It’s summer now, which can only mean one thing - time for me to stay indoors! The heat and humidity are disgusting and I hate it. That can’t be said enough. Crank that A/C, baby!
A friend of mine was recently asking how I cook, especially during the week – do I cook real dinners? Or just assemble a quasi-meal attempting to hit the major food groups? The answer is really a mix of approaches.
In NYC everyday chores can be difficult. When I go grocery shopping, I can’t really buy more than I can schlep back to my apartment as I don’t own a car. The grocery stores here aren’t very big either (especially compared to the ones in the Midwest, which are roughly the size of a cornfield…which is also where they’re likely situated), so oftentimes I have to go to two grocery stores to get everything I need (luckily, I have two within about 3-4 blocks of me, which is pretty unusual here). A few years ago I discovered the joys of grocery delivery services like Fresh Direct and Peapod, where you order everything on an app and they deliver it to your door. While this is ideal in many ways (no more schlepping!), there can occasionally be issues with items being missing or the delivery man arriving 2 hours early or 2 hours late (even though I chose a time slot). There’s also the fact that I have to plan ahead. And even for a big planner like me, it can be a tall order. Who knows what I’m going to want to cook five days from now? I barely know what I’ll want for dinner tonight. But it’s an option. I’d say I order 50% of my groceries from a delivery service and the other 50% I get at local grocery stores.
Ok, so I have my groceries now. What’s next? Food prep time! This is not a new concept (though I’m sure young people on social media would like to believe they invented it). When I buy a pack of blackberries (a highly underrated berry, if you ask me), I take them out of their original container, pick out the weird/bad ones, and rinse them all off in this little strainer container that I can then stick right in the fridge. I bought it on impulse a few years ago and still love it. I cut up watermelon and cantaloupe into cubes and put it in a plastic Tupperware container so it’s easy to grab and eat. This isn’t rocket science.
When it comes to meat – mostly boneless pork chops and chicken breasts for me – I like to prep them too, even if it’s going directly into the freezer for later. I cut the fat off and put it in small plastic containers so that I can pull out one or two servings at a time and cook only that. I am not a family of five and resent the fact that stores sell ingredients in portions that benefit big families! What about us singles? I suppose there’s Trader Joe’s, which I’ve dubbed “Food for Single People,” but I don’t have one near me and their employees are just too cheerful. Calm down, it’s a grocery store, not Epcot.
Chicken 101
I cook a lot of chicken, partly because I like it, partly because it’s a good lean protein, and partly because it’s versatile. I know a lot of people who own air friers and love them. I’ve considered getting one, but just can’t bare the idea of having one more large thing in my kitchen. I do own a crockpot though, which is very easy to use and nearly (!) idiot-proof. As I learned from my mom (who always cooked delicious meals for us when I was a kid!), it’s best to cut some of the fat and skin off the bottom of the chicken, so it’s not just sitting in grease. Keep the skin on the top of the chicken breasts though so it doesn’t get dry. Make sure to check the cavity for a packet of giblets (sorry), which you can toss. Then plop (sorry again) the whole bird into the crockpot and cook it on low for 4-6 hours. (Keep in mind that cooking time is very dependent upon both the particular crockpot you own and the size of the chicken). Once it’s done, take it out and put it on a plate to cool for a few minutes before eating. I leave it on that plate in the kitchen for a few hours afterwards (while keeping an eye on Dolly…) and then go to town de-boning it later, taking every little bit of meat off and putting it aside in some Tupperware. Some people like to boil the carcass (what a word) and make broth, but I am not such a person. Anyway, so now you have all the beautiful chicken meat! The world is your oyster! (Or…the world is your chicken dish?) Depending on how much chicken I get, I often stick a couple portions of it in the freezer for later. The chicken I keep in the fridge can be used in so many ways. Casseroles! Quesadillas! Soups! Go wild with that chicken of yours.
