• dcdemars on April 27, 2016

  This also does not correspond to my book, which has the identical cover except it says 280 recipes. Furthermore, I have another Cooking Light book entitled "Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals" and the recipe list for that book appears to be identical to the book listed here.

• weirdsci on January 03, 2016

  I agree. My book has 280 recipes. This is not the same book. Beware that the recipes indexed here are not in the 280 recipe version.

• Sghanson on March 21, 2015

  The index for this book on the eatyourbooks site does not match the ISBN number for my edition (2009, ISBN-13:978-0-8487-3264-6). The 2009 edition has 280 recipes. It is a different book.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Sausage and barley soup

  • Christine on March 06, 2018

    This turned out really well, but I didn't follow the recipe as written. I used Italian sausage, longer-cooking pearl barley, and fresh peppers/red onion in place the frozen stir-fry mix. I roughly doubled everything so I wouldn't have leftover bits of ingredients. This was a really great flavor combination and I loved the pepper base for the soup instead of broth/stock (but it wasn't overwhelming if you're not a big pepper person). Most of my substitutes were because of what I had on hand, not because I was opposed to the more shortcut-type ingredients -- I can't imagine there would be a big difference in the results.

• Prosciutto, Fontina, and fig panini

  • Christine on March 06, 2018

    Easy and delicious! Substituted fresh mozzarella for myself and cheddar for my husband so we could use what we had on hand.

• Rosemary-fig chicken with Port

  • Christine on March 06, 2018

    Substituted chicken tenders with good results. Used 1 tsp dried rosemary which may have been a little much, but the sauce was still very good. Served with brown rice and roasted carrots.

  • mharriman on September 17, 2021

    Delicious and quick and easy as promised. I accidentally purchased chicken tenders; I think they worked better on the stovetop than full breasts. I was able to use fresh rosemary from my herb garden and that gave the fig preserve/port sauce a nice contrasting savory pop of flavor. Served with steamed broccoli and Jacques Pepin’s brown rice recipe that includes sautéed onions and raisins. Good enough to repeat.

• Grilled chicken with rustic mustard cream

  • TrishaCP on May 20, 2020

    We really liked this dish too. Both the marinade and the “cream” are very quick to pull together. We had a coriander/orange mustard for the sauce, and it was really delicious.

  • mharriman on October 16, 2018

    I love this recipe! Made it tonight by pan grilling the chicken ( skinny grill pan on stovetop) for 10 minutes and finishing in oven at 350 degrees with foil tent for 20 minutes. A good plan B when we don’t want to fire up the grill. I whipped up the sauce and pan roasted the tomatoes while the chicken was baking.

• Seared scallops with warm fruit salsa

  • nicolepellegrini on September 07, 2018

    I wasn't crazy about this. The fruit salsa needed something else, either a little spice like cumin or some honey, or maybe fresh chiles. Scallops would have been more flavorful seared in butter, though of course that probably wouldn't then qualify as "cooking light".

• Lemon red snapper with herbed butter

  • EdM on July 30, 2019

    Easy (baking on lemon slices is a terrific idea), and good flavor enhancement to plain snapper if using fresh herbs - thyme plus one or two others.

  • mharriman on November 29, 2018

    I liked this lightly seasoned snapper recipe. There was just enough paprika, salt and pepper to let the snapper shine. My lemon zest and herbed softened butter didn’t melt on the fish after baked, though. I had to brush it over the fish a couple times. My cooking time was a full 22 minutes for one 16 ounce snapper fillet. It was raw on the inside at 13 minutes. I served it with roasted brussels sprouts rather than zucchini because that’s what I had in my fridge.

  • jhallen on January 03, 2023

    This was ok - it was easy but nothing particularly special about it either.

  • MBGirl on March 28, 2020

    This is a nice recipe. I used tilapia and it worked out great. Very easy.

• Creamy garlic shrimp and pasta

  • Rinshin on October 09, 2019

    After reading mharriman’s note on using boursin and how quick it is to make this pasta, i knew I had to make this. Used homemade boursin I had along with about a cup of leftover from previously made green beans, tuna, and wild mushrooms from Six Seasons. Added the quick pan grilled shrimp right before serving. I did not think I cared much for creamy pastas except uni, but this changed my mind. Terrific taste and done within 30 min. Repeat.

  • mharriman on October 07, 2019

    This is one of my go to dinners when I want to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less time and I’m having a craving for pasta and cheese sauce. Saturday night I used a small round of Boursin garlic and herb cheese, 2 percent milk, and Chardonnay. I started the sauce while the water for the fresh pasta was heating up. Once the sauce was creamy, I stirred it into the pot of drained pasta and shrimp. Ready to serve! Fresh herbs help make this dish sing.

