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Quick Cooking

It's time to rethink your dinner concepts

There are many good things in Sara Moulton's new cookbook, but one that is going to make many of us cheer is the chapter heading "Breakfast for Dinner."

We are not alone, those of us who love eating breakfast at any hour of the day. Why not for dinner?

The book, Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals (Broadway, 2005; $29.95), offers a choice of about 200 quick, easy recipes, many shown in color photos. One of the book's aims is to widen the range of what you might think of making for dinner or supper beyond the expected. Hence the creative "breakfast" suggestions, and other chapters featuring "Soup for Supper," "The Substantial Sandwich" and "Entree Salads."

Yes, these dishes are all quite fast to prepare, but Moulton's book is not only about making dinner quickly, she says: "It is also about making it good and exciting." Moulton, the Gourmet magazine chef and television personality, is to be trusted on such claims.

If making dinner seems a chore, it's because we're bored, she concludes. So here is her rethinking on the meal's menus: from quick asparagus lasagna to slow-cooked Chinese spareribs, from Thai-style steak salad to polenta with Gorgonzola and leeks.

Other breakfast-for-dinner dishes include frittatas, bacon-cheese-filled biscuits, egg foo yung and potato pancakes with smoked salmon and eggs.

The following dish, making two servings, is a "cross between an omelet and a souffle and doesn't take too much work as long as you have electric beaters," Moulton says. "Make sure you beat your egg whites just to soft peaks; otherwise they won't fold properly into the egg yolks."

Any leftover cheese or vegetable, such as broccoli, spinach or the like would make a fine filling for the omelet, so she suggests you consider this a "clean-out-the-fridge dish."

1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed

Kosher salt

3 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/3 cup)

2 teaspoons rinsed, dried and finely chopped fresh tarragon or dill

Freshly milled black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter or vegetable oil

5 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

Hands-on time: 15 minutes. Total preparation time: 27 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Blanch the asparagus in a skillet filled with boiling salted water for about 2 minutes or until it is crisp-tender. Drain, pat dry and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces.

Transfer to a bowl and toss with the goat cheese, tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste.

Melt the butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet with a heat-proof handle; tilt the pan to coat the bottom with the butter and remove from heat.

Whisk the egg yolks with the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until the mixture is fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks; fold them into the yolk mixture gently but thoroughly, and pour the egg mixture into the skillet, spreading it evenly.

Bake the omelet in the center of the oven for 10 minutes, or until it is puffed and almost cooked through.

Spoon the filling down the center and, with a spatula, fold the omelet in half to enclose the filling.

Bake the omelet in the center of the oven for 2 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the omelet is cooked through.

Makes 2 servings.

[Last modified December 6, 2005, 10:06:06]