THE ARGUMENT FOR SIMPLE RECIPES

Some people love cooking. I’m not one of them. It’s not my favorite thing to do.

I don’t like to deal with complicated recipes when I’m preparing meals. Nor do I like puzzles as much as my dog likes his puzzle toys. I think it’s related.

I don’t have the patience to read and follow recipes any more than I have the patience to read manuals. I don’t read manuals. Period. Recipe for disaster perhaps? Lol.

I make my husband read a manual or I hire someone to read it ………or I break the thing I got because I refused to read the manual. I’m not suggesting you use “No reading manuals” as your mantra.

I’m also a bit stressed that I need to study for the California driver’s test and read some 200-page manual lest I fail like my neighbor, a seasoned driver from another state just like us. 

Here’s the thing about simple recipes. They take less time, obviously. But the really good news is that single ingredient foods and simple recipes are healthier as a general rule – unless your meal is a a huge plate of meat, cheese, potatoes, pasta or a loaf of bread. That’s taking the rule to an extreme. But the simple prep rule for healthy food is very convenient for me as you can guess.  

Look at the long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce on a bag of frozen dinner versus a meal you make of a chicken cutlet or tofu plus sautéed broccoli and a side of brown rice or sweet potatoes. 

Simple recipes often cost less and require less ingredients and sauces to be stocked at home.

And you may find like me that you actually like the taste of single ingredient dishes like sauteed spinach and broiled salmon. The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest around and it’s really quite simple. Olive oil and herbs add the magic. Presto. Molto bene. Nostimo. Mitzuyan. Lazeeza.

Below are some of my simple dishes with a good amount of those needed macro and micro nutrients. If you make any of them, let me know how it turns out. Aim for organic veggies, pole-caught seafood if any, grass-fed and humane-certified meat if any and GMO-free corn, soy, everything.

Keep it simple. Bon appetit. 

Some simple healthy dishes:

Avocado toast on Ezekiel or Sourdough, drizzled with EVOO & lemon, topped with zaatar/hemp seeds/sea salt or drizzled with sriracha & Trader Joe’s (“TJ”) green dragon sauce vs EVOO topped w/hemp seeds or fried egg

Quinoa pasta in olive oil with lemon, capers and artichokes (using TJ frozen)

Roasted cauliflower with smoked paprika and salt – add dukkah or hemp seeds or for protein

Lentil pasta with “Impossible” vegan meat or “Beyond Meat” sauce w/red wine, oregano, kosher or other salt, black pepper, red chili pepper flakes, olive slices, fresh basil & can throw in spinach to cook in it as well

Pasta sautéed w/olive oil, broccoli, s&p, red chili pepper flakes, white wine & can add Parmesan or vegan cheese for protein

Lentil pasta w/grilled veggies (simple grilled organic zucchini or a mix from simple frozen or store-bought prepared foods) & fresh mozzarella or Miyoko’s vegan smoked mozzarella cheese or no cheese

Vegetable stir fry w/avocado oil, veggies seasoned in bowl w/avo oil, non-GMO soy or Bragg’s amino acids, ginger (even frozen TJ ginger) & sesame oil or chili sesame oil added at the end. Can use many grains & even frozen TJ brown rice & even frozen Asian veg mix. Will often do bok choy or broccoli, spinach, maybe shredded carrot, water chestnuts or bamboo shoots. Could add nuts, seeds or animal protein.

Roasted thin asparagus w/EVOO sometimes drizzled w/balsamic glaze after, walnuts & could add cheese/vegan cheese and bake a sweet potato.

Roasted zucchini w/EVOO, s&p, zaatar or parmesan/vegan cheese

Chickpea pasta w/TJ vegan pesto & lightly sauteed organic tomatoes

Pan seared scallops in lemon caper sauce w/sauteed broccolini

Brown rice pasta w/broccoli rabe in EVOO, white wine, lemon, chili flakes, s&p

Linguini with clam sauce (clams from can or local fisherman), white wine, shallots, garlic, s&p

Greek salad: romaine, maybe endive or radicchio, grape leaves, olives, some nuts like walnuts or sunflower seeds, dressed w/EVOO, lemon, salt, pepper

Falafel (frozen, for ex) w/tahini over greens w/lots of lemon

Mushroom risotto (as simple a recipe as you can find like my mother’s or Ina Garten)

Polenta w/mushrooms, even frozen TJ mushroom medley – look for non-GMO corn

Pasta w/mushroom medley & umami mushroom powder

Seared scallops over bed of Israeli couscous cooked in broth topped with parsley

Sautéed kale topped with fried egg and sriracha, s&p

Roasted or pan seared wild salmon or haddock/white flaky fish w/roasted or slow cooker root veggies or broccolini – (line-caught fish)