Three Basic Recipes for Everyone

You've heard me rave about Mark Bittman before. I make no bones about the fact that I love him, his food philosophy, and his very simple "anyone can do it and everyone should" approach to cooking.

Well here's another example of why. He recently wrote an article about how few people in the U.S. actually cook, or even know how, and how that is a national problem that needs fixing. If we want healthier Americans, lower healthcare costs, healthier food systems, and a healthier planet overall, we're going to need to teach each other to cook.

He acknowledges the truth that most of us, these days, are not being taught how to cook or even about food by our parents. That idea of passing down recipes and cooking lessons from generation to generation has mostly gone the way of the Dodo bird. Maybe some of us are lucky to get one or two recipes from our parents, but that's about it. It's not like we grow up knowing how to instinctively put together a menu or shop for the right ingredients or throw an impromptu dinner together at the last minute.

So Mark is making an attempt to right that wrong, but giving us three very basic recipes that we all ought to know how to make -- WITHOUT a cookbook. And I agree with him: that once you have a few recipes (be they these or others) that you can confidently cook consistently on your own, you're well on your way to being a home cook. You can extrapolate and make your own recipes and dishes by riffing off what you already know. You will no longer need to order takeout or make a run for the nearest fast-food "restaurant."

As he puts it:

Make these three things and you’re a cook. And with luck and perseverance, these foods will crowd out things like (to single out one egregious example from hundreds of its competitors) KFC’s Chicken Pot Pie, which costs about $5 (so much for the myth of cheap fast food; a terrific meal for four can be put together for $10); contains nearly 700 calories, more than half of which come from fat; and has well over 50 ingredients — most of which cannot be purchased by normal consumers anywhere — including things like “chicken pot pie flavor” and MSG.

By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind, creating more healthful, less expensive and better-tasting food that requires less energy, water and land per calorie and reduces our carbon footprint. Not a bad result for us — or the planet.

So without further ado, here are Bittman's Three:

1. Simple Stir-Fry (and really, the variations on this are truly ENDLESS)

2. Lentils and Rice (or very easily beans and rice; my Black Beans & Rice is ridiculously simple)

3. Chopped Salad (check out Robin's School Garden Salad for the most divine dressing ever)

How To Cook a [Bleeping] Steak

Heh. Thought this was hilarious and actually quite a good recipe for the simple act of cooking a delicious steak.

Check it out (though be forewarned that its language is definitely rated R).

Amen

Oh how I love Mark Bittman.

His recent article/recipe, "A Good Stirfry Hides a Lot of Faults" is right on:

A Good Stir-Fry Hides a Lot of Faults

By MARK BITTMAN

 

A post with two headlines:

1. Another comment on the superiority of winter vegetables.
2. I’m tempted to write a new book.

On the first: I have been away for four days. I returned with a couple of frying peppers. Everything else in the refrigerator is “old” by most freshness standards; it’s either weeks old, really, or it came from California or god knows where else. I had:

• a piece of already-peeled pumpkin (I peeled it last week), from Vermont; when was I there? Early December.
• a jalapeño and a leek, both in the fridge at least a week.
• pressed tofu, which evidently keeps for weeks. (There will be a Minimalist column about this soon.)
• garlic. O.K., no surprise there.
• "Chinese" chives, the broad ones, bought nearly two weeks ago.

And it all seemed fine.

So I put up some quinoa, then began chopping and stir-frying, in this order: the pumpkin, the pepper and jalapeño, the leek, the chives, the tofu, the garlic. (I should’ve saved the chives for last. Oops. We all make mistakes.) What a lunch; the stir-fry was finished before the quinoa.

Which brings us to 2. It seems I have been home two or three days a week for lunch, almost always alone, sometimes with a guest. It seems I have a refrigerator full of various types of tofu (as I said, I’m working on a Minimalist recipe), and it seems all I do is stir-fry. It might be time to devote a year to this and do 365 Ways to Stir-Fry.

On the one hand, this makes no sense: They’re all the same, at least the pattern is. Then again, the same can be said for most braises, soups, sautes, roasts, etc. — all you do is vary ingredients and seasonings. So they’re all different. You don’t need inspiration, just a bit of grounding in technique (mine, obviously, is imperfect, as I burned the chives) and a refrigerator with some vegetables in it.

They need not even be that fresh.

Papi's Aji

So in many northern Latin American countries, there is a condiment that's on every table, restaurant or home, no matter what: aji (pronounced "a-hee"). Sometimes it's spicy, sometimes not. But it is always there in a little container with a spoon in it, and it goes on anything and everything.

