Lieberman, of the Food Network's Good Deal
and author of Young & Hungry
, has an assured but unpretentious strategy for cooking tasty meals quickly. His Drinks and Finger Foods section is full of good bets for impressing guests, such as an Orange-Cardamon Bellini or Mini Moroccan Lamb Burgers with Lemon Yogurt Sauce. The book proceeds to offer a selection of soup, salad, main dish and dessert recipes, any of which would be worthy of a Saturday night, yet easy enough to throw together on a Wednesday. The dishes display the author's ingenuity, like a Shaved Zucchini and Radish Salad over Smoked Salmon, or Plum-Ginger Glazed Chicken with Cauliflower-Parsnip Mash. Global flavors are represented, too, like Asia (Curried Calamari and Green Bean Stir-Fry) and the Caribbean (Jerk Chicken with Banana Fried Rice). The lists of ingredients, however, are consistently short and the directions are spare—Lieberman encourages readers to rely on visual and tactile cues to test doneness rather than exact cooking times. This relaxed yet informative approach is as appealing at home as it is on TV. (Oct.)
