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Did you know there are people “out there” who pull good meals together, day after day, no big deal.\u00a0 You may be one of them, but if not, would you like to be?<\/p>\n
Take my CSA* for instance.\u00a0 A couple days ago, one member posted a Facebook query about how to use the beets she got in our weekly share.\u00a0 Within 24 hours, no less than 18 great ideas were posted.\u00a0 Most fell into the “throw-it-together” category, like these two ideas:<\/p>\n
“We do a root vegetable slaw with carrots, beets, and turnips. Grate them all raw and combine.\u00a0 Dress with salad dressing or don\u2019t.”<\/em><\/p>\n “I’ve been making beet bowls and they’re so easy. Just brown rice, pan or oven roasted beets and onions, garlic, some sort of green veggie and shrimp or chicken. Then I add a little mayonnaise to make it creamy and mix it up. Sounds weird but it’s super good. It’s got the sweet and savory thing going.”<\/em><\/p>\n It’s clear these, and all the other posters are not stressed, overwhelmed or confused about using up a bunch of beets.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, they are excited and jazzed at the prospect!<\/p>\n For starters, you’ve got to remember that it’s possible<\/strong>.\u00a0 The convenience food industry has worked tirelessly to erase our cultural memory that meal making is something that’s possible.\u00a0 It has beaten us down with marketing messages to make us believe that ordinary people don’t have the time or ability to make our own meals.\u00a0 (Because then you’ll opt for their products!)<\/p>\n But that’s a myth.\u00a0 Right now, ditch it.\u00a0 It is absolutely possible for you to be one of the many people throwing together great meals, day after day.\u00a0 Here are the steps:<\/p>\n Step 1.\u00a0 Learn your Legos\u00ae<\/strong>\u00a0 Did you see how the ideas above didn’t include a lot of detail?\u00a0 Instead, they just said, “grate” and “dress.”\u00a0 Or “roast,” or “throw in some chicken or shrimp.”<\/p>\n That’s because the writers know how to roast.\u00a0\u00a0 And they know how to grate (what tool works best, what size of grate is good, whether to peel or not.)\u00a0 And they know how to cook chicken or shrimp–and especially how to have some on hand as leftovers.\u00a0\u00a0 And once you know how to do these things, you do them over and over again for hundreds of different recipes.<\/p>\n Basically that’s all cooking is:\u00a0 Mixing and matching a few fundamental techniques.<\/p>\n Did you or your kids ever play with Legos\u00ae?\u00a0 Remember how a single set of blocks could be transformed into anything from a futuristic building to a rocket ship?\u00a0 The same is true for cooking.\u00a0 It can seem so mysterious, but really it’s just using and re-using the same basic building blocks, over and over, just with different ingredients.<\/p>\n And the cool thing is that it doesn’t take many of what I call “Cooking Legos\u00ae” to make hundreds of great dishes!\u00a0 Maybe six or seven!\u00a0 You can do that!<\/p>\n Now for Step 2.\u00a0 Discover What Makes Your Taste Buds Sing<\/strong>\u00a0 Did you also notice that the CSA members didn’t specify what dressing might be good on the root veggie slaw?\u00a0 Or how much garlic or mayonnaise to use?\u00a0 That’s because they have paid attention to and know what flavors and foods make them feel happy and satisfied.<\/p>\n Another sad effect of our convenience food culture is the homogenization of our tastes.\u00a0 Food flavors are “dumbed down” so they appeal to the widest possible audience.\u00a0 Making matters worse, most packaged foods rely on artificial flavors, so you lose touch with the flavors of real foods and seasonings.<\/p>\n But what an adventure awaits once you start exploring different ingredients and flavors.\u00a0 Bit by bit, your taste buds will wake up and get excited to be called into action–and you’ll develop a sense of how flavors and ingredients work together to create wonderfully satisfying dishes.<\/p>\n Finally, Step 3:\u00a0 Courage and Practice<\/strong>\u00a0 Isn’t it crazy that we can feel nervous and even a little frightened by the act of making food?\u00a0 So at a point, it simply takes the force of courage to just do it.\u00a0 Know that there are ways to try new flavors without ruining an entire dish and also, that it is rare that you would make something inedible.\u00a0 Maybe a dish you won’t ever make again, but not something that just has to be tossed!<\/p>\n And yes, it will take effort and practice.\u00a0 All good things take time and engagement.\u00a0 No time, no good things.<\/p>\n But don’t get mired in moaning about time and effort.\u00a0 Focus on the benefits:\u00a0 Meal making that is not stressful or boring, boring, boring.\u00a0 Meal making that is manageable and even a little fun and creative.\u00a0 Plus food that’s yummy, satisfying and good for you.<\/p>\n You can do it!<\/p>\n Want a little help, motivation or inspiration?\u00a0 That’s what all my classes are about<\/a>, and particularly Summer Camp<\/a>.\u00a0 We can get you started or get you moving toward the wonderful Art of Throwing Together Good Meals. Join me!<\/p>\n *CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.\u00a0 You buy an “annual share” in a farm and then each week in the summer, you get a bag of gorgeous produce.\u00a0 Read more about the many excellent benefits of joining a CSA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Did you know there are people “out there” who pull good meals together, day after day, no big deal.\u00a0 You may be one of them, but if not, would you like to be? Take my CSA* for instance.\u00a0 A couple days ago, one member posted a Facebook query about how to use the beets she … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,669,1],"tags":[87,698,696,695,699,697],"class_list":["post-3211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-cooking-basics","category-inspiration-and-goals","category-uncategorized","tag-building-block-basic-cooking-techniques","tag-cooking-from-the-hip","tag-cooking-fundamentals","tag-cooking-with-beets","tag-cooking-without-a-book","tag-how-to-throw-meals-together","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3211"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3215,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions\/3215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Would you love to have this joy in your life, too?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n