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SkinnyTaste simplifies

Photo by Amy Phelps Ropa Vieja, a Cuban dish, cooks up to 10 hours in a slow cooker, so it is a good dish to make before work and come home to.

For those who want a healthier or light version of many comfort food dishes, and want to use their Instant Pot, slow cooker, air-fryer to cook it in, or even a sheet pan, skillet or dutch oven, check out “Skinnytaste One and Done” by Gina Homolka.

The book touts 140 “no-fuss” dinners that bring great tasting food to the table using new appliances that are healthier.

The recipes are divided into seven chapters, depending on what appliance you would like to use. So if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can skip that chapter, or if you only want to use a slow cooker, you can find the recipes you want there.

Skillet dishes include Fiesta Chicken and Carrot “Rice,” Pork Chops Pizzaiola with Arugula Salad, Beef Bibimbap Bowls with Riced Carrots and Veggie-Loaded Zucchini Noodle Primavera.

Sheet Pan and Baking Dish recipes offer Crispy Chicken Schnitzel Dinner, Garlic-Dijon Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Potatoes and Green Beans, Miso Black Cod with Shitakes and Bok Choy and Curry-Roasted Vegetables with Chickpeas with Mint-Cilantro Chutney.

Pressure Cooker dishes (my favorite chapter!) offer Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup, Turkey Breast with Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans and Gravy, Easy Lamb Stew with Chickpeas and Mexican Pinto Beans with Queso.

Air Fryer dishes include Everything (but the) Bagel Chicken Roll-Ups, Italian Sausage and Pepper Calzones, Crispy Beach Fish Tacos and Margherita Pizzas.

Dutch Oven recipes offer Creamy Butternut Pasta with Spicy Sausage and Spinach, Shepherd’s Pie Stew, Mussels in Garlicky White Wine Sauce and more.

Slow Cooker recipes include Loaded Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Ham and White Bean Soup, Chunky Brisket and Cabbage Soup and Indian Butter Chickpeas.

Grill Pan and Grill dishes include Shwarma-Spiced Grilled Chicken Thighs with Tahini, Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri, Grilled Swordfish with Summer Succotash and Basil Oil and Grilled Peach and Watermelon Burrata Salad.

I tried two recipes, one from the Instant Pot section, of course, and another in the Slow Cooker section. The first was Arroz con Pollo, a dish of Mexican-spiced chicken and rice. Very simple and easy.

The chicken is seasoned, browned in the pot and then a variety of vegetables is added to the rice, the chicken is added back in the pot and it all cooks together in the pot. I love chicken cooked in the instant pot, it always comes out juicy and tender, and I haven’t had to worry about if it is cooked all the way through. I really enjoyed the dish and the flavors.

The other dish with Ropa Vieja, for my picky youngest who oddly enough loves Cuban food. It is one of those slow cooker dishes that literally cooks all day — up to 10 hours — so this is a good one to put on in the morning before work and come home to later.

The beef cooks in a tomato and beef broth as well as some olives and peppers. It was very tender and made a lot of leftovers, which my husband enjoyed and I made use of the next day.

For those who want a lot of variety and use their gadgets, this is a good book that packs a lot of flavor in healthier recipes.

“SkinnyTaste One and Done” is published by Clarkson Potter. It is $30.

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Q&A With Author Gina Homolka

* Why do you think people are using Instant Pot/Slow Cooker/Air Fryer more?

People are busier than ever between balancing careers, kids-and their after-school activities and homework-making time for exercise and their social life, it’s a wonder we have time to even think about dinner. The alternative to grabbing fast food on the busiest of days, is finding ways to make a healthy meal. Appliances like the Instant Pot and Air Fryer cook food in half the time it would on the stove or oven, and the slow cooker has always been a favorite for prepping ahead, turning it on in the morning and coming home to a home cooked meal.

* What is a recipe in your book you would recommend novice cooks try?

All the recipes in my cookbook are easy, perfect for novice cooks. Some of the easiest are: Shrimp Quesadillas with Shrimp Stuffed Avocados, Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaf Dinner and the Cheeseburger Soup made in the Instant Pot.

* What is your favorite recipe from the book?

It’s hard to pick a favorite since I love them all, but some I make all the time are Moms Skillet Chicken Pot Pie, Slow Cooker Fall-Off-The-Bone Whole Rosemary Chicken and Crispy Sheet Pan Chicken Schnitzel Dinner, just to name a few.

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Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com

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