Earlier this week, I read a really interesting article, "The Myth of 'Easy' Cooking." It got me thinking differently about the recipes I share and how I approach cooking. I encourage you to give it a read, especially if you feel like you're constantly strapped for time, running around like a crazy hot mess (i.e. me most of the time). If you're too busy to read it right now, running around like a crazy hot mess, basically, the summary is this:
Easy recipes aren't actually easy.
With the recent emphasis on clean eating, home cooking has become the gold standard of healthy eating. As someone who firmly believes in the power of whole food, I can certainly agree with that designation. In my practice, I spend a considerable amount of time with my clients teaching them how to make home cooking a realistic and regular habit.
But, we can't forget that it comes at a cost and that cost is time. Time is a precious commodity, especially for anyone with children, working a job more than 40 hours a week (hi!), multiple jobs, a long commute, or is active in their community.
With the barrage recipes marketed as easy, which I am absolutely guilty of too, it's easy (pun intended) to feel guilty for not having time to cook. Why can't I find the time to make homemade almond milk in three different flavors for the week?? The recipe says it only takes 15 minutes! And I know I'm not the only one who has taken well over an hour to cook a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal. With 19 ingredients, it takes me 30 minutes just to hunt down the ingredients in my kitchen!
The problem isn't you, it's the recipes. Not that the recipes aren't actually semi-easy or relatively quick if you've done them before. It's the fact that we're using recipes in the first place. As the author states, "real 'easy' cooking, if that’s what you’re after, is far too simple to sustain a magazine and cookbook industry. It relies on foods that can be purchased at a single point of sale and involves a bare minimum of ingredients and a small repertoire of techniques. It leans heavily on things your mom taught you."
Basically, it's not about knowing how to follow a recipe, it's about knowing how to cook. Sure, recipes are helpful for teaching people how to cook (and of course baking, which is much more scientific). But once you know how to cook, you can skim a recipe for inspiration without spending time reading it word for word. When you know how to cook, know what ingredients are extraneous and can be left out. When you know how to cook, you know what a teaspoon or a third of a cup look like, so you don't have to spend time measuring.