News Taffy

I was talking with a friend yesterday about a fabulous dinner I had made the night before and how simple it was. As I described the meal and its preparations, she laughed and said, “What seems simple to you, sounds complicated to me.” That comment made me stop and think. I didn’t grow up cooking; my parents were great cooks and I was very content to let them do all the work. I started cooking when I moved into my first apartment, fearlessly trying anything that looked good. Because of my parent’s example, I didn’t think cooking was hard.

I think that pattern is repeating itself. I did not often make my children help in the kitchen but sometimes they wanted to make something and I let them. Now that my son is living in his first apartment, he is trying to cook for himself once in awhile. He asked for some recipes which I gladly typed up. Both of my kids have been spoiled to expect to eat good food so I feel they will learn by necessity as I did. My daughter says she certainly wants to cook for herself when she is on her own.

Home cooking is the healthiest option because you can control exactly what goes into your food. There are no preservatives as in boxed or frozen meals; you can cut back on salt, sugar and unhealthy fats. The first rule of cooking is that you have to get in there and do it. Don’t be afraid - you will make mistakes but you will have plenty of successful meals too. Work on building up a collection of simple recipes that your family likes. Put them in a notebook organized by category - main dishes, salads, vegetables, etc.

So here is the recipe I made the other night that elevated boring chicken to a delicious experience. Six ingredients thrown in a food processor or magic bullet made a quick sauce. A spicy seasoning was sprinkled on chicken breasts which were pan sautéed. Note: don’t let fancy words like sauté scare you, its just means to brown in a bit of oil but do it quickly over medium high heat to get a nice brown crust, leaving the inside tender.

Cilantro Sauce for Chicken or Fish

INGREDIENTS:

*1/2 cup fresh cilantro

*1 garlic clove, minced or 1 tsp. powdered or the jarred minced garlic

*2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

*2 Tbsp. sour cream or plain nonfat yogurt

*pinch of salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Place ingredients in a Magic Bullet or Nutribullet and blend thoroughly. May need to add a bit more red wine vinegar if it is too thick. Spoon sauce over cooked chicken or fish. For a side dish, I cut up some sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onion and threw in some baby carrots. I tossed the vegetables with olive oil, some rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and roasted them at 450 for one hour. Stir once or twice.

Remember: behind every good cook is a mountain of food that got thrown in the garbage.