of Italian. The recipes are really nice and tasty with everything from Balsalmic Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Spinach to Thai-Style Grilled Beef in Broth with a Lot o' Noodles. Each recipe features the "Express Lane Shopping List" (what you need to pick up at the store) as well as a list of ingredients that you should have on hand from those 'big shop' days. This is a really handy feature and it helps you to be organized so that you are not caught without your necessities.
  
  The book is divided into three sections: Meals for the Exhausted, Meals for the Not Too Tired, Bring it On! This allows you to choose from super easy to more complicated meals. I also like the "Master List" for the big shop days - this gives a good idea of what a well stocked pantry should be. It certainly gave me a few ideas that I didn't think of!
  
  I would recommend this book for working moms, harried executives, busy families, college students or those of us who simply want a nice home cooked meal without a lot of fuss. You really can't go wrong with any of her books. Well done!
  
  

• The Holy Grail Cookbook I've Been Searching For

  
  By A1OZFMJ2AD2R41 on 2006-05-08
  Anybody who juggles work/school with cooking for a family will understand what an absolute pain cookbook cooking can be. Many call for too many ingredients while not using all the ingredients (and not offering alternatives recipes that they you can follow to use up the leftover ingredients). When the quick-and-easy cooking shows and cookbooks started popping up, I resisted the urge to purchase them because, as I told my husband, "it's not how fast you can make it that counts, it's how many ingredients you have to use and buy that make it easy."
  
  Rachael Ray's addresses this issue, and this cookbook basically works off that theory. She includes a list of things to stock your pantry with (she suggests accumulating as you go instead of going out and getting everything on the list) and her recipes rely heavily on ingredients from the pantry list. Therefore, in theory, all you have to do is buy a few select items fresh from the grocery store. She makes identifying these items easy by noting all the things you need to purchase fresh in the upper right corner of each recipe; and, underneath it, she lists the pantry items so you can check to make sure you still have them on hand. This makes shopping so much easier and, for my family, is well worth the price of the book.
  
  The recipes themselves are separated into 3 sections: recipes requiring minimal fresh ingredients (or even none, since some can be made solely from pantry items) for days when you're very tired or short on time, more elaborate recipes, and one section that bridges the two for those who have a little more time but still don't want anything too complicated.
  
  From what I've seen and tried, the recipes are all simple and require very few gadgets and little technical skill. Rachael Ray's forte is making quick aned easy meals that taste like they took more time and effort to make without breaking the wallet. My husband likes that the recipes are user friendly (so he can take over dinner-duty every now and then) and I love that I can it's easy to coordinate meals and draft shopping lists with this book.
  
  This is a fantastic book for people who juggle work with home and don't want to compromise the quality of their food or their time and money. It's also a fantastic starter book for anybody who wants to start cooking more and wants to 1) know how to stock up a pantry and 2) know how to maximize that pantry.
  
  

• Do NOT waste your money!!

  
  By A293FGKPPF1QMZ on 2006-05-18
  I must say, this cookbook is a huge disappointment. I have watched Rachael's shows for years, but I haven't purchased one of her books in a while. Please, SAVE YOUR MONEY!! This book must be the worst cookbook that I have ever owned or seen! First of all, it is so cheaply produced, it's laughable. It's paperback, as usual, and it has hardly any pictures. I think there are only 8 or 9 pictures in the front of the book and that's it! As for the recipes, she has already made most of them on her show, Thirty Minute Meals. I suggest just visiting Food Network's site and printing out whatever recipes you would like. You can print them sized for a 3x5 or a 4x6 index card, and then just paste it on cards for your recipe collection.
  
  Also, this book is so poorly organized! The table of contents is no help at all, and the way they have chosen to group recipes is rather odd. It's basically, quick and easy, moderately quick and easy, then more complicated and involved. It would be much more user friendly to group the recipes by meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and/or by type of food (chicken, fish, pasta dishes).
  