• Individual salsa meat loaves

  • Rinshin on October 10, 2019

    Had leftover salsa that needed to be used up and came across this quick recipe. Used one egg instead of egg whites and included caramelized onion to the mixture. The additional salsa topping was spread on top after 30 min in the oven and cooked for additional 5 min. Very diner like but it was satisfying, quick and tasty.

• Sautéed zucchini and bell peppers

  • mharriman on April 15, 2020

    This isn’t much of a recipe (not much to it) but I was happy to find it in order to use and jazz up an edible but aging zucchini. Paired with minced garlic and sliced bell peppers, this makes a quick and tasty side dish.

• Almond-crusted tilapia

  • mharriman on May 23, 2020

    I substituted Pacific sole for the tilapia with very good results. The fillets pan fried and were ready to eat after the three minutes per side as directed. Most of the almond mixture stayed adhered to the fish although I did lose some that came off the underside from flipping them over. I make the garlic mashed potatoes recipe, the suggested accompaniment on the same page, all the time for other entrees and they were great with these fillets.

• Mashed red potatoes with chives

  • mharriman on November 06, 2017

    So fast, Tasty, and delicious! This makes a chunkier mashed potato, which I prefer, so it’s my go-to recipe when a meat dish calls for mashed potatoes. I skip the yogurt based spread and just add a dab of milk or half and half if the sour cream doesn’t create enough mashed texture. Last night I used russet potatoes and found that these don’t microwave for mashing nearly as well as red potatoes.

• Scallops in buttery wine sauce

  • mharriman on October 21, 2018

    Delicious and easy. This is an entree that’s good to do if you’re short on time. I don’t make it unless I can find fresh tarragon because the tarragon and butter are what make the scallops pop with flavor. I serve with the suggested asparagus and feta cheese (on the same page of the cookbook) and steam ( rather than boil) the vegetable while I’m searing the scallops.

• Greek-style shrimp sauté

  • mharriman on January 10, 2018

    Satisfying and light. The combination of fresh basil, feta, shrimp, tomatoes, and kalamata olives over orzo is wonderful. This was easy and fast to put together. I used cherry tomatoes instead of grape; everything else was as directed. My husband and I loved this.

• Broiled shrimp kebabs with horseradish-herb sour cream sauce

  • mharriman on May 15, 2020

    So quick, easy, and very tasty. I used a Seafood spice mix from the Cannon Beach EVOO Cooking School which was pretty spicy, making the contrasting horseradish sauce that much better. This is a great warm weather dish accompanied by crusty bread and corn salad or corn on the cob. A winner.

• Skillet barbecue shrimp

  • mharriman on September 26, 2017

    Tasty and easy to make. Calls for McCormick's Worcestershire ground black pepper as part of the sauce. I used a McCormick's Pub Mates Worcestershire spice mix since I couldn't find the pepper called for. Could have probably just added Worcestershire sauce and black pepper to the other ingredients. I served this over Lundberg red beans and rice with a green tossed salad.

• Bananas in warm rum sauce

  • mharriman on July 05, 2018

    This didn’t turn out as tasty as I had anticipated. The rum sauce was very light and hardly noticeable. The bananas and vanilla ice cream provided the main flavors. Maybe because this dessert recipe is in a Cooking Light cookbook it’s not meant to be richly flavorful? This was okay but needs some tweaking to make it more flavorful.

• Pesto shrimp pasta

  • mharriman on March 19, 2020

    An easy and tasty light-side meal on a warm very early Spring evening. I used regular spaghetti which was a fine substitute. This is a good staple recipe if you have large frozen shrimp, spaghetti, fresh tomatoes, Parmesan, and bottled pesto on hand.

• Prosciutto and spicy green olive pasta salad

  • mharriman on June 16, 2018

    Easy, light, and satisfying entree, especially on a day like today with 85 degrees at 7 PM. One of my summer go- to favorites.

• Portobello and black bean quesadillas

  • mharriman on April 26, 2018

    One of our favorite weeknight dinners. I used pre-shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese blend cheese with last night’s quesadillas and the insides were a bit dry. I’ll go back to full fat cheese that I shred from a block next time. I like to top these with sour cream and salsa. Goes great with a green salad that includes tomatoes and avocados. This gets me in the mood for Cinco de Mayo!

• Halibut with quick lemon pesto

  • mharriman on August 06, 2017

    I like that this Cooking Light cookbook pairs entrees with sides on the same page (199). In this case, the side is Grilled Zucchini and Red bell pepper with Corn. Because both are grilled, the directions would be better to direct that the zucchini and bell pepper be put on the grill earlier and grilled two minutes longer (5 minutes per side) than the halibut (4 minutes each side). My husband grilled them together and took them off at the same time and the zucchini and red bell indeed needed two minutes more grill time. I made the pesto ahead of time. It's very lemony which adds depth to the rather bland halibut. Nonetheless, this was a healthy, fresh tasting dinner which we paired with a Chardonnay and green salad. A keeper!