If you don’t feel like cooking an entire chicken and prefer just eating chicken breasts, here’s what I recommend: use a meat tenderizer mallet. Put the boneless meat between two pieces of Saran wrap, whack it a good 5-10 times until it’s flat and then pop it in the oven with Shake ‘n’ Bake (or even a frying pan on the stove with BBQ or Teriyaki sauce). It will be so much more tender and will cook faster. There really is nothing worse than a piece of dry, sad chicken.
It's easy to make mediocre or bad chicken.
Making good chicken takes skill.
Use Your Freezer
I grew up in a very pro-freezer household, so it amazes me how many people don’t take advantage of their own freezers. Although there are some things that just don’t freeze/thaw well (mushrooms come to mind), a lot of food does. Soups and stews are s(o)uper easy to freeze and defrost. When I get home from work, I am not about to cook a whole meal from scratch, so pulling something out the freezer is a go-to option for me. Casseroles and turkey burger patties usually freeze well too. If you’re freezing something with a sauce, I find it better to freeze the sauce in a separate container from the vegetables/meat/pasta if you can.
I also pre-cook vegetables (usually boil, sauté, or bake) and my carbs (mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, mainly). So on weeknights, “making dinner” is usually just me reheating food rather than making something from scratch. If I do cook something from scratch, it’ll be just one of those three things – the meat or the starch or the vegetables; very rarely all three.
And, of course, no meal of mine would be complete without some form of sugar to wash it all down. Most of the time I try to just have a couple bites of something. I keep a lot of fun size (what’s so fun about a small portion of candy? Nothing!) candy at home to satisfy that craving. Right now I’m on a Canadian Nestle kick. First of all, chocolate in the U.S. generally sucks. The cacao-to-wax ratio is pathetic. In other countries companies aren’t legally allowed to call something “chocolate” unless it has a certain percentage of cacao in it. So, I order Canadian candy from Amazon (which we used to buy in bulk whenever we’d go visit family up there when I was a kid lol). I highly recommend Coffee Crisp, Aero bars, Smarties (they’re kind of like M&Ms), and Kit-Kat (an entirely different experience than the American version).
But sometimes I just gotta cave and order take-out or food delivery. I live in NYC after all! It’s a way of life here. And what am I gonna do, roll my own sushi?? I don’t think so.
Here are a handful of my go-to, freezer-friendly soup and stew recipes (exactly what you’ll want during these hot summer months lol):
Herbed White Bean and Sausage Stew
(NY Times)
Broccoli Chicken Pasta Casserole
(Healthy Fitness Meal)
Tortellini and Sausage Soup
(Yvonne “Mom” Kocsis)
¾ cup ground sausage (I use turkey sausage though I’m sure pork sausage or even soy crumbles would work)
~10 oz. of cheese tortellini
14-oz. can of chopped tomatoes
28 oz. of beef broth
¼ cup red wine (optional)
1 cup of green beans (I often use frozen)
Salt and pepper to taste
Fully cook the ground sausage in large pot on the stove top.
Add the tomatoes, broth, and red wine.
Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the green beans, salt, pepper, and tortellini.
Let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
(This is also your friendly reminder that The Bear Season 3 starts this Thursday June 27th on Hulu!)
What I’m Watching
“We Are Lady Parts” (Peacock)
Now in its second season, this (mostly) lighthearted, laugh-out-loud-funny half-hour British show about an all-female Muslim punk band covers a lot more territory as it also picks up steam. The members of Lady Parts (what a great name for a female punk band) continue to explore and express their identities as Muslims, as Black and brown women (to wear a head scarf or to not wear a headscarf—it is her choice!), as both straight and gay, and as anti-establishment punks. There are all kinds of good new songs this season, including a punk cover of Britney Spears and a country tune called “Malala Made Me Do It.” Though Season 2 has turned things into more of an ensemble cast, lead guitar player Amina (Anjana Vasan) still shines with her natural comedic timing, delivery, and facial expressions.
“Malala Made Me Do It”