  I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that Ms. Ray just churns these books out as fast as she can in order to capitalize on her popularity as much as possible. This book has to be the worst she has offered, as it's just a useless gimmick to grab a quick sale. The lure of the "express" meal, or thirty minute dinner is great. However, when I think about it, many of my cookbooks contain wonderful recipes that I can make within 30 or 40 minutes. I strongly recommend the Everyday Italian book by Giada de Laurentiis. That cookbook is organized wonderfully, and includes many more pictures. My friends, family and I have all made many of these recipes in 30 to 45 minutes. Most of them are fairly easy, without too many ingredients. It's just that Giada doesn't try to obtain the sale from this fast and easy 30 minute angle.
  
  

• Good food, but...

  
  By A2PK3NTC9RMEF4 on 2006-08-07
  I love the recipies in this book. They all sound so good and they work out very well.
  
  But, there is no way these are 30 minute meals. I suppose if I had everything already preped and ready to cook, that would be true, but to suggest that these are simple and quick to prepare and cook is just misleading. And the portions are way out of wack for how many people thay are supposed to feed. I did the french bread pizza for four, and had enough to feed ten (if I had had enough bread).
  
  Still, the food is good and well thought out. I will continue to use this book for at least one meal a week, if just to make something new for my family. But I will not believe the claims of how quick and easy it is to make.
  
  
• I love her and her food
  By A2U7OJFS7JJR78 on 2006-04-20
  I was so thrilled to buy this cookbook, because I am a huge Rachael Ray fan, from "30 Minute Meals" to "$40 A Day", I rushed out to get this cookbook. Rachael is so fun and so educating at the same time. I am nothing in the kitchen, and could not cook to save my life, but with Rachael she always makes it seems so effortless. Her new book "Express Lane", also ties-in to where I work, in a grocery store. In this book the receipes are so well put together and so well planned, I like that she always tells you want you need and how much you will need. There are a few meals that stand out like the Thai Chicken Pizza or the Wafflewiches or the Monday Night Meal, the Wafflewiches, I do plan to make. Another reason, I wanted this book is because I have a chance to get it signed by Rachael when she comes on her book tour to Monroeville's "Borders" in Monroeville, Pa on May 23rd, I cannot wait. I will use this book alot. A+. Well I went to get the book signed was in line for a ticket and got into line late and was I went into the store they sold out of tickets, so I am a little disappointed but I will still watch her on T.V. and buy her books, and maybe when she tours with her new book in November of this year maybe then, I will meet her. Oh, well the cookbook is still great and so is she.
  
  
• My new favorite cookbook
  By A1OIS9K3IZSY7M on 2006-09-23
  I am always surprised to hear people say they don't like Ray's books. I have most of them, and everything I have ever made has been wonderful. I am an "accomplished cook" like one of the other reviewers, but instead of finding the cookbook full of cute stuff, I find that it is the perfect antidote to my insanely hectic days as a teacher. (We don't get home at 3--just an aside!!) I bought the few items I didn't already have from the suggested "keep on hand" list, and even on the nights that I haven't planned ahead, I can make a quick, healthy, tasty meal using one of her recipes. And as for the "methods" Ray always talks about, they've saved my exhausted self on many a day--got some beans, pasta, broth/stock, a few spices, garlic and onions? Some veggies? You've got dinner! (In way less than 30 minutes.)
  While many of the recipes do take me a little longer than 30 minutes, most of them are right around that time. My problem is that I prep everything first, unlike Ray does. If you follow her recipes verbatim, you'll find that your times are close. (My knife skills aren't quite as quick, either.)
  My favorite recipe from the book so far would have to be the Eggplant/veggie stew. It was really rich and flavorful--my husband said he knew there wasn't, but it seemed like there was meat in it. I also loved the one pot spicy chicken and couscous recipe.
  As for some of the health concerns: I agree that occasionally Ray errs on the side of too much fat (oil, cheese, butter, oversized meat portions) but I adjust the recipes to what I know makes more sense: less of those, add more vegetables. And if you take them exactly as they are, they're still healthier than eating out, by a long shot.
  Ray is my go-to helper in the kitchen, and this is my favorite book so far. Easy, tasty, and quick.
  
  
• Not bad, not great but good pantry meals
  By A2HLIWNAJB2H2P on 2006-10-30
  It appears most reviewers either love this cookbook or hate it. I'm firmly in the middle. I bought this book because this is a pantry-meal cookbook. No exceptional ingredients (in my opinion), doesn't take more than 30 mins (I did the Leek-y Chicken in 7 mins.) and the recipes are easy to manipulate if you want to go in another direction.
  