• Creamy avocado soup with tomato-lump crab relish

  • mharriman on August 11, 2018

    Fast and simple to make. This is a thick no cook soup that looks more like pudding than soup but very luscious in appearance and really good when topped with the lump crab meat, minced tomatoes, and green bell pepper. I served it with the same page suggested accompaniment, mango and jicama salad. Nice light summer meal.

• Minted mango and jicama salad

  • mharriman on August 11, 2018

    Excellent! I didn’t have the marmalade so I used mango chutney, and it was delicious. I used mint leaves from my herb garden. A refreshing salad that would go with many entrees.

• Pear-walnut sandwiches

  • mharriman on October 23, 2020

    This was a tasty sandwich - surprised how much my husband liked it. I made two changes: substituted sourdough for the cinnamon bread and omitted the sprouts. The suggested pairing, Carrot ginger soup, appears on the same page. I made our favorite family carrot and mushroom soup instead, and it went well with the sandwiches. Wonderful Fall recipe when Bartlett pears are in their prime.

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    The store was out of cinnamon raisin bread, so I made my own. Other than making the bread, the recipe was quite easy and good. Worth a repeat.

• Goat cheese and roasted pepper panini

  • mharriman on May 21, 2018

    Tasty and very easy to make. A nice sandwich that went well with a zucchini and basil soup I made. This has a satisfying makeup without being heavy. Next time I’ll be more vigilant about timing the pan cooking. One side of my panini was more blackened than nicely browned because I wasn’t paying close attention. The sandwiches still turned out well despite one side being over grilled.

• Open-faced smoked salmon sandwiches

  • mharriman on June 28, 2019

    Wonderful sandwich. I made ours with a top closed face and used Harvest Bread from Whole Foods instead of pumpernickel. Also used broccoli sprouts instead of alfalfa. Very packable and easy to eat (not messy or too cumbersome) at an outdoor concert. Now I’m excited to add it to my lunch planning.

• Grilled Asian drumsticks

  • mharriman on February 26, 2019

    This is one of my go-to recipes when I’m in the mood for Asian. Tonight I grilled the chicken on a Loge cast iron grill pan in my oven set at broiler temp. They baked for 22 ( 11 on each side) minutes, eight inches from the broiler element, and were then ready for the sauce. I like to serve the drumsticks over white rice with the suggested broccoli recipe that’s on the same page.

• Spicy-sweet broccoli

  • mharriman on February 26, 2019

    I love the flavor of the easy to make sauce for this broccoli. I don’t use the microwave ready package as directed but use fresh crowns that I cut into florets and steam in a steamer pot on the stove. Pairs well with the Asian drumstick recipe on the same page.

• Sweet mustard chicken thighs

  • mharriman on April 02, 2020

    I took reviewers suggestions from the Cooking Light website and made this into a grilled Dijon mustard thigh recipe. For the mustard, I used half coarse grain Dijon mustard and half country Dijon and added the brown sugar to make the basting sauce. Mr. H grilled the thighs on our Green Egg and basted along the way. We spooned the remaining sauce over the thighs at serving time. These were delicious. Served them with a French potato salad and petites haricot verts for a nice country French dinner. Chardonnay went well with this.

• Beef tenderloin steaks with red wine-mushroom sauce

  • mharriman on December 28, 2018

    My husband and I liked this recipe but not as much as two others in the same cookbook. We were looking to change it up with steak, and this recipe did that. Surprisingly, the fresh minced rosemary added more flavor to the dish than the sautéed mushrooms in red wine, so I wouldn’t leave the rosemary out. I served the steak with oven baked potatoes and a full leaf romaine salad with cherry tomatoes and blue cheese dressing.

• Seared beef tenderloin steaks with dark beer reduction and blue cheese

  • mharriman on January 18, 2021

    One of my favorite beef tenderloin steak recipes. I use a Williams-Sonoma Smokehouse steak rub Instead of the recommended brand in the recipe. Last night I made it with German weizen (wheat beer) since that’s the only beer I had on hand, and the sauce was as flavorful as dark beer. Depending on the thickness of the steak, the oven time can be anywhere between five and 10 minutes, depending on your wellness preference. Goes well with oven baked russet potatoes and a wedge or Caesar salad.

• Slow-cooker beef pot roast

  • mharriman on January 15, 2018

    I make this a few times during the winter months. Saturday I made it a little differently and I liked it better- used grass- fed chuck roast beef instead of shoulder; increased mushrooms to 12 ounces; increased bell pepper to wide slices from two whole peppers. The change created a chunkier gravy to spoon over the roast and the peppers were more firm. I always serve it on top of garlic mashed potatoes from same cookbook. Satisfying on a cold winter night.

