My job has, dishearteningly but not surprisingly, resulted in a closet full of business casual outfits; even my going-out clothes seem to have that distinct safe-for-the-office feel. But what my wardrobe lacks in flash (everything) it more than makes up in Ann Taylor synthetics perfectly suited for sitting at a desk or sorting the mail in completely unstaged photographs. It’s predictable, machine-washable, and inoffensive if you don’t mind cardigans.
Gold star for anyone who senses a segue into food metaphor!
Judging from the lengthy editorializing on the subject in my collection of celebrity-authored cookbooks, everyone should have a repository of staples, a safety net of dishes to which you can turn time and time again. The authors, naturally, make this sound like a good thing, the culinary equivalent of a little black dress, not those gray pants I wore twice last week. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Green salad
I’d feel weird making a dinner that didn’t include something green. Nine times out of ten, this is it. But last night we had sugar snap peas and the earth kept right on spinning.
Pasta
Where to begin? No one’s excited to see this on the menu except in its more complicated forms – macaroni and cheese, stuffed shells, lasagna, spaghetti pie…unfortunately, it’s linguini and jarred sauce that fills my menu gaps.
Chicken
I don’t like making chicken since it seems to require endless hand/cutting-board/utensil-washings with hot soapy water (not that I don’t apply this degree of sanitation to all food preparation!). The advantage that can’t be overlooked: everyone (except the difficult vegetarian sister) eats it.
Couscous
I only discovered this about a year ago, and I wish it’d been much earlier. It’s so easy! I’ve heard that couscous is fluffier when steamed instead of dumped into a pot of boiling water, but I guess I’ll never know for sure.
Pork Tenderloin
As versatile as chicken, but I’m not so crazily anxious about undercooking it. Strangely enough, this means it’s always overcooked. Looks super awesome on the grill, though!
It’s a fair start. But lest complacency get the better of me (ha!), I might start allocating some of my limited creative capital to dinner by taking “one recipe and then using it to champion a whole set of different meals.” Jamie Oliver, that sounds really lovely; it also sounds a lot like accessorizing, which, as my mother and sister might point out, is not a part of my skill set. But with a little time and ingenious reworking, my basics will surely “delight everyone at the table.” (Would that it were so, Ina!)
