Easy 'Za

Sometimes the easiest and most satisfying dinners are the result of a major assist from a store-bought item. I, for one, fell in love with these personal-sized, thin pizza crusts. They are (coincidentally) named Mama Mary's Gourmet Thin & Crispy Pizza Crusts and I just started noticing them at our local grocery stores. They taste delicious and are made with honey. Plus, each 7-inch crust only has 8 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 300 mg of sodium and absolutely no trans fat or dietary cholesterol. Not a bad line for such a tasty and store-bought item. Plus, they were far cheaper than those more-prominent and less healthy other pizza crusts. Boboli anyone?

But the key to making these into a shining dinner was adding a few quality ingredients to the mix. These added taste, depth and sparkle to the crusts that really made them shine.

I brushed the crusts with an extremely thin layer of high quality extra virgin olive oil to help them crisp and add some beautiful flavor, and then sprinkled a tiny pinch of sel de guarande to add a little texture and marry all of the flavors together. I used a ladle of my favorite jarred tomato sauce (a spicy red pepper marinara sauce) for the sauce and some chopped onions and sundried tomatoes for some flavor-packed toppings. Finally, I finely grated some extra sharp cheddar cheese and put a small handful atop each pizza.

I baked the crusts in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes until the crusts were crisp and the cheese browning and bubbly. And the resulting pizza was absolutely delicious. In less than 15 minutes, start to finish, we got pizza that tasted no less than gourmet. We gobbled as much as we could alongside a little salad, and we still each did not even eat one personal crust's worth. So those crusts certainly aren't skimpy either. The most wonderful part is how crispy and golden the outer crust became while the inner part was still chewy, providing that satisfying “real pizza” quality. These are surely to become a staple for us now. Because what could be better than cheap, easy and healthy pizza? Can't think of anything.

Quick Trick Wonders

Perhaps my favorite topic in all of cooking is the eponymous quick trick wonders. What do I mean? Major cooking shortcuts! Cheats. Deceptions. Bending the rules. Unless you're like me and your rules are to do what's easiest and tastiest. Then these wonders fit right in.

One of my favorite quick tricks is polenta. It takes hours to make soft, creamy, smooth polenta from scratch. And that hard polenta from the store is convenient but is just not as good as when it's soft. So here's the trick: corn is corn. The hard polenta is the same darn stuff as the soft polenta. So just reverse it! Turning those polenta logs into great soft polenta couldn't be easier. Literally all you have to do is grate the log like a huge piece of cheese, except it grates really easily. Then put the gratings in a saucepan over low heat and moisten it with either water, stock, milk or cream – really only a quarter cup is needed. Then slowly cook it at that low heat until it's soft and beautiful, and add flavors along the way. You have to remember salt, but taste it as you salt it. I like using water at first and then thickening with a little light, whipped cream cheese later, maybe a quarter cup of each. I also like adding a little Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce to give it a little tang, and the mustard, help as a thickener. Stir it every so often so it doesn't stick and when it tastes cooked and is smooth (maybe 10-15 minutes tops) it's done. Then add a little pat of butter or Smart Balance and let it melt in, to really top off that smoothness and creaminess. Beautiful, divine, soft polenta in 15 minutes!

I made this recently with another quick trick: wonton wrappers as ravioli-like noodles. They taste like fresh pasta and only take 45 seconds to cook in lightly salted and oiled boiling water (so those delicate wrappers don't stick together). I made an open-faced ravioli with these wontons, a nice scoop of my soft polenta, and a beautifully-flavored medley of sliced Brussels sprouts, shallots and leeks.

A gourmet looking and tasting dish in less than a half hour due to my quick tricks. I have many more that I have already and will continue to share, and in case you have any you'd like to share, I am always looking to add to my quick-tricktionary.