If you're like me, you started#cook90with a bang. And by "bang," I mean you scrambled some New Year's Eve leftovers into some eggs.
What can I say? As I write this I'm still a little bit in vacation mode. I'm visiting my family in the Midwest, where the refrigerators are large and impressively stocked. It's a #cook90 dream, really—the groceries are just sort of magicallythere. All I have to do is cook with them.
But tomorrow, I return to my life in New York. And that's when the shopping begins.
As I mentioned last week, #cook90 is all about organization. I can't cook if I don't have groceries, and I can't get groceries if I don't get myself out of the house and into a grocery store. And if I go into that grocery store unprepared? Oh, it'll be amess. I'll come home with a bunch of seltzer, a few bags of salted almonds, and a six tiny wedges of too-expensive cheese.
So I make a list. Two lists, really.
The first ismy weekly meal plan. It becomes a bit like playing Sodoku, actually: I sketch a 3 x 7 grid and fill in my meals. Of course, most meals go on the grid three times, because I use my leftovers however and whenever I can. Friday night's chicken and potatoes is Saturday morning's frittata, you know?
After the meal plan, I write my grocery list. Sometimes I usean app(ahem), sometimes the back of an envelope. I try to write my list thoughtfully: I organize it by grocery store department (dairy, bakery, butcher, etc). And if I'm feeling really on top of things, I'll put aDo Not Buy columnin there. (Trust me, I do not need any more chocolate-covered pretzels in my house.)
I won't lie—it can all start to feel very rigid. And really, it's supposed to—details matter here. But there are ways to loosen the grip of the shopping grind. The best #cook90 recipes are the ones you can play fast and loose with—recipes that don't require specific ingredients so much ascategoriesof ingredients.
Oh look, I created a recipe that works exactly like that!
This grain bowl calls for butternut squash, red onions, and mushrooms (and a curried yogurt that I'm absolutely obsessed with), but all you really need is a grain (use barley, or quinoa), a few vegetables (roasted carrots—roasted tomatoes, even), and some sort of onion (shallots would be fabulous). So instead of writing "acorn squash" on your grocery list, you might write "winter squash/root vegetables," giving yourself a little leeway, and an opportunity to be inspired—and not so rigid—at the grocery store.
