Dinner Tonight: Five Easy Dishes

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Last time I was here we talked about that dreaded dinner dilemma, which rears its ugly head nightly at homes the world over.

Now I'm back to dish out more, much later than I planned. Lately it seems I'm too busy for much of anything — with two kids' crazy summer schedules, a needy dog and training for a half marathon, I've been migraine-level busy. (Perhaps those 400 cupcakes I volunteered to make for an event wasn't a great call after all). 

I know my story isn't unique. My guess is you're not at home twiddling your thumbs either. Instead of offering up one knight-and-shining dish this time, I'm here to share five streamlined-yet-superb go-to's. All of these kid-friendly, one-dish recipes are winners because, while they're simple, they're also interesting. By putting a twist on a classic, you've found something brand new. My hope is that these will help all of us out in the next few weeks. I, for one, plan to make each recipe at least once (and not one single cupcake). 


Five Fast Recipes

1) Turkey-Pesto Calzone: Count 'em up, only four ingredients, but the combination is really filling and fantastic. This recipe has become the dinnertime life raft of every girlfriend I know, and they've all thanked me countless times over. Skip the pesto and use marinara if your kids are like mine and don't "do" green.

2) Simple Tomato Sauce: As Katzen's review states, you'll never buy jarred sauce again. I know making sauce from scratch sounds counter-intuitive as we are trying to hurry things up, but there are very few ingredients and it's ready in 20 minutes. This will be your new red sauce for noodles, meatballs, lasagna — you'll get rave reviews, I promise. My tip: add a little sugar with the salt to temper the tart flavor of the tomatoes.

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Ruby Tuesday's Recipe for Survival Is New Menu, Look

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Four years ago, the typical Ruby Tuesday had Tiffany lamps and roller skates hanging on the walls and sold lots of burgers and beer. Now, the company is trying to cope with the decline of the "fast casual" dining category by changing its approach.
Ruby Tuesday has upgraded its menu in a bid to break out of a ferocious competition with Applebee's, Chili's and T.G.I. Friday's, with which it is often compared. In Atlanta, where it has about a dozen restaurants, Ruby Tuesday has rolled out or plans to introduce new mahi-mahi, salads, garlic cheese biscuits, steaks and trout.
In the summer of 2008, as the economic downturn crimped the fast casual category, Ruby Tuesday worked on a $100 million project to renovate the interior of its restaurants. It was a risky move, especially given the chain's small size relative to larger competitors Applebee's and Chili's. Then, as now, there is the possibility that any gains will be a zero-sum game, as the crowded category continues to shrink.
But for now, Beall accentuates the positive. He brags about improved glassware, crab cakes made from $16-a-pound jumbo crab meat and the sleek all-black uniforms of the wait staff. (No more jeans, he points out.)
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Domino’s Names 2010 World’s Fastest Pizza Maker

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This afternoon, amidst pounding thunder sticks and 6,000 cheering spectators, Domino’s Pizza named Pali Grewal the 2010 World’s Fastest Pizza Maker. Grewal, a Domino’s World’s Fastest Pizza Maker from the UK, made three large pizzas in an impressive 39.1 seconds. That’s making three pizzas in just over 13 seconds each! Grewal won $3,000 in prize money, a trophy and the coveted title presented by Domino’s President and CEO, J. Patrick Doyle.
“I’ve been hungry for this title for such a long time and it is just awesome to finally win it,” said Grewal. “Like any great athlete, I’ve been practicing and practicing and now I am going to take a day off.”

The finalists represented Domino’s Pizza stores from around the world, as far away as Malaysia. They had to hand-stretch fresh dough, pizza sauce and top three large pizzas — one pepperoni, one mushroom and one cheese — as quickly as possible. While speed was important, it was only part of the recipe. Quality was scrutinized as two judges highly qualified in Domino’s standard pizza-making practices, inspected the stretching of the dough, application of the sauce and portioning of toppings during the competition. If the pizza was not perfect, it was returned to the competitor who remade the entire pizza, while still being timed. Grewal, a multi-store franchisee from Surrey, has been with Domino’s for over 18 years. Grewal has been making pizzas since he was 13-years-old.

Domino’s began the “World’s Fastest Pizza Maker” competition in 1982 to honor pizza makers who best exemplify the company’s philosophy of keeping efficiency in the store to allow sufficient time for safe, timely pizza delivery. “Domino’s Pizza is extremely proud to employ the fastest pizza makers in the world,” said Doyle. “Our emphasis is on the quality of the pizza, while also using our expertise to get them made quickly. The goal for everyone in our stores is to get hot, great-tasting pizzas to customers’ doors as quickly as possible. The annual ‘World’s Fastest Pizza Maker’ competition recognizes those who do this with the speed of champions every day.”

The “World’s Fastest Pizza Maker” competition was held at Domino’s 50th Anniversary Worldwide Rally in Las Vegas and attended by nearly 6,000 Domino’s team members and franchisees from around the world.
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US Restaurant Count Down by 5,204 From Last Year, Reports NPD

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U.S. restaurant unit count declined by -1 percent, or a loss of 5,204 restaurants, this spring compared to spring 2009, according to foodservice market research by The NPD Group, a leading market research company. NPD’s Spring 2010 ReCount, which is a census of commercial restaurant locations in the United States compiled in the spring and fall each year, reports that independent restaurant closings contributed to most of the decline, while chain units remained relatively stable.

According to NPD’s Spring 2010 ReCount, which was collected from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, the number of quick service restaurants declined by -1 percent or 2,521 units. Full service restaurant units, which includes the casual dining, mid-scale, and fine dining segments also experienced a unit loss of -1 percent or 2,683 units.

“It’s been a difficult time for the restaurant industry with customer traffic down over the past year,” says Greg Starzynski, director, product development-foodservice at NPD. “The unit losses we’re seeing in our latest census are a reflection of the weakness in the industry with the greatest impact on the independent restaurant operators.”

According to The NPD Group’s CREST, which continually tracks consumer usage of commercial and non-commercial foodservice outlets, visits to U.S. restaurants declined by -3 percent for the year ending May 2010 compared to a year ago. Consumer spending at restaurants declined by -1 percent, the first decline in dollars NPD has reported since it began tracking the foodservice industry in 1976.
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