  So, its a pantry-meal cookbook. Its a great place to turn when you're looking for something basic, easy and in your pantry already. I haven't loved the recipes yet--they are actually somewhat bland. But I've done them by the book, so to speak.
  
  I didn't by her book for fine cuisine. I bought it to give me some fresh ideas when I'm feeling brain dead after a long day--and REALLY don't want to make rice and beans again or mac and cheese. I consider these recipes to be a great starting point from which I can add my own touches. The recipes that I've read, but not made, all seem solid and workable.
  
  
  
• Great Book For Newly Weds!
  By A1091I2JEJD5DA on 2006-04-22
  This has to be the best "30-Minute Meals" book yet. I find the detailed lists of pantry ingredients in the first section of the book very helpful. I have been using Rachael's methods for about eight months now and have become quite proficiant in the kitchen because of it. I've even been able to prepare some of my favorites in about 15 minutes! The part I was having trouble with, however was shopping for all the ingredients. I'm just cooking for two (my husband and I) and when going to the grocery store, I always feel so unorganized and end up buying everything in the store but what we actually need. Then it always seems I can never cook/use everything I've over-purchased before it spoils. Rachael gives excellent advice on initially stocking your pantry, storing fresh herbs and veggies and freezing meats and liquid perishables you bought on-sale to use later. I especially like the well appointed express lane shopping lists in the back of the book that are broken down into grocery store departments.
  
  I think this would be a great gift for a bridal shower. Many brides now days didn't learn to cook in the kitchen with mom growing up and are simply lost when it comes to cooking and grocery shopping. Rachael can help them start off on the right foot with this very informative book.
  
  
• This is a great cookbook
  By A2A7CC0DT352ON on 2006-05-09
  I own all of Rachael's cookbooks and this one is at the top of my list. My favorite is Rachael's Cooking Around the Clock - which offers several recipes per meal (like her show). I was not a huge fan of 365 - too many recipes and too little commentary. My friends and family are intimidated by Rachael's recipes because she uses many ingredients - the recipes in Express Lane are a little less overwhelming. I highly recommend this cookbook and the recipes I've tried have been really great. My only negative comment is that I like the way she makes meals with a dessert or side dish included as in Cooking Around the Clock. I wish she would do this again. For now, you have to go to the Food Network website and track her episodes.
  
  
• I love her cookbooks
  By AK7UAWHWHLP45 on 2006-04-30
  This one is no exception. All ingredients are easy to find if you are familiar with your store, if not, just ask a employee.
  
  I like that she uses fats which are so important for good health, but she doesn't go over board. Coming from a low carb diet which I ate a lot of saturated fat and watched my triglycerides, and my over all lipid profile greatly improve, I know what a important role healthy fats play in keeping us healthy. However, I missed my carbs and I know in order to enjoy carbs, I must watch fat, and her recipes are perfect for that. I do feel her recipes are much healthier than low carb recipes even though my lipid profile improved doing low carb (not yet convinced low carb is good forever). They are the right balance of fats, veggies, protein and carbs. That's what I like most about her, 1 recipe is usually your whole entire meal.
  
  I made the leek-y chicken with couscous (pg 22) last night and loved it. I expected little flavor and was really surprised it was as good as it was. My whole family loved it. Next I'm making the Spaghetti alla ceti (pg 24), I hope those page numbers are rigth, going off memory. I own several other cookbooks that I love and have reviewed, but Rachael's are my everyday cookbooks. In my humble opinion, they are healthy, easy, don't cost a fortune to prepare and family friendly. Can't beat that.
  
  
• Some pretty unusual recipies here...
  By A2172P7UERAOQU on 2006-07-23
  I guess when you've written thousands of recipies things have to start getting kind of "wierd."
  The recipies might taste good for me, but I'm adventurous.
  ... my husband would hardly even try anything in this book. It sounds like the flavors would also be too strong and unusual for my child also. Who wants mommy's "Leeky Chicken Couscous?" "Chorizo-Cod potato stew?" ...they'd think I was joking and go order a pizza :-p
  
  
  
  
  
• Not pleased
  By A1G9BL4NWIIZZW on 2006-08-10
  I found that many ingredients in this book are things I don't usually have in the house. The recipes are too involved (too many ingredients for me.)
  
