Clearly, the “Sheet
Pan Meal” train passed me by when it first came to town, because what I thought
new and innovative, apparently others have been doing and enjoying for quite
some time. Huh. Well, at least I'm on board now, and I have to tell you that I
am loving the ride.
My first acquaintance with this flavorful and easy way of cooking was by way of
Camilla Saulsbury's book 200 Sheet Pan
Meals. It features recipes that will take you from morning (Brown Sugar
Vanilla Baked Oatmeal) to night (Weeknight Chicken & Stuffing), satisfy
your every craving (Berries & Cream Pavlova), provide you with healthy,
balanced meals, and make both preparation and cleanup a breeze. Wow!
Honestly, culinary skeptic that I am, I thought this was too good to be true.
Turns out, I was wrong. Every recipe that I have tried has been easy to
prepare, made with ingredients that I have on hand, and has been amazingly
good. And what a joy is it to crumple up the foil from the pan and toss it
away, it's almost sinful.
Thus far I have tried the BBQ chicken with potato salad, Punjabi chicken (LOVE
the Punjabi Chicken), and Italian Sausage and Pepper Supper. In each case I
halved the quantity to serve just one or two. Mr. O-P, who turned his nose up
at a baked Italian sausage meal, found himself staring longingly at my dinner
while he poked at his microwaved chicken pot pie.
I have more time (read: spend an obscene amount of time) cooking than most
people, so am generally not pressed, but for those of you with little time to
prepare a good meal, this book is the answer to your prayers.
One caveat is that preparation can take longer than you may imagine because
there can be a good bit of chopping involved. Fortunately, prep work can be
done ahead of time, with the various components stored in plastic bags or
containers to be used when you are ready. One more thing to consider is that
your sheet pan meal is only going to be as good as your ingredients. I buy the
best sausage that I can find from my favorite Italian market, and used organic
bell peppers and Gemstone
Potatoes from Melissa’s Produce.
In this day of fast food dinners, Camilla Sailsbury has turned fast food into healthy food and cleverly shown us how.
In this day of fast food dinners, Camilla Sailsbury has turned fast food into healthy food and cleverly shown us how.
Disclaimer: I
received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for
an honest review.
