Dinner's Ready: Turn a Single Meal Into a Week of Dinners

Is it possible to summon a week's worth of dinner entrees from a few smidgens of Sunday night's repast? That's the premise of this handy guide to using a meal's remnants for the creation of quick, simple suppers. Granted, a recipe for meatloaf is included, but this book is not about leftovers--rather, it's a new method of cooking designed to save time. The big ``cooking day'' cited is Sunday, which provides the bare bones for the meals ahead, augmented by a little last-minute shopping for shrimp, pasta, bread, etc. Most of the weeknight offerings are inventive and appetizing: a fresh spice blend for Sunday's barbecued ribs does double duty in seasoning a mess of wok-steamed littleneck clams; tuna pilaf Florentine is made with a leftover cup of spinach au gratin. Most recipes are quite tasty, and simple enough to be prepared in less than 45 minutes (though preparation times are not listed). Prepared in sufficient quantities to serve a family of four, the Sunday meals are tempting enough that home cooks would be well advised to put away the ``leftovers'' required for upcoming meals before the family gets a chance to grab second helpings. Menus feature lots of fruits and vegetables, including some specialty produce that might put a strain on the family budget. The book, obviously, is geared toward households short on time, not cash. Schloss and Bookman are the coauthors of Fifty Ways to Cook Most Everything. Author tour. (Mar.)