  
• Give it a rest
  By A16JMQQI19ZZ30 on 2006-04-20
  How many more Rachel Ray books are we going to have to endure? MS Ray's fountain of talent is only so deep and frankly the well went dry a LONG time ago! You'd have more time to cook if you weren't so "busy" watching rachel Ray on Tv. And you would do well to spend your time actually learning to cook instead of RR's ingredient dumping recipes that teach you nothing and perpetuate the myth that modern people are too busy to cook.
  
  
• one that loves the food network
  By A2EE9D7I68R21Z on 2006-04-29
  now i love rachael ray. i have several of her cookbooks i even own her video ( which you can find at target ) but i was'nt so crazy about this cook book.i found a few recipies i would like to try, like the drunken pasta and the cowboy spaghetti ( although i would leave out the evoo with the bacon..... i can feel my cholesterol go up as i write this. )i would love to see rachael write a cookbook for living a more healthy lifestyle( if any one could add taste in this kind of food she could :)and of course like the others i would love to see more pictures, i love to know what the food is suppose to look like when its done.I work at a book store and the customers say the same thing, so sometimes they opt to buy another cookbook. ms. rays other cookbooks have been a wonderful addition to my collection, but i'm sorry to say i'll be bringing this one back.
  
  
• Her best yet!
  By A3QZL05ZYIN6L1 on 2006-07-27
  I have 5 of Rachael's other books and I have to say this one is by far my favorite. Not only are the meals delicious--at least the 1/3 or so of them I've already made--but it's the one all my friends who need to learn how to cook/ are just begining to are getting because in addition to how easy the menus are I just love the concept behind it and how it's organized. Most of the meals really are made with fairly common ingredients avaiable from most markets. And no, you don't really need to keep all of the things she reccomends around all the time (I certainly don't because there must be about 60!!!)... they're just suggestions!!! I also like the way she divides up the meals according to how much effort they take, ie. "Meals for the Exhausted," "Meals for the not TOO tired" and "Bring it on! (But, Be Gentle)" because how many times have I gotten dinner on the table much later than intended just because all that chopping took way longer than it would if I'd had just a bit more sleep the night before?
  
  
• Sometimes tricky, mostly fun :-)
  By A24ZFFRQ4MG3XL on 2006-04-25
  I like (not love) cooking, but when you come home late from work, and you haven't already gotten something prepared, then it's so handy to have Rachaels book around.
  If you are fairly organized and focused, you can truly have these meals done in the specified time. Especially after you've done them a couple of times and get familiar with the preparation, then of course it's easier.
  The thing I also like most, is that there aren't any super exotic ingredients that you need. You only need fairly basic ingredients and a lot of them you should have on hand at all times and then you don't have to worry about running out to get them.
  The meals are reasonably healthy, but all that I've tried are delicious. They've been broken into three catagories: 1)Meals for the exhusted, 2)Meals for the not too tired and 3)Bring It On (But Be Gentle). Even in print, her vivacious personality shines through.
  Even if you aren't usually pressed for time to make dinner etc, it's still a great and fun cookbook to have around (you can never have too many recipe books). I love flipping through the pages with all the gorgeous pictures and I enjoy making great tasting dinners from this. I always look forward to her new books. Keep them up.
  
  
• GREAT concept, HORRID execution - Shame, cute Rachael...
  By A1YQKSLECTQYFI on 2006-04-27
  I love the idea of the book. I couldn't wait to try a recipe. My rating has tipped you off that this will be a pan. Maybe my review will save someone else from wasting money.
  
