One of the key concepts in making great food fast is flavor. Flavor means a pantry which also includes the refrigerator and freezer well stocked with flavorful ingredients. Having ingredients that pack lots of taste is important because you don t have much time for flavors to develop, the way you would in long simmering stews, for example.
Flavorful ingredients are even more important for low-fat meals in fifteen minutes.
Fats provide a great deal of the sensory satisfaction we get from food. One of those ingredients is mustard. It wasn t until I wrote about mustards for my Tastes column in the Wine Spectator that I realized there are literally thousands of them in various categories, all with little or no fat. Sox fan Barry Levenson decided he needed a hobby to take his mind off his grief. While strolling through a supermarket in Mt. Horeb, Wis., he came upon the mustard section and, for no particular reason, wondered how many mustards he could collect.