On Cooking a Nice Meal

I’m a bit of a utilitarian when it comes to food. I’m one of those crazy people who would give up food forever if they could just take a pill every day and never have to eat again. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good meal (especially one that is not particularly good for me) but I sometimes daydream about how much time I would have if I didn’t have to figure out 2-3 meals per day, cook those meals, eat those meals, clean up from those meals, and then go shopping again for future meals (even though I’d probably waste all of that extra time too). So, as you might guess, when I’m cooking for myself it’s usually pretty simple: some chicken and rice, a couple of eggs and toast, or some pasta and a jar of sauce. Every once in a while, though, I’ll do something different and I’ll cook a nice meal…and you know what, it really can be pretty nice.

If you’re going to cook a nice meal (and a nice meal doesn’t have to be fancy or have expensive ingredients), you’re going to need some free time. Ask any parent, or just remember back to your childhood, cooking a nice meal while you’re busy doing a million other things or trying to hit a deadline is extremely not nice, in fact, it’s miserable. That’s why you have to pay people to cook at restaurants.

Now, once you have a bit of free time lined up, you get to browse through the greatest array of recipes anyone has ever seen in the totality of human history. Never before has someone sitting in California, had instant access to recipes for Mongolian food, Eritrean food, Peruvian food, Hawaiian food, and Kansas City BBQ all at the same time. So, peruse to your heart’s content and find something that looks really enticing.

Next is my least favorite part, shopping. I find it more fun to go with my significant other, but that’s also when we end up wandering the aisles looking at goodies and getting a bunch of fun snacks I regret later, so make it a team effort at your own risk.

Once you have the recipe picked out and the groceries in the kitchen it’s time to embrace your inner kid and make a huge mess. Use every measuring spoon you have, get every single bowl you have dirty, chop with every knife, and taste with every spoon. Just have a good time! (Of course, there’s always the option to clean as you go, but that’s much too mature)

The hardest part, at least for me, comes last: not being too harsh and judgmental about your own cooking, especially if you’ve never made this recipe. Every time I cook a nice meal, I have to remind myself (or have someone else remind me) to take a step back and enjoy it. A recipe can always be tweaked, and you can always make a dish slightly better but make sure to enjoy the process…at least until they get those food pills worked out, then I’m DONE cooking!

What about you? Have any favorite recipes for when you’re cooking a nice meal?