  I just made my first dish (Cowboy Spaghetti) after studying a dozen recipes pretty carefully. It tasted OK but she sure made it hard. Here are some of the problems I found (and maybe they aren't problems for you) -
  
  1) NO PICTURES! Sheesh, talk about making life hard for the reader. Photos or sketches would make scanning recipes much easier, and they help guide me in my final assembly.
  2) STOP WITH THE TOO-CUTE LINGO - it really grates quickly and it makes it much harder to find the important info.
  3) HARD-TO-FIND INGREDIENTS - maybe I'm just too dumb about cooking, but I don't know where to look for things like Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, capers, cans of fire-roasted tomatos, chipotle chilies, cannellini beans, ditalini, gemelli, cavatappi, and tamari
  4) EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL to cook bacon? Maybe I should garnish it with a dollar bill just to be sure... I can accept using OO even with bacon, but EVOO is over the top (in my judgement).
  5) ERRORS - Am I an idiot because I cannot intuit what I should do with the 3 strips of bacon she had me cook and dry on paper towels? (I used it as a garnish)
  6) TABLE OF CONTENTS stinks! I think there should be a list of recipes, I think they should probably be grouped together by type (sandwiches, stew/soups, etc.).
  
  What a shame! Congratulations Rachael on being so cute and ebulllient - you're a joy to watch, but I won't ever look at one of your books again.
  
  
• Too many cookbooks!
  By A1ONVI7OH7MA0E on 2006-04-20
  I guess Rachael Ray doesn't like to repeat herself in her cookbooks...and it shows. I looked through this entire book and did not find 1 recipe I wanted to try. She is really stretching in this cookbook...I've bought all of her books (blush), but that's it for me. Has anyone noticed that everything she needs is at the front of her cupboard??? I would be faster if I didn't have to dig for ingredients too.
  
  
• Save your money!
  By A1K720ZIY7FAXN on 2006-05-19
  Don't waste your money on this cookbook, if you can even call it that. I should've learned my lesson from her last book. The woman cannot cook. Most of the recipes in this book are awful. I was looking for some "healthful" recipes, but somehow frying bacon in extra virgin olive oil doesn't fit into that category!!!!
  Spend your money on Paula Deen's new magazine!!! There are a ton of delicious recipes there!!!
  Ms. Rachael Ray, I do belive your 15 minutes are up!!!
  
  
  
  
• Good but Not Great
  By A4VMQ6ZTSXSSL on 2006-06-14
  I think Rachael Ray is so cute and bubbly that she has developed into a national craze. And I also think her publisher is pushing out more books, more books and more without regard to content because of her popularity. That's why many of her cookbooks I have not rated so highly. This book layout is based on time contraints not by meal type. It's for the very rushed, less rushed and have more time concept; rather than knowing you have thawed chicken that needs to be cooked tonight you'd have to search for recipes that call for using chicken.
  What I do like about it is that on the way home you could theoretically stop at the grocery and with purchasing 3 or 4 ingredients have a well rounded home cooked dinner. That is after you got home, changed clothes, pulled out 3 or 4 pots/pans and then started boiling water and chopping vegetables. I don't think it's very realistic; most people who are rushed for time would just drive-thru somewhere and throw bags of dinner on the table when they got home.
  And if I were stopping at the grocery I'd probably just buy the cooked chicken that so many groceries have already cooked and boxed at the register. If needed I could run to the deli and buy 2 or 3 things of pre-made salads, beans, slaw, etc.
  So I'm not sure the cookbook is really practical from the express lane point of view. What I do like about it is if you already have your ingredients at home and with a few pantry staples you could make a quick meal. I like this cookbook much better than the 365 with no repeats cookbook.
  Most of the recipes I liked although Rachael likes capers a lot and I do not. I like this cookbook better than many of her others so worth it just from the Rachael Ray craze viewpoint.
  
  
• No thank you...
  By A75PY8BLGXVOW on 2006-09-05
  Healthy? I don't think so. Every meal she uses a lot of olive oil, butter, and salty additives. then writing a recepie for "Hamburger Salad" Basically garden greens from a bag, and a couple fried hamburger patties placed on top of the greens, with cheese on it. Oh my...Quick, easy and "Healthy" meals. I don't think so.
  
