six impossible things before breakfast 129thing from smoked eggplant to caramelized onions, fresh herbs, and spin-
ach. Because it’s a routine, our pizzas come together without any fuss as
we gather in the kitchen to decompress, have a glass of wine if we are of
age, and talk about everybody’s week. I never have to think about what’s
for dinner on Fridays.
I like cooking as a social event. Friends always seem happy to share
the work of putting together a do-it- yourself pizza, tacos, or vegetarian
wraps. Potluck dinner parties are salvation. Takeout is not the only easy
way out. With a basic repertoire of unfussy recipes in your head, the bet-
ter part of valor is just turning on the burner and giving it a shot. With all
due respect to Julia, I’m just thinking Child when I hazard a new throw-
in- everything stew. I also have a crafty trick of inviting friends over for
dinner whose cooking I admire, offering whatever ingredients they need,
and myself as sous- chef. This is how I finally learned to make paella, pad
Thai, and sushi, but the same scheme would work for acquiring basic
skills and recipes. For a dedicated non- cook, the first step is likely the
hardest: convincing oneself it’s worth the trouble in terms of health and
household economy, let alone saving the junked- up world.
It really is. Cooking is the great divide between good eating and bad.
The gains are quantifiable: cooking and eating at home, even with quality
ingredients, costs pennies on the dollar compared with meals prepared by
a restaurant or factory. Shoppers who are most daunted by the high price
of organics may be looking at bar codes on boutique- organic prepared
foods, not actual vegetables. A quality diet is not an elitist option for the
do-it-yourselfer. Globally speaking, people consume more soft drinks and
packaged foods as they grow more affl uent; home- cooked meals of fresh
ingredients are the mainstay of rural, less affluent people. This link be-
tween economic success and nutritional failure has become so wide-
spread, it has a name: the nutrition transition.
In this country, some of our tired and poorest live in neighborhoods
where groceries are sold only in gas station mini- marts. Food stamp allow-
ances are in some cases as low as one dollar a person per meal, which will
buy beans and rice with nothing thrown in. But many more of us have
substantially broader food options than we’re currently using to best ad-
vantage. Home- cooked, whole- ingredient cuisine will save money. It will