It wasn't a conscious decision, but at some point last year I seemed to lose interest in cooking, composing, and consuming real meals.
How bleak had it become? For breakfast I'd eat a protein bar—something made of almonds and "soluble corn fiber"—or something procured from the office free table. These were bars and snacks in trendy flavor combinations likehemp matchaor spirulina speculoos, and they did not taste good; sometimes, the texture was also uncomfortably strange. But I had lost interest in flavor and texture, so what did it matter to me?
Lunch was either a pile of microwaved ingredients from home (a sweet potato, some frozen vegetables, and handful of grains) and too many free snacks or, more often, a container of foods from the cafeteria. Dinner? Contain your tears: It was often the other half of my cafeteria haul, or a quick grazing of whatever caught my eye in the cupboard or fridge. This meant lots of rice cakes, lots of scrambled eggs (but not the beautiful,dinner-worthy kind) and, most embarrassing, more protein bars.
这一切都让我感觉良好,营养或culinarily. But I was too tired when I got home from work to think about chopping, sautéing, and flavor-combining. I'd used my last ounces of energy extroverting and grasping on to my exercise routine. I had no enthusiasm for eating, and the food I was eating definitely wasn'tcreatingany enthusiasm. It was a cycle, and I rode it like a ferris wheel.
So when theCOOK90 cookbookhit the scene, I felt that maybe it could stop the wheel from spinning. As an Epicurious staffer, I was under no obligation to undertake ourmonth-long challenge of High Intensity Interval Cooking. But I needed to get interested in food and cooking again. So I sat with the book on New Year's Eve, picked out some recipes to make, and wrote down a shopping list and meal plan. As I did so, I felt a ping of enthusiasm. A tiny spark of energy wasn't too far behind.
New Year, New Me, New Meals
I started the year with a lovely breakfast: a fried egg and a slice of toasted sourdough with mashed avocado. I sprinkledEverything Bagel Seasoningover the plate, sat in my sunlit living room, and, well,basked. If that moment were a stock photo, it'd be called "Woman Smiling Alone With Breakfast."
Then I went to the grocery store for the supplies I needed for an equally fabulous lunch: spiced chickpeas with radishes and greens, a vegetarian adaptation fromthe COOK90 book). For dinner I went with sheet pan salmon with broccolini (also from the book). My roommate and his girlfriendoohedandahhedat my food—or perhaps it was my talent in the kitchen that had impressed them.
The week progressed withnextoversand experiments with ingredients I'd never cooked with before. This should have overwhelmed me, or at least exhausted me. But I was as surprised as anybody to find that the process—and the meals themselves—gave melessstress andmoreenergy. I'd always known that food is fuel. Turns out thatcookingis fuel, too. Who knew?
Replacing a Rut With a Routine
COOK90is all about realistic expectations, so when a last-minute birthday outing for a friend cropped up, I knew my month of cooking wouldn't necessarily be derailed. I took a pass on dinner, stayed up too late, and fell asleep on another friend's couch. The next morning I woke up early, took a subway ride home, spiffed myself up for work, and prepared theherby white bean and tuna saladfrom the COOK90 book for lunch. I was making a meal! From a cookbook! At 8 a.m.! Believe me when I tell you this was a new experience for me. (Another thing you should believe: my homemade lunch was much better than the overpriced dinner I had bought the night before.)
After a few weeks of COOK90, it struck me: the time it takes to stare at my pantry, graze a little, stop, feel unsatisfied, and graze again equals the time it takes to make a wonderful, filling, impressive meal. I was reminded about the power of preparation, and the gift of slowing down and doing things with intention. The quiet moments I spent meal planning gave me back all the time I needed to go out to shows, and the energy to run a little faster on the treadmill. I hadn't changed my life dramatically to incorporate cooking. But, happily, cooking had dramatically changed me.
Speaking of COOK90...
Get it now:COOK90: The 30-Day Plan for Faster, Healthier, Happier Meals, $19 at Amazon.