  
• Ingredients NOT hard to find
  By A3K3FFV31IV8Z8 on 2006-04-29
  In response to the poor review below-
  The only ingredient listed in the book that is remotely hard to find might be fire-roasted tomatoes, but Rachael has said that regular canned tomatoes can be substituted easily with great results. I can't believe this reviewer can't find Parmesan cheese??? As for the other ingredients, capers are found with pickles/olives, chipotle chilis are in the Mexican food section (found in almost every regular grocery store-near the salsas, tortillas, etc.), cannellini beans are just white beans found near black/pinto/navy/etc. canned beans, ditalini, gemelli and cavatappi are just TYPES of dried pasta (available in any regular grocery store or just substitute another shape-they're all made of the same stuff and taste exactly the same! only the shape is different! it doesn't matter!), and tamari is just dark soy sauce which I've been able to find in every regular grocery store together with the regular soy sauce. Romano cheese is also extremely easy to find; all grocery stores that have a cheese section will have it, and Kraft makes a pre-packaged grated Romano (although not true Pecorino Romano). You don't have to look far to find this stuff, nor do you have to go to a health food or specialty food store! Finally, extra virgin olive oil is not expensive; you don't have to buy the special imported high priced kinds! And you'll use only a few tablespoons per recipe anyway.
  I think that Rachael's original types of measurements (twice around the pan, palmful, etc.) may not be to everyone's taste, and some people may not like a cookbook without pictures of every recipe. These are valid opinions. The reviewer who complained about the ingredients being hard to find, however, needs to actually look around in the grocery store before determining that these are impossible to obtain.
  
  
• On hand supplies
  By A3OQON9G60DOJB on 2006-07-26
  I was a bit disappointed as a large part of the recipes are from things that you need to have "on hand" such as capers, canned chick peas, shallots, spanish onions, Italian Tuna in EVOO and anchovy fillets. I think there were over 50 items listed that you needed to have on hand. Some were simple, such as peanut butter, but most were not. There were certainly many items I don't keep on hand, that would send me to the long line at the supermarket, rather than the express line. Which sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
  
  I would have also appreciated the calorie count, the sugar count, dietary items.
  
  Although I do love to watch her on television, I was just hoping for some of her great recipes truly through the express line at the grocery store.
  
  
• Too cute for the kitchen
  By AS37A8GAQSXCG on 2006-08-09
  This book is all fluff and very little real information. The language is cloying and takes away from any recipe that I would consider making. Rachel shoud stick to TV where it's fun to watch her, and forget books unless she's writing kiddie books. I am an accomplished cook and was hoping to find some easy, quick recipes. Instead, I was annoyed by all the Cute Stuff.
  
  
• Can actually cook a meal after work
  By AGFTRFRT1MVEW on 2006-11-14
  I'm not a great cook. What I love about this book is that it actually follows through with its plan of having a stocked pantry and then only having to buy a few things. I can actually finish most of the recipes in a little over thirty minutes- I'm not that great with knives yet. And my husband and I have at least liked if not loved the recipes we've tried so far.
  
  
• Great idea, poorly executed--neither delicious nor 30-minute meals
  By A9HARJDM4BCHA on 2007-03-19
  As a mother of two small children, I don't have much time to cook. I'm always on the lookout for easy AND delicious meals. When I saw this cookbook at the bookstore, I got very excited. The title of the book, "What to have on hand, what to buy fresh for the easiest-ever 30-minute meals," sounded too good to be true.
  
  Well, it was. Whoever came up with the title is a marketing genius. It was exactly what I wanted. (Well maybe, not "exactly" what I wanted. If it were the "easiest and delicious" meals, that would have hit the jackpot.) Unfortunately, however, the book itself falls short of its title. I tried a handful of recipes and found that...
  
  1) I'd have to have a bigger kitchen to keep all of the things on her list in stock. I just don't have the space for all of the things Rachel Ray said I should have on hand.
  
  2) The meals I tried were not always "easy" and often required 30 minutes for just prepping! Some required both my husband and I prepping for 30 minutes! Infuriating!
  
  3) I think I only tried one meal that actually tasted good enough for me to want to cook it again.
  
  This book was a huge disappointment. I almost gave it 1 star, but I reserve that designation for the absolute worst books. Plus, the idea of the book is a good one, hence the two stars.
  
