I really enjoy cooking – from the washing, slicing and dicing to adding spices and seasonings, to waiting on something to boil, bake, simmer, roast or lightly fry to decorating the plate and savouring or serving a meal made with love – cooking is so…cosy and fun.
It’s like a moving meditation, art session and a dance all in one. Whether you have something playing in the background or enjoy the ambient birdsongs or have a good conversation while making something, time in the kitchen or outdoor cooking area can be sweet to the soul. I wanted to learn to cook better and more confident for awhile but when life was so busy it didn’t leave room for that so for about 10 years now I’ve been steadily enjoying the homecooking and food-growing journey and since plenty people at ‘bring-a-dish’ limes ask for the recipe to this or that, I started sharing some on the blog and here.
Cooking doesn’t have to be or feel overwhelming, though I can understand how it could seem so for newcomers to the kitchen. Cooking can be relaxing, therapeutic, exhilarating, and creatively inspiring and literally nourishing. If you eat food at least three or fours times a week, being able to make at least a handful of meals well kinda makes sense. You don’t have to have cupboards full of ingredients and a ton of fancy appliances to get started or even keep it going.
If you’re new to eating vegetarian food, coming up with different things to cook can be a challenge sometimes (Actually, even if you’re not new to it.) It can call for some creativity. So today’s post shares a slideshow of a few homemade meals in case you could do with some visual ideas for what to make the next time you’re cooking. Just because vegetables might be the main feature of the dish that doesn’t mean the meal will taste bland – at all. At least not around here. Caribbean food comes with flavour and that means spices and seasonings are in the mix, not left out or barely there – not to overpower the true flavours of the ingredients…more to help them harmonize sweetly together.
Things to remember when making vegetable-rich meals:
- peas & beans
- herbs (fresh & dried)
- spices, seasonings
- sauces and stews
- grains, noodles, tofu
- provisions (steamed, boiled, baked, roasted, fried)
- flavour
- texture
GET CREATIVE:
- 1-pot meals
- mixed plates or bowls
- casseroles
- soups & broths
- hot dishes, chilled grains
- salads
Checked out the online shop yet? Here’s the link to it (and some new additions are coming up just now). Thanks for coming by Its Joy Within today and I hope to see you in the next post.
Its Joy Within 