I’m giving a talk this week on the basics of good nutrition. It struck me while I was preparing for it, that we all – myself included, tend to overcomplicate things. How many times have you picked up a recipe book, seen something that appeals, and then never attempted it? Is the list of ingredients long? Is there about 15 different steps in the process? Is the headline time 2.5 hours?
Before giving up, take a step back. The basic purposes of nutrition are twofold. Firstly, to take in enough energy (calories) to meet our individual daily needs. Secondly, within that energy to obtain all the nutrients we need for the body to function optimally.
I don’t know about you, but every time I log on to my computer, I’m bombarded by images of gorgeous looking food. Then I think of what I cook, and inevitably find myself making the usually negative comparison. But I’m learning to stop myself
The finished result of my cooking doesn’t have to look pretty on the plate. Don’t forget those pictures of mouthwatering plates of food are carefully crafted. That is an illusion. A food stylist once told me that the food may have been standing round for hours. She uses a glycerine spray to make it look fresh and glossy. Then she edits the photos to make sure the colours are bright and saturated. I don’t know about you, but I don’t do that – life is not a picture.
For me, food is about taste and the nutrition it contains more than it is about looks. Sure, a part of the digestive process happens before food comes in contact with our mouths. It is triggered by our brains in response to the thought and smell of food, and yes, the sight of food. But lets face it, if I’m hungry, something junky in a wrapper will have me salivating.
One of the nicest compliments I’ve ever had on my cooking was actually unintentionally backhanded. Like most mums, I contributed a tray of cupcakes to the school fête. Now I can make a good cake, but I can’t decorate them to save my life. So I let the kids have a go with the icing. They enjoy making patterns with sugar paste and food colours, I don’t. My eldest was probably 5 at the time, so the results were interesting.
“Ooh, your cakes taste nicer than they look!” said Miss D, cheerfully on her second or third. Then she went bright red and stuttered “I didn’t mean it like that!” I didn’t take offense at all – anyone brave enough to try something decorated by a 5 year old deserves a medal anyway. And to me the important thing is the taste and the nourishment it contains.
I have a friend who disagrees with this, but she’s a pastry chef. She enjoys making cakes look absolutely amazing. So beautiful that I feel guilty about actually eating them because of all the work she puts in to her edible art.
In these days of social media, where every other insta feed is overflowing with perfect looking offerings, it is too easy to judge what we do by unrealistic standards. I quite often post pictures of what I have just cooked. But I guarantee mine are real dishes, captured between oven and table. They’re not the prettiest pictures on insta. But they are not meant to be. They are real. Real cooking is about giving it a go, and making the most nutritious food you can with the ingredients and time you have available. If it looks great, that’s a bonus. I’m not planning on appearing on Masterchef any time soon, are you?
So lets go back to that complicated recipe and take a step back. Are 6 items of that long list of ingredients different spices? Substitute a spice blend such as bhaharat or garam masala or plain old curry powder. Or even a couple of tablespoons of spice paste from a jar. Keep the rest of the jar in the fridge for next time. You don’t have a sweet potato? Use a couple of carrots instead. Or some frozen squash chunks from the bag in the freezer.
Does it really need 2 different kinds of oil? Probably not. You have pork mince in the fridge but not beef mince? Give it a go anyway.
Check out the prep time versus the cooking time. Quite often, the prep takes about 10 minutes, and then it’s doing its own thing in the oven or on the hob. Use that time to clean up your prep equipment, or put the washing out, or answer a couple of emails.
Then look at what the required steps are. You don’t need to waste time peeling vegetables – give them a quick scrub under the tap with a nail brush. A lot of the nutrients are just under the skin and are lost if you peel them anyway.
If there’s weighing ingredients involved, many types of kitchen scales allow you recalibrate each time you add a new ingredient. Or use American style cups – it is so much simpler!
I’m not Delia, so I don’t measure out ingredients into separate little dishes. Life’s too short and that makes too much washing up. Just add it straight to what you are preparing (within reason). Yes, you can make a cake by chucking in all the ingredients and then mixing thoroughly. If you’re adding cornflower to anything, mix it into water first otherwise you get lumps.
It’s generally not a total disaster if you miss an ingredient either. I once accidentally missed the butter out of a cake – it was actually quite light and fluffy!
It’s liberating to ditch the need for perfection and throw out the rule book. Forget what it looks like, keep it simple, and have fun improvising!
If you would like a no-obligation chat about what I do and how I can help you achieve your goals, book your free discovery call here