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Cheat’s cuisine

Can't cook? Won't cook? Don't worry: Caroline Dear has some nifty and thrifty ideas for tarting up ready-meals

Let's face it: women today have busy lives. It's like trying to cook with one hand and clean with the other, while you're balancing the baby on your knee and helping the older kids with homework.

But what if you've got to rustle up something a bit special - maybe at short notice or on a weekday evening?

Of course you could just heat up some ready-made 'meals, slap them on the plates and serve. But with a little imagination you can transform the prepared food and ready-made dishes you'll find on any supermarket's shelves into delicious dinners.

Look the part
The easiest ready-meals to pass off as your own are the 'premium' supermarket brands. The Tesco Finest* range, for example, offers convenience meals such as Salmon en Croute, Lemon and Herb Couscous with Chicken, and Normandy Apple and Calvados Tart. However, expect to pay premium prices for this posh fare.

But the real trick with ready-meals lies with presentation. Even the cheapest of pre-packed food can be a gourmet experience if you know how.

Click here for the ultimate cheat's cuisine dinner party menu.

Read on for some basic tricks for adding instant class:

• Food transferred to attractive serving dishes or tureens looks more appetising than meals straight from the microwave or pan.
• Serve a salad on a large plate and allow your guests to help themselves (improvise salad tongs using a couple of wooden spoons).
• Take a tip from some of the TV chefs and, instead of plonking servings around the plate, stack food in layers, surrounded by a sauce. For a neat stack, spoon your food on to the plate through a dough cutter - or even a well cleaned play-dough cutter.
• Use a kitchen towel or clean dishcloth to clean any spills off the plate once the food is neatly placed.
• For rice with a difference, spoon the cooked grains into a teacup or mug and up-end on to the plate for an attractive rice tower.
• Big white plates always make food look at its best, and remember to warm them first: just pour over some hot water, or place them in a cool oven for a few minutes.
• Nicely laid out place settings also add to the atmosphere. A side plate with a butter knife can give the impression that a lot of care has been put into the food, while a bottle of water and two glasses per guest - one for wine, one for water - makes the host look very thoughtful and organised.

Over the page: More cheat's cuisine

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