(....or, notes on being more creative in the kitchen)
I was not a creative cook. But, along the way, I've collected some tricks for mixing it up a bit.
1. Consider signing up for a weekly box of fresh veggies.
I think this is what helped me start to be more creative. My roomate at the time and I signed up for Plan B Organics (yes, the name is unfortunate). It's a community supported agriculture program where you basically buy shares in a farm. You commit up front to pay for all of your veggies for the season, and you get locally grown, organic deliciousness delivered to your nearest depot weekly (or bi weekly). This results in a forced creativity, becuase you have to figure out something to do with what you get before it goes bad! Which leads to number 2.
2. Google an ingredient
In a veggie box last summer I got Rhubarb, which I'd never cooked before. The only things I'd ever had rhubarb in were pies, and I wasn't quite at the point of baking pies yet. I googled rhubarb recipes on the The Foodee, which posts a paleo meal every day, and found "Pork chops with cherry rhubarb chutney". I subbed dried cranberries for the cherries, because that's what was in my cupboard. Subbing things leads us to number 3.
3. Change an old recipe
My friend Caitlin came to visit and I hadn't planned dinner for us. I had in my fridge 1/2 bag of fresh cranberries, and recalled that Ashley had made a delicious cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving with orange juice and apples. So we picked up the missing ingredients, some chicken, and some veggies for a side, and managed to make a delicious Orange Chicken dinner.
4. Look in the fridge
If I'm super organized I look in the fridge BEFORE I leave the house, find a recipe, and pick up all the necessary ingredients on the way home. I am often not organized. I got home last night to find all I had to eat was a spaghetti squash and some ground beef. By itself, that would have been a bit boring, but with a little bit of simmering and spices, it was just as delicious as any spaghetti with meat sauce I've ever had. In fact, it was so flavourful that I didn't miss my usual parmesan.
5. Simmering and Spices
This, I have found, drastically improves any sauce or meat dish. If you're more into planning than I am, you probably do the marinade thing. But in lieu of this, don't be afraid of spices. Spices dressed up my Spaghetti(squash) and Meat Sauce, and you can also make a pretty tasty rub for your fish with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt/pepper, and cumin (my favourite), or whatever you want. Plus, spices are super packed with minerals and stuff that we need (like iron). Bonus!
6. Sometimes experiments go bad
...and then you have mediocre dinner, and mediocre leftovers for lunch the next day. Bummer. But "real" chefs try recipes dozens of times before it's perfect, so that makes me feel better. I started with the low expectation of making something that "doesn't suck". But I'm finding that the failed experiments are much less frequent than the "pretty yummy" and "delcious" ones, and they're rarely inedible.
Once I made one or two yummy dishes I started to consider myself to be "someone who can cook", and that sort of gave me the mental permission to be more creative and daring, which lead to more delicious things. Unless you burn everything you touch, you can cook by definition, so dont' be afraid to try something new!
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