“Be simple. Have a beginner’s mind. Allow plenty of time and don’t overload yourself with complicated recipes. Cookbooks and measurements are good guides, but use your own creativity and trust yourself to cook well without them.” ~ Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, by Paul Pitchford.

This short passage resonated deeply within when I read it, for it reflects my approach to cooking these days. Once an avid user of cookbooks and established recipes, writing out long grocery lists of specific ingredients, I no longer do this—ever, actually. What I do is write down a general grocery list of supplies I need, and I work from that to purchase whatever looks good in the store. Then, I plan meals from day to day, choosing from whatever ingredients I happen to have on hand.

Still, I occasionally use a cookbook as a guide, as I did yesterday, in preparing that whole chicken. But once I had the chicken and the broth cooked, I departed from the recipe, and will probably never look up how to cook a chicken that way again; it’s filed away for future use. The result was a delicious chicken noodle soup with lots of green leafy vegetables and whole-grain egg noodles. Fantastic, especially when accompanied with a fresh-baked loaf of honey-date-walnut whole wheat bread (my own recipe) straight from the bread machine.

I highly recommend this approach to cooking. The more you do it, the better you become at it. I’m pretty cavalier about exact measurements for almost everything I make, and it always seems to turn out okay. Try out new spices and new combinations; shop according to what looks freshest and most healthy, and go from there. If you’re not sure, pop out a cookbook or check online for ideas and guidance, but don’t feel like it has to be an exact science. It doesn’t.

Guiding others to prepare their own healthy meals at home is the reason behind all of the recipes I post, such as today’s Healthy Vegetarian Breakfast Egg Frittata Recipe. I created this one morning earlier this week, and of course, then I wanted to share the idea with everyone, because it’s yummy and really easy to make, plus it’s packed with good nutrition. Along with the Easy & Quick Healthy Breakfast Cereal Recipe (I make mine with goji berries usually), it’s one of my breakfast mainstays these days.

The more you cook for yourself and your loved ones, the more confidence in and comprehension of the power of your own culinary wizardry you’ll gain, and the more delicious your meals will become. As in any endeavor, it takes time and effort to master, and there’s always room for improvement. But it’s fun and freeing, a time for you to use your imagination and play with your food. And if you occasionally make something really terrible tasting, the best thing to do is announce it yourself, remove everyone’s plates, and try, try again, laughing all the while.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Diet, Freelance Writing, New Article(s) Published, Philosophizing, Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.