Instructions: Theres a time-saving cooking trend with a vague name: food assembly. It means that you dont really cook much, but you just pile foods together instead.

Isnt that perfect for busy people?

Heres an example: You buy tortillas, heat some black beans in the microwave, you pile on shredded cheese and salsa, and then add chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and onion.

Voila! You have assembled a burrito. You have not really cooked anything.

Its not exactly haute cuisine, but it took about 10 minutes, and you cant beat that for a quick dinner after work.

You probably know these time-saving assembly meals by heart: boil some pasta, open a container of pasta sauce. Slice some bread, make a sandwich. Open a bag of lettuce, add a can of tuna and dressing. All these years, youve been participating in the assembly trend without knowing it. Hey, maybe you even started it!

The bottom line is that busy people cant cook dinner every night and most dont want to, anyway. But we like the idea of making something that seems homemade. So here are a few inspirational suggestions for quick meals - mostly assembled - for the days when you cant face one of the above concoctions one more time:
o A whole roasted chicken. Eat it with crusty bread and a salad the first night. The second night, shred it and tuck pieces into soft tacos, adding salsa, shredded cabbage, and a little yogurt mixed with tahini, if you feel daring. Put the bones in the freezer for soup stock.

o Vegetables. Whenever you cook vegetables, make extra. Then, when youre looking for an assembly item, get out your leftovers. Suggestions: steamed broccoli, zucchini sauteed in olive oil and garlic; sliced mushrooms, cooked potatoes, sliced. Theyre great in pasta, wraps, eggs, and salads.

o Roasted red peppers. Puree a jar of drained peppers in a food processor, add a clove of garlic and a little sugar. Now you have a sauce for pasta that you made yourself. Add peppers to wraps, eggs, salads and pasta.

o Wraps. Spread a tortilla with herbed soft cheese. Add roasted chicken slices and top with red pepper slices; or add marinated artichoke hearts, sliced turkey breast, and capers.

o Pre-made polenta. Take home a sturdy yellow log. Slice it, pan fry the slices in a little olive oil, top with leftover vegetables and shredded cheese.

Broil until the cheese melts.

o Frozen potstickers. Pan fry and place on a bed of salad greens. Dress with an Asian salad dressing. Drop frozen potstickers into boiling soup stock, add a dash of soy sauce, and at the end, a handful of spinach leaves and chopped cilantro.

o Pasta. Nuke a few designer sausages, slice them, and add them to marinara sauce. Add smoked salmon pieces, capers and dill to a cream sauce. Add fresh peas and chopped ham to cream sauce for a quick carbonara.

o Hummus. Top a baked potato with it, or stir it into chicken stock to create a bisque. Sprinkle both with green onions.

o Canned stock: Bring it to a simmer, add vegetables such as zucchini, spinach, tomato, canned beans, frozen peas, or broccoli florets (allow 10 minutes or less to cook); herbs or pesto; cooked, bite-sized pieces of meat; and tiny pastas that will cook quickly.

o Pre-made pizza shells: add a layer of cheese, such as grated mozzarella, ricotta or feta. Top with vegetables, such as yellow pepper strips, spinach, mushrooms or thin zucchini slices. Add seasoning such as fresh mint, olives, capers, chopped green onions or pine nuts. Bake.

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