How to Cook without a Recipe

Recently while cooking a community meal, my friend Lynne was excited to prepare a favorite broccoli dish. But as we didn’t have one of the ingredients on hand, toasted sesame oil, Lynne lost confidence in her ability to prepare the broccoli. I suggested various alternative seasonings, but as she couldn’t imagine how they would taste, she was stymied and reluctant to proceed.

I invited her to regard any principal ingredient (be it broccoli, rice or salmon) like a favorite pair of jeans. Imagine the countless ways that you can dress them up or dress them down depending upon your accessories and whim. It’s similar with food.

If the broccoli is excellent, then salt is all you need, but perhaps a squeeze of lemon, splash of oil or fresh thyme would boost the pleasure quota. Some flavoring ingredients know no culinary boundaries, among them mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, pepper, thyme, basil and chilies. Add any of them according to what sounds good to you.

Or when creating your own recipe, it’s safe to go with a regional theme. For example, for a Mediterranean flavor: olive oil, oregano, tomatoes, thyme, marjoram, pine nuts, olives, wine or capers; for an Asian ambiance, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chilies, ginger, rice wine, fish sauce and/or soy sauce.

For a scratch-the-recipe-and-wing-it approach, imagine making a dairy-free cream of broccoli soup that uses potatoes for their creaminess. Better yet, give it a try right now! Guestimate the quantity of your ingredients according to how many you’ll serve. Sauté a diced onion and celery rib, add stock, a diced potato or two and salt and simmer for 7 minutes, or until the potato is cooked. Then add the broccoli and cook just until tender. If  you wish, blend it to a creamy consistency with an immersion blender, food processor or potato masher (the latter yields a chunky puree). Now taste it.

Hmmm, if this original cream of broccoli soup needs “a little something” but you’re not sure what, the odds are that it wants more salt and a dash of pepper. But perhaps some thyme or lemon would help? So inhale the aroma of the soup and then the thyme (or lemon) and imagine them together. This nifty trick enables you to meld ingredients in your mind’s eye and season accordingly.

Sure, many baked goods require recipes. And a recipe can be useful if using a new ingredient. But for everyday scrambled eggs, fried rice, chicken soup or baked carrots, who needs a recipe? Be more playful and simply cook. Once you get the hang of going recipe-free, you’ll be amazed at how much faster you are in the kitchen. Plus it stretches your creativity and keeps cooking fresh and fun. Then the next time you’re served a dish that piques your interest, imagine the ingredients that went into it and try duplicating the dish at home.

With a little coaxing, Lynne forsook her concept of how her broccoli dish needed to taste and used what we hand on hand. In warmed olive oil she briefly sautéed cumin seeds, small daikon wedges and then the broccoli florets. She then added a splash of water and covered the pot to finish cooking the veggies. Finally, she seasoned the dish with salt and freshly ground pepper and served it with a flourish; there were no leftovers.

May you be well nourished,

Rebecca Wood