Ladies' Home Journal
February, 2006

Sandra Lee
This Food Network star says tasty meals don’t have to start from scratch – welcome news for busy moms

Sandra Lee was in her early teens when she mastered the art of quick and easy meal preparation. The eldest of five children whose mother was often too sick to cook, Lee was responsible for keeping her siblings’ bellies full. “I decided what we’d eat and rode my bike to the store for groceries,” she says. Some of her meals included roast meats and mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and fruit cobblers. “I learned to cook out of necessity,” she recalls “because you can’t live on Cheerios for three meals a day.”

Though not a trained chef, Lee, 38, has nonetheless become one of the hot new stars on TV’s Food Network. On her daily show, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, she whips up such tasty treats as Lemony Chicken, Crispy Onion Flowers, and Butterscotch Bonbons by combining 70 percent store-bought, ready-made or processed foods with 30 percent fresh ingredients. That magic formula, she says, spares you from slaving over the stove. It also takes it easy on your pocketbook. “Say you need six herbs or spices, which would cost $30,” says Lee. “You can get the same thing in a seasoning packet for $1.29. Then splurge on something special, like truffle oil.”

Lee, who divides her time between Los Angeles and New York City, has included more of her savvy shortcut recipes in her new book, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking 2. Inspiration, she says, sometimes comes from the darnedest sources. “One day my niece Stephanie, who’s 9, and my nephew Bryce, who’s 5, kept asking what would happen if we put the cupcakes on top of the cake, so we tried it.” Violá! Her now-famous Cupcake Cake was born. “Young people have such imagination,” Lee says. She should know.

Angel-Hair Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers, Feta and Herb Dressing
Serves 8
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 package (16 oz) angel-hair pasta or spaghettini
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water for 20 minutes
1 jar (12 oz) roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry, coarsely chopped
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives

• Place oil, herbs, juice, salt, black pepper and 2 tablespoons water in a jar. Close lid and shake until blended.
• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add dressing to warm pasta and toss to combine. Drain onion and pat dry; add to pasta with remaining ingredients and gently toss to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 
Per serving: 410 calories, 20 g total fat, 4.5 g sat fat, 523 mg sodium, 48 g carbs, 88 mg calcium, 13 mg chol, 10 g protein, 2 g fiber