I’ve been in a cooking rut for awhile now. As I reflect on when this started my mind wanders back to last winter when I religiously followed a meal plan – one designed to focus on whole food and reduce unhealthy carb and added sugar intake. I faithfully weighed by chicken breast every night and measured out my 1 ½ cups of broccoli. Although the plan offered many options and alternatives – it became mundane quickly and I now realize – completely took the joy out of cooking.
I held on to the rigid meal plan for about a month and in the spring found myself in mama survival-mode. Whoever dubbed May “Maycember” pierced through the fog of my mind and whirl of packed days (morning school routine, work, piano, chess, dance, tennis, dinner, homework, pack lunches, clean kitchen, repeat… repeat…repeat…) to aptly come up with a name for that lovely month in Spring – a time of joy but oh so much busyness for mamas in their middle child years. Dinner became an exercise in 1) what do we have in the house 2) if it’s not in the house what can I get at the nearest grocery store to fill in the blanks 3) protein + veggie + veggie. Dinner became utilitarian, practical and uninspired – a chore.
I remember the early years of living with my now partner. We would grocery shop together – sometimes biking to the store, sometimes holding hands. Getting groceries felt like a date. It was exciting to plan our meals together and think about our shared love of certain foods while introducing each other to foods we grew up eating (I had never eaten squash until I met my husband’s family and they serve it often). Cooking back then was fun.
I remember, in one of our first apartments, our roommate, Kevin, attempted eggplant parmigiana. Although Kevin is an exceptional cook with great taste now – that attempt left the apartment smelling like burnt oil and us staring at a plate of soggy eggplant. We ordered pizza that night.
I also remember a time when the three of us cooked Thanksgiving dinner together. I made this pink fluff concoction – whipped cream, cranberries, canned pineapple and marshmallow, a “grandma salad,” and we just ate it up – right out of the white tupperware bowl I served it in. It was far from beautiful and sophisticated but it was fun. Fast forward twenty years and I’m very aware of what components make a healthy meal but meal planning and cooking had become void of joy. I no longer looked through magazines for new recipes or made up my own.
Then, two small things happened. Somehow I blinked and it was the end of summer. Our local farm stand was talking about closing for the year on September 1 (summer’s not over until September 23!) and I had a lovely meal in Oregon with the most beautiful and seasonal stone fruit salad.
We went to my parent’s cabin this weekend – one last hurrah before the start of a new school year. We split meals between my mom and siblings which works well. We have autonomy to cook what we want for a single meal and don’t have to cook every meal. I was assigned a lunch and dinner and started dreaming of a summer abundance theme. While we’ve eaten plenty of (nitrate-free turkey) hotdogs this summer I wanted these last summer cabin meals to be healthy and beautiful.
Lunch was a summer abundance make-your-own salad bar. This is so easy to prepare for a large group (we had 10 people at the cabin this weekend) and guarantees everyone can find something they like – even the pickiest eaters.
Ingredients:
- spinach
- grilled chicken
- corn cut off the cob
- tomatoes
- peaches
- plums
- cherries
- avocado
- garbanzo beans
- walnuts
- feta
- blush wine vinaigrette – we use this one but you could make your own
The dinner menu was equally as easy but again, centered around summer abundance and healthy, whole foods. A meal like this makes me feel a little less guilty about the beer I have on the boat or my mom’s homemade chocolate cake. Again, our menu offered many choices so that everyone could find something they liked.
-Grilled steak and chicken kabobs
-Vegetable kabobs – cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, summer squash and potatoes
-caprese salad with burrata
-crusty garlic bread
So simple yet somehow perfect for a last dinner at the cabin this summer. With a view of the lake from the deck – my brother-in-law said this was one of the best meals he’s eaten all summer. I’ll take the compliment.
While I’m still going to squeeze out the last bit of summer eating before the weather turns colder and the leaves start to turn color – inspiration has been sparked for me with cooking again. Inspiration doesn’t have to be complicated. For me right now it’s as simple as cooking with beautiful summer veggies and I’m looking forward to riding this wave of joy into Fall.
