I’m always one for homemade food, whether that’s hummus, guacamole, or a big batch of Bolognese. If this doesn’t seem like you, or the thought of cooking a huge batch of chili is the worst idea on the planet, let me give you a few hints and tips to make cooking feel less like the green-eyed monster and more like a heavenly grace.
The first thing I want to tell you is that anything goes. Don’t feel as though you need to follow a recipe ingredient by ingredient because let me tell you something, you don’t. That’s the beauty of cooking. This is our chance to really experiment with what we have. Mix those tinned tomatoes and beans together, add a few spices. And what better time to learn what works, and what is actually a culinary nightmare, than isolation?
Another bit of advice (and one which I should probably start following myself) is use your fresh produce first. And I know this generally goes without saying but the amount of times I thought I would get an extra day out of a packet of mushrooms to find them turning mouldy at the back of the fridge.
That’s when soup comes in so handy. I’ve generally never been a huge fan of soup but since being in isolation I think that has been by number one staple meal. Whatever food you have that’s looking slightly suspicious, not knowing whether it’s going to last another day or not, put it in. The beauty of soup is that anything goes, whether it’s vegetable, meat, or noodles. Whatever you have lying around in your cupboard, it’ll do the trick.
And why stop there? Instead of disposing of leftover meat or vegetable juices, why not make your very own broth? It’s amazing what a little bit of DIY in the kitchen can really do. Our time in isolation can not only help us become more acquainted with the kitchen but also with how we can be more creative in our cooking. You don’t have to be the next Jamie Oliver to experiment in the kitchen, but once you do, you certainly won’t turn back.