Robin Rescues Dinner: 52 Weeks of Quick-Fix Meals, 350 Recipes, and a Realistic Plan to Get Weeknight Dinners on the Table

By Robin Miller

Miller creates week-by-week food plans that include everything from prepping ahead to taking time off for take-out night. With three planned meals a week plus optional side dishes and desserts, this... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307451402
• ISBN13: 9780307451408
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 1.0" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

A whole year's dinners - done!

This attractive, well-organized and illustrated volume from Food Network host Miller soothes harried cooks with a menu plan that encompasses the whole year, three weeknight meals a week, every week, from the first of January. Each week opens with a Prep List for tasks that can be done ahead and includes all freezing, thawing and storage tips as well. Most dishes take 30 minutes or less and provide leftovers as the basis for another meal in the same week as well as "morphs" to other dishes cross referenced in the book. A quick side dish accompanies the main event. A fall week, for instance, starts with Peanut-Crusted Chicken with Apple Gorgonzola Relish (15 min. prep; 30 min. cooking), providing leftover chicken for Creamy Peanut Chicken Fettuccine with Broccoli later in the week. Side dish recipes include String Beans with Olives, and Sautéed Bell Peppers. The week's closer is Grilled Shrimp with Mandarin-Horseradish Dipping Sauce (prep and cook 20 minutes) served with Rice Pilaf with Tomatoes. And if you make extra shrimp there are numerous recipes cited to use them in. Chicken dishes generally call for boneless chicken breast and Miller is innovative with preserves, marmalades, salsas and dried fruits in making sauces. Variety and organization are the keywords here and most busy families will find plenty to like.

Can't be beat for Healthy & Fast Meals

This cookbook is one of the most frequently used out of my collection. I have Robin's other cookbooks, but I like the way this one is laid out particularly because of the breakdown by week. I prefer to eat certain foods during certain times of the year. The meals are fairly inexpensive to make, and the recipes use basic ingredients and spices in ways that I have never thought of to create great flavor. Most of the ingredients are on the lower caloric end of the spectrum, and when you combine them with a few high caloric items the taste is excellent and the calories are less than most other meals. Very often healthy meals tend to lack flavor so Robin recipes are great for those trying to eat healthy without sacrificing flavor. Most recently I made the pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and converted that into the Alsatian tart. Both were fantastic, healthier than eating out and took me very little time to make. The quick desserts are also fantastic and because of they are relatively low in calories I feel comfortable even having desserts on the weeknights.

Nutrition, Taste, and Time!

This is a great cookbook! As a busy dietetics student and the daughter of a chef, I have 3 goals for dinner: nutrition, taste, and time. This book helps me achieve all three. I find that a lot of nutritious cookbooks skimp out on taste; however, Robin does a great job incorporating tons of delicious spices and flavor-filled foods to make up for the lack of fat and salt. I love the variety and find that I hardly have any trouble reaching my dietary goals utilizing her recipes. Her "quick fix meals" strategies and menus have been a huge time and money saver. I chop all my veggies and cook my meats on Sunday, I will leave enough for 3 days in the fridge and freeze the rest for later in the week. It's too easy! I highly recommend this book!

Robin's Best!

Admittedly, I have never been a huge fan of Robin Miller. I am not a fan of the whole "cook one recipe, use the leftovers for another recipe" genre. Robin's entire Food Network persona was built around this premise and I, obviously, didn't pay much attention. BUT, I decided to pick up her latest offering, "Robin Rescues Dinner." This book has dropped the emphasis on leftover recipes and, instead, offers meals for 52 weeks (an entire year!). Older fans of Robin should not fret because she still offers the leftover recipe option. The difference in this new publication is that, for people like me, Robin also gives you the option to create meals without having to use ingredients from previous recipes. Now that we've dealt with the whole leftover recipe issue, let's move onto the food itself. This book definitely has an emphasis on proteins (chicken, steak, salmon) with a Southwestern/Asian flair. At the bottom of each recipe, Robin offers "quick side dish" ideas and hints on "quick desserts." I love this element because it brings depth to Robin's proteins (which could have gotten stale on their own). This book really reminds me of a Rachael Ray cookbook...with less ingredients and a slightly more healthful approach. It is accessible to those who aren't interested in utilizing "leftover recipes" and the addition of "quick side dishes" and "quick desserts" add more bang to your buck. In my humble opinion, this is Robin's best offering yet. I highly recommend it to cooks looking to spice up the standard protein/salad/dessert fare without too much fuss.

Robin does it again!

I've purchased two previous books from Robin Miller, one I liked, the other not so much so I was really wondering which way this third book would go for me. The book is laid out in weeks. The weeks run from January through December (they aren't labeled as such) but she mentions in the introduction the 'warm you up from the inside out' meals will be in the beginning and the end with the warm weather menus that use fresh summer produce are in the middle. Each week has 3 meals. I can't tell you HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS!! I've learned in the past that I don't cook 5 meals, regardless of all the shopping and planning I put into it, I just lose steam and don't 'feel it' come day four and five of the week. So the fact that she features three menu's for each day is WONDERFUL! At the beginning of each week she lists the menu and a page entitled "Prep List" for example week 24 includes * Grilled Chicken w/Sherried Carmamelized Wild Mushrooms * Baja Chicken Soft Tacos **quick side dish: Olice and Tomato-spiked rice * Seared Tuna w/Miso Broth and Sesame Soba Noodles **Quick side dish: Chunky Tomato Salad then on the opposite page is the "Prep List" * Cook extra chicken for the tacos when you make the grilled chicken. (Refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using.) * Cook soba noodles for the tuna dish; toss with oil as directed (refrigerate up to 2 days). The recipes are on the next three pages complete with prep time and cook time. I've never been one to prep ahead but I'd be curious to see how it works, I may have to try it. The recipes are in a nice large font, the ingredients in bold with a lot of options for each recipe, ie; morphing into another meal, or a quick side dish option. All in all, the book has a VERY NICE layout, pleasing to the eyes as you browse through it. There are two groupings of pics, not a lot but hey the book is $20 so I'm not complaining. I GIVE THIS A TWO THUMBS UP or in this case FIVE STARS!!!