Cooking
If you roast the eggplant ahead of time, you’re just a half-hour away from a gorgeous, gluten-free vegetarian dinner.
My least favorite recipe instructions begin with “Working quickly … ” I have enough pressure in my life. My favorite? “To save time … ”
Making part of a meal ahead of time is the gateway to one of the most satisfying parts of my week: Nailing a nice supper with whatever I happen to have on hand.
I know “whatever I happen to have on hand” sounds all spontaneous and breezy. But friends, don’t be fooled by someone whose outfits look casually put together. It takes planning to look like you just threw on something that happens to be fabulous. The same goes for someone who delivers something absolutely lovely to eat and says, “Oh, it was nothing.”
The appearance of effortlessness requires work. We here at New York Times Cooking don’t mind a little work in the pursuit of the delicious (a phrase Sam Sifton makes us repeat in his mandatory 6 a.m. fly fishing lessons).
My quest for seemingly effortless dinners requires a good supply of staples: butter and olive oil, vegetables in the freezer and plenty of dried pasta, garlic and onions. I simmer my chicken carcasses into stock, a surprisingly meditative kitchen practice. I buy extra chicken breasts to prep and freeze, so if I want to put together Eric Kim’s Ritzy Cheddar chicken breasts on a whim, I can.
(Of course, improvisation matters. Say, for example, I didn’t have any Ritz crackers in the pantry. Hello, extra-toasty Cheez-Its!)
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