  
• Rachael Ray's Master Ingredients: For Best Results, Use This List with Another Rachael Ray Cookbook
  By A1K1JW1C5CUSUZ on 2007-03-23
  If you only buy one Rachael Ray cookbook, avoid this one. Why? It has the least number of good recipes of any of her major cookbooks. And frankly, her best recipes in other books are much better.
  
  If you are going to buy more than one of her cookbooks, definitely look at and consider picking up this one. Why? It has a convenient list of what to stock as your base ingredients for many of Rachael's 30-minute meal recipes. The list will save you a lot of time with future 30-minute meals as you use recipes from other Rachael Ray cookbooks.
  
  What is the strength of the 30-minute meals concept? You can arrive home late after a hard day at work and put together a tastier meal than most people do who arrive home on time and not tired.
  
  What are the weaknesses of how Rachael Ray pursues the concept? I usually see two: You need to already have the right ingredients on hand (or you spend another 20-30 minutes with a trip to the store); and you need to be a very fast chopper and multitasker for the most difficult recipes and menus.
  
  I'm not very good at keeping a master list of items stocked, I chop slowly, and I don't multitask very well. So I focus on Rachael's recipes that happen to match what I have in the house and don't require much chopping or multitasking. Fortunately, most of her recipes that I think taste best fit into that category. Whew!
  
  But if I'm going to do more with 30-minute meals, I need to carry a larger and more diverse inventory. This book gives the list to me that I need to plan and stock that inventory. If that's all you want to use the book for, I suggest you just borrow a copy from the library and jot down the list. If you want a more permanent version, buy a used copy and cut off the cheat sheet on the inside of the back cover that lists where to find the staples and condiments items in the grocery store. On pages 14-16, you can also cut off (and laminate) the lists of all the items you need and suggested places to store them in your kitchen or pantry.
  
  I'm usually quite a big fan of Rachael's recipes. In 242 pages, I only found a few handfuls of recipes that interested me. Here they are:
  
  Spinach-artichoke cheesy tortellini
  Open-face blue moon burgers with 'shrooms
  Cowboy spaghetti
  Smoky black bean and rice stoup
  Hungry man bloody-mary burgers and spicy garlic-roasted broccoli
  Chicken with scallion-lime sauce and sweet carrot rice
  Chicken, chorizo, and hominy stoup
  Bacon bit burgers with smoked gouda and steak house smothered onions and baby spinach salad
  BLT soup
  Fillets of sole Francese and lemon-basil pasta
  Red snapper with sweet anchovy-pine nut sauce and caramelized zucchini
  Smoked paprika chicken
  Everything lo mein
  Ginger chicken and noodles with veggies
  Black bean, chicken, and chorizo burritos
  Bacon-wrapped halibut with seared cherry tomato sauce
  Spicy black bean soup with limed-up shrimp
  Smoky chipotle-chicken corn chowder with salsa salad
  
  As you can see, most of these are pretty simple dishes. The book is divided into three parts (meals for the exhausted--76 pages, meals for the not too tired--104 pages, and bring it on!--43 pages). If you are always exhausted after work, you'll be disappointed in the relatively few recipes for you.
  
  I think that where the book went wrong was in trying to keep down the number of ingredients you might have to buy specially for one meal. If you are going to have to pick up a few items anyway, what are a few more? It's not like the store is busy on most week nights after work.
  
  If you've watched Rachael on television, you also know she works fast and easily with great energy, and displays wonderful chopping and mixing skills. Keep that in mind when you pick out a recipe from this book to try out. It may take you a lot longer than 30 minutes if the chopping and multiple steps are substantial.
  
  
  
• Nothing in there appealing
  By A3ULNDDLG5Q82E on 2006-05-16
  This is the first RR cookbook I've purchased. I won't do it again unless I preview it first. There isn't one thing I would make in there. I was also disappointed to find that nutritional information is not included, yet on her show, she often claims this is "healthy." I enjoy the show, but not this book. It's going to be re-sold.
  
  
• bad bad
  By ANT4E8G5ULBT9 on 2006-05-20
  this is is a horrible cook book. I didn't buy it at amazon, but it was awful. Not imaginative at all.
  
  

• Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes
• Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook)
• Rachael Ray 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds
• Classic 30-Minute Meals: The All-Occasion Cookbook
• 30-Minute Meals