Cyber-recipes Punch in what you have, and a recipe is seconds away

The old question of "what's for dinner" never changes. But the Internet can offer new answers. <br><br>Say it's 6:30 p.m., you have chicken thawing and a hankering for Asian flavors. You want to

Wednesday, July 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The old question of "what's for dinner" never changes. But the Internet can offer new answers.

Say it's 6:30 p.m., you have chicken thawing and a hankering for Asian flavors. You want to be eating well before 7:30.

The need for speed would drop you right into the mainstream of American cookery, according to a study by a marketing information company: Nearly half of all weekday meals are prepared in 30 minutes or less, according to NPD Group.

If you have a computer and a modem, you're minutes away from just about any recipe you can imagine. And we're not just talking about a zillion boring ways to do a chicken stir-fry, either.

The Net offers two ways to find recipes. Start with search sites such as Yahoo, AltaVista and Google. Or target specific Web sites run by food manufacturers, publications or dotcom cooking commerce sites.

In either case, plug in as many specifics as you want - chicken, Asian and fast, for instance - and see what comes back.