The Everyday Dish

I used to plan my meals way in advance, and let me be frank from the beginning, I hate that with a passion. If that’s your thing, no judgment here, but poring over recipes, making a plan of what I might want to eat next Wednesday, then counting how many potatoes I need to last me through the week is really not my thing. In fact, it took all the joy out of cooking for a while, because I would get to Thursday evening craving a warm pasta dish, but my menu would say “Fish and vegetables” and since I hate food waste, I’d have to comply. It’s not great.

Shopping without a list or a plan may sound chaotic, but actually, all it took was a small change in mindset. Instead of shopping for specific recipes/dishes, I decided to go for ingredients around which I could build different meals.

I don’t shop for a full week, and only look to cover 4-5 days. I leave the weekends wide open for experimentation, visits to farmers’ markets, and putting into practice crazy ideas and cravings I might get throughout the week (like that one time I decided I wanted to make homemade pasta, slow-cooked ragu, homemade focaccia, and tiramisu from scratch, and I understood why Italian women stay so fit because I almost reached 10K steps just running circles around my kitchen all day).

So, how do I do it? I go by a few simple rules.

1. Look for seasonal and local produce first. This is the best way to get produce that’s bursting with flavour. I also look to see what looks freshest. If I find fantastic tomatoes and courgettes, I know I’ll get a delicious pasta dish or a comforting stew (like my Ratatouille).
2. Shop by category, not by recipe. I go for 2-3 proteins (usually chicken, fish, tofu), at least 5-6 different veggies, 3-4 different fruits, a couple of whole grains, some of my staples (tinned tomatoes, nuts, lentils, olive oil, vinegars) and what I like to call “the flavour heroes” (lemons, herbs, onion, garlic, celery).
3. Leave room for improv. I may leave the house with a vague idea of what I might want to cook, but if I get to the shop or the market and the inspiration takes me a whole different way, I let myself follow that instinct.
4. Lastly, I have a few staple dishes I know both Liam and I love, so if I am not inspired at all or my brain just refuses to function, I go for what’s familiar. Some of our staples include roast chicken, pasta primavera, pan-fried salmon with veggies, and lentil ragu.

That’s pretty much all there is to it. Looking for ingredients to build my meals around, rather than plan for specific recipes, has allowed me to be more flexible, more creative, and it has brought back the joy of cooking (and eating). Now, that’s not to say I never plan for anything. Life is chaotic enough without me trying to make it harder for myself. I usually have a small list of things I need around the house. These are stuff I don’t buy often because they last for a few weeks, so I may not remember them otherwise (like dishwasher tablets or a bottle of balsamic vinegar). On occasion, I come across new recipes or techniques I want to try, and those require some planning, which I am happy to do. However, leaving room for spontaneity is important to me.

Shopping without a list and/or a plan might not work for everyone, but it’s helped me cook more intuitively, waste less food, and actually look forward to cooking each night.

What about you? Do you shop with a list or do you play it by ear?