Simplifying.

Melissa commented to me yesterday that it seems we’ve all been cooking a lot more simply lately. 

It surprises me to think of it, but she’s right.  I used to make curries, for example, all the time, mixing the spices myself and serving two or three dishes plus a raita.  I used to do a Szechuan-type stir fry once a week or so, with a lovely homemade sauce.  I used to make complicated French stews.  I used to make tostadas with home-fried tortillas, black beans cooked all day in spicy broth, and an array of freshly sliced vegetables.  I used to make authentic clam chowder and, oh, all kinds of lovely, complicated things.  Every week I would try two or three new recipes, because I liked to have a great deal of variety.

What’s in my kitchen now?  Well, there’s a chicken roasting in the oven, there’s a salad chilling in the fridge, there’s a bag of shelled edamame defrosting on the counter, and there’s some broccoli waiting, unsteamed, in the steamer.  Simple.  (And don’t tell me that the edamame makes it exotic.  The stuff comes frozen, in a bag, on sale at the co-op.  It’s not much different from lima beans.)

Everything’s gotten simpler.   I do still try a new recipe or two most weeks, sometimes even a fairly involved one.  But most of my meals these days are pretty square:  meat, veg 1, veg 2, veg 3.  Or:  soup, salad.  Or:  pasta, veg sauce, veg on the side.  Or:  omelet, salad.  Or:  all-in-one casserole. 

Why is this?  It could just be a new phase of experimentation.  (It is nice to perfect and personalize American classics like meatloaf, or chicken with noodles, or tomato soup, or chili.)  And on my part, I’m sure, it’s because I’ve been eating lower-carb for a couple of years, and the meat-veg-veg-veg format works really well for that.  It might be lack of time, or lack of creativity, or just an inclination these days to concentrate on ingredients and taste each one, clearly and simply.