My Colombian dad always had a bowl of this on our table, and it never went empty, no matter how much I spooned onto my rice (mmmmm).

I thought of it the other day and HAD to make some. It's super easy and super-delish, and very customizable. It's kinda like salsa....but different. There are no tortilla chips involved, though of course you could do that if you're into that kind of thing. ;-)

Dena's Papi's Aji Bogotano 
(aka Aji, Bogota-style)

• 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 3-4 scallions, chopped
• As much cilantro as you like, chopped
• Some glugs of extra virgin olive oil
• A few tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Combine in a bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes. You want to make sure there's enough vinegar for the acid in the vinegar to make everything yummy, but not so much that it's overpowering.

Spoon it onto your rice, your beans, your platanos fritos, avocado, chicken, beef.... anything savory. Makes a great meat marinade.

Add diced hot pepper (like jalapeno, minus the seeds) or some Tabasco if you like heat, but it will then cease to be Bogota-style. Which is fine and still yummy!

When I was young, I used to just eat rice with aji on top. Makes a fantastic snack, let me tell you. Makes a great bachelor dinner, too, by the way.

This keeps for a few days in your fridge. Make a batch and try it out!

Hubby doesn't like cilantro (did you know that's genetic? Bizarre. So glad I got the gene that makes it taste delicious) so I left it out on the side. MORE FOR ME!

Buen provecho!

Dan Tobin's Breakfast Nachos

Remember this post? Well, we've got a follow-up, with an honest-to-goodness recipe for Breakfast Nachos.

And the scary part? They sound goooooooood. Kinda like chilaquiles.

There you go, Dan -- you've perfected Boston Chilaquiles. I'll send you 10% for referencing the recipe here on my site, but you gotta give me 15% for coining the name.

Breakfast of Champions

OMG I just had to share this with you. My best friend's sister's husband (uh...yeah), Dan, is one half of the hilarious genius mastermind team behind this new comic called the Urban Blah. And today's is priceless.



Because I love love love me some nachos. The thought of Breakfast Nachos? Mmmmmm...yummers.

What's your guilty pleasure/indulgence that is all kinds of wrong but just can't be denied?

Bacon Makes Everything Better

OMG this bacon flowchart has been cracking me up. Especially the part about making sure one is wearing pants when frying up some bacon. I am dying.

For everyone out there (ahem, including me) who never needs an excuse to add bacon to your day, this one's for you.

Zoe's Bachelor Dinners

One of my very best friends in the whole world, Zoe, has graciously responded to my call for quick and easy recipes with her very favorite go-to meals, which most definitely fall under the Bachelor Dinner category. And this one's a two-fer! I quote verbatim below.

(And no, she's not kidding. This is really how she's always eaten for as long as I've known her, which at this point is going on 13 years.)

Zoe's notes: honestly, it's usually popcorn! for real. mmm.

a few ways i like my popcorn:

• canola oil and kernels in pan on stove - then add sea salt


• airpopped, with lots of butter and salt


• laziest of all: microwave mmm.


• south beach alternative? edamame, sea salt...

sometimes, chicken smashed thin, dipped in egg, panko crumb things, olive oil all pan fried up. mmmm.

Leanna's Bachelor Dinner

My friend Leanna has given us this recipe to try. I have heard her call it "Burrito in a Bowl," but for today's theme, it is now Leanna's Bachelor Dinner, especially given its versatility.

Leanna's notes: I don’t work from recipes that often and I rarely cook anything the same way twice, so actually trying to share a recipe requires a little bit of thought.

Unless of course all my recipes are:

1. Open can


2. Throw whatever is in refrigerator that sounds good with can contents – providing it has not spoiled – into frying pan or microwavable bowl


3. Season to taste


4. Heat


5. Grate cheese of choice over top


6. Serve with chips

If it is hot outside, omit step 4, unless eggs or onions sounded good with contents of can.

Bachelor Dinner Thursday

I asked my friends to submit recipes that were quick & easy, their "go-to meals." I got lots of great recipes back. And two that fall into the category that I like to call "Bachelor Dinners."

We all know what these are -- back in the day when I was single, I could easily make dinner out of tortilla chips and salsa. Or peanut butter, a spoon, and a hunk of yummy bread. The two recipes I'll be sharing with you today are an homage to the Bachelor Dinner. Because even when our single days are long past, we all fall back on these old favorites every once in a blue moon or two.

And I am all about eschewing food snobbery, so Bachelor Dinner Thursday it is.

Feel free to submit your own tried and true Bachelor Dinner by posting a comment!