• Curried pork and chai rice

  • mharriman on April 16, 2022

    Pretty tasty. Changes: I used brown jasmine rice instead of instant and filled the rice cooker with boiled chai water and freshly squeezed orange juice before turning the cooker on. I added the orange zest at the end. The pork loin chop cooking went quickly as promised.

• Hoisin pork and Boston lettuce wraps

  • mharriman on January 14, 2021

    Tasty! Husband and I really liked this recipe, especially with the suggested soup on the same page. I stir fried my pork slices in some of the hoisin sauce mixture, which added a depth of flavor. I used an entire head of Boston lettuce for two of us, making each wrap with three leaves. It’s interesting that the photo shows more than the one prescribed lettuce leaf per wrap. Fast and easy recipe as promised and a nice, lighter meal on a 50 degree January day.

• Fresh ginger, mushroom, and basil soup

  • mharriman on January 14, 2021

    This was as good as, if not better than, any broth vegetable soup I’ve had in an Asian restaurant. especially as a side for the hoisin pork lettuce wraps. My soup looks nothing like the photo, and I think the photo is in error as this is a broth soup! I substituted thin slices of shiitake mushrooms because my grocery store didn’t have enoki. The chopped fresh basil and scallion toppings were good additions to the soup. I made the soup before stir frying my pork for the accompanying wraps and just reheated it for a couple minutes after the pork was cooked. As promised, very quick and easy.

• Spiced pork tenderloin

  • mharriman on March 08, 2021

    Very good. We really liked the bourbon/spice marinade and think it would have been even better with a longer marinating time. Instead of grilling, I roasted my pork in a 400 degree oven, and it was cooked to our liking at 20 minutes. Worth repeating.

• Sweet pea and fresh mint couscous

  • mharriman on March 08, 2021

    Good. The peas and fresh mint amped up the flavor. I Used Israeli turmeric pearl couscous and doubled the amount of peas to increase vegetable intake. We liked the result- attractive to look at and pleasing to taste. Served as the suggested accompaniment to the CL spiced pork recipe.

• Tarragon chicken

  • mharriman on November 20, 2018

    Another winner from my favorite cookbook. Good recipe right now because fresh tarragon is currently plentiful at grocery stores in northern Virginia. I don’t mince my fresh tarragon as small as the photo shows and the flavor is delightful. I like to make this pan sautéed chicken with the accompanying barley side dish. Fairly light, tasty, and satisfying.

• Kalamata barley

  • mharriman on November 20, 2018

    I use regular ( Quaker brand) barley instead of quick cooking as recipe states. I just start the barley a full 40 minutes before I start the fast cooking chicken recipe. I prep all the chicken sauce ingredients, the barley additions, and make a salad while the barley cooks, and dinner is ready 60 minutes later. The kalamata barley goes well with the tarragon chicken.

• Kalamata-balsamic chicken with feta

  • mharriman on January 20, 2022

    When this cookbook first came out, I used to make this dish all the time. Haven’t made it for a long time until tonight at husband’s request. Because my Costco chicken breasts were so big, I cut them in half and that helped in cooking them so they didn’t dry out. We like the combination of ingredients and flavors in this dish. Served with suggested orzo recipe on same page.

• Orzo with spring greens and rosemary

  • mharriman on January 20, 2022

    A nice accompaniment to kalamata and feta chicken recipe on same page in my cookbook. For the greens, I used a mix of baby kale and spinach leaves since that’s what I had on hand in January where I live.

• Mushroom-herb chicken

  • mharriman on June 05, 2023

    Quick and easy weeknight entree. Nearly Anything with sauteed mushrooms is heavenly to me, so chicken and sherry paired with mushrooms was good comfort food after a night of eating too-spicy Indian fare. I used shiitake mushrooms and served the sauteed paillard over mashed potatoes, as shown in the recipe photo. Nothing gourmet, but it hit the spot.

• Chicken and shiitake Marsala

  • mharriman on November 09, 2018

    The directions make this a delicious and super easy recipe. I served it tonight with wild rice and a salad. Really yummy!

• Orange beef and broccoli

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    It was okay but not worth a repeat.

• Honey-gingered carrot soup

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    Quick and easy. Pretty good.

• Seared salmon fillets with edamame succotash

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    Quick and easy, but I’d didn’t really care for it.

• Creamy butternut squash risotto

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    Pretty decent

• Roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic glaze

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    Quick, easy, and good.

• Couscous, sweet potato, and black soybean salad

  • Dannausc on April 18, 2020

    Pretty decent.