If you are like most of today’s busy cooks, you try to be efficient, creative and economical in your meal planning. One of the best ways to meet those goals — and to make life a little easier, too — is to use prepared foods, or convenience foods.

Foods that are already washed, trimmed or cut up save lots of time and effort. Foods that are pre-cooked are priceless! That’s why the deli department is a goldmine for cooks who are looking for timesaving meals.

Take a look around and you’ll be amazed at all the options for quick meals:

• Bagged salad greens, coleslaw and broccoli slaw
• Takeout side dishes, such as potato and macaroni salads
• Packaged, pre-cut, pre-washed vegetables
• Rotisserie chicken
• Fresh, pre-cut fruits
• Takeout burritos and submarine sandwiches
• Cooked pork and beef main dishes
• Cooked taco meat
• Cooked chicken strips
• Cooked, shredded barbecue meat
• Takeout desserts

You can make entire meals out of convenience foods, or you can mix and match convenience foods with homemade dishes. It’s just a matter of making the most of what’s available. Let’s stroll through the deli section for some ideas:

• Combine cherry or grape tomatoes that don’t need slicing with a bagged salad for a super-fast family salad.
• Serve a deli-prepared pork or beef entrée with one or two side dishes that you make yourself, such as brown rice or steamed vegetables. Or, take home a few deli side dishes — such as baked beans, coleslaw and potato salad — to serve with a main dish that you whip up. Whole-grain bread or rolls complete the meal.
• Make an easy stir-fry by combining pre-cut chicken strips with a package of broccoli or cauliflower florets and a package of pre-cut carrot strips.
• Make a main-dish pasta salad using fresh cheese tortellini, grated mozzarella and frozen, chopped onions and green peppers. Serve with the bottled dressing of your choice.
• Serve deli-prepared barbecue meat on your favorite bakery buns with fresh or frozen corn on the cob.
• Host a Mexican fiesta using deli-prepared taco meat; cut-up rotisserie chicken; canned black beans; frozen, chopped onions and peppers; bottled salsa; and packaged, grated Cheddar cheese. Serve with taco shells and warmed flour tortillas.
• Serve a picnic-style meal of deli subs, deli potato and macaroni salads and chips. Make cupcakes for dessert — or serve cut-up fruit from the produce department.
• Make a scrumptious Caesar salad using cut-up rotisserie chicken, grated Parmesan cheese and pre-washed Romaine lettuce. Toss with a bottled Caesar dressing and sprinkle with ready-made croutons.
• Create an Asian-style salad using chopped green onions, chopped peanuts and cut-up rotisserie chicken. Serve with a sesame vinaigrette dressing.
• For a hearty, cold-weather meal, add chopped rotisserie chicken to canned soup.
• Make curried chicken salad with chopped rotisserie chicken, plain, low-fat yogurt, curry powder, sliced toasted almonds and raisins.

Whew! So many ideas, so much convenience! With all of the pre-packaged, pre-cut and pre-cooked prepared foods, there is no end to the quick, easy meals you can produce. What were you saying about having no time to make dinner?