Kitchen Sink Cooking; 5 easy steps

Everyone's rituals around cooking differ; 9/10 I start by sauteeing an onion. Hearing that familiar jazzy sizzle and inhaling the sweet savoury scent of these bulbs, as they metamorphose from white to translucent gets me in the mood to cook!


Tonight's sidekicks include: one sweet potato, three green peppers, six garlic cloves...


...broccoli and tofu, and jr cookie monster's creative input is brilliant: 'mom, don't forget the tomato'. Brilliant because it's a mere 1/2 tomato which has been kicking around since a pizza making session a couple days ago. You know the type: limp. lonely, and tragically forgotten at the bottom of the crisper.


Nothing fancy, just some sea salt, Bragg Liquid Amino (just a tiny, tiny splash, see note below). Served into bowls, over two day old brown rice, the fancy finale is a drizzle cocktail of pumpkin oil, hemp oil and flax oil.

Oh yeah, the Bragg. So there I am, staring at this veggie sautee, wondering what taste journey to take us on tonight, and I think, 'tamari'(becasue I've been craving avocado rolls), but then I remember I've already salted the veggies and our tamari is