i want your healthy recipes!
I’ve always been a big foodie – show me anything with chevre, truffle oil, or carmelized pear and I’m so sold – but I’ve never really cooked. Actually… that’s kind of an understatement. I’ve completely avoided cooking. I kept telling myself it was because I was inherently bad at cooking, or because I didn’t have time, or because I just didn’t like it, but I recently realized that the reality is, I’m scared. I have a macho streak a mile wide and I’ve been worried that cooking would suddenly turn me into a barefoot-and-pregnant, flowered-apron-wearing, full-on domestic 50′s housewife with a vacant Stepford smile who tosses back handfuls of “pep pills” and ends up vacuuming the same spot in the carpet all day. Rational thinking at its finest, obviously.
So here’s the deal. I’ve recently been in a face-my-fears and shape-up-my-entire-life sort of mood, so I’ve decided I’m going to learn how to cook. I would love to get my hands on your favorite recipes!
Two caveats:
1. I’m a vegetarian. Eggs and milk are okay, but unfortunately I can’t really do meat. Things like chicken broth are fine, though.
2. It’s gotta be really, really healthy. I’m not really looking for Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake or Seven Layer Bean Dip sorts of recipes, although I’m sure they’re delicious. I’m very interested in anything you’ve got that incorporates tons of fresh veggies and not tons of fat or sugar, and if you have some amazing raw food, gluten-free or vegan recipes, I would love those, too!
I’m trying not to be too scared of domesticity and I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s okay to blast Rage Against the Machine and cook in my combat boots. Thanks so much in advance – I can’t wait to hear what you come up with! If they’re shorter recipes, you can leave them in the “comments” section below. If you think they might be too long for that, you can email them to me at: molly@cedarhousephotography.com
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
oooh, I will look some up for you! For now, though, you can look at a few that are on my blog: http://bit.ly/e9H0aR The Vegetable Lentil soup is really good, really easy and cheap. Plus you can make a big batch and freeze half so you have something healthy to eat on days you don’t want to cook. :)
Them boots were made for cookin’ and that’s just what you’ll do, Molly! Way to face your fears. I used to have a similar fear but then I realized the exquisite beauty of chopping tons of colorful veggies and the sounds of boiling water and smells of rice wafting through the house. I fell in love with the ART of cooking, and it lost all connection to “domesticity” in negative terms, became another form of artistic expression! You go girl! epicurious.com has FABULOUS veg recipes and you can get a free login so that you can keep a “recipe box” then you don’t have to keep track of recipes or print out. Also allrecipes.com is a popular one. I have a Moosewood Cookbook that is the holy bible of my kitchen! All veg and yummilicious. Also, the library in BV has some fab veg cookbooks that I have photocopied recipes from. Cheers and bon apetit!
I hate cooking too, but here’s a no-cook dessert I like. Chop up one avocado, add some chopped figs and cocoa powder. Voila! Sounds really gross, my boyfriend and daughter can’t stand it, but I love it! And it’s healthy!
Molly, my friend Christiana maintains a great blog called “The Harmonious Kitchen.” Her thrust is recipes that she makes up or uses with the ingredients from her CSA so it’s all crazy healthy and mostly vegetarian. Check her out here and tell her I said ‘Hi.” http://theharmoniouskitchen.blogspot.com/
Two cook books: How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, great basic cookbooks with a foodie edge. I love them. PS: I love cooking, and i think now you can stick me in the Stay At Home Mom category, not vacuuming the same spot over and over. It’s another place to be creative and hey, ya gotta eat.
Want my Phad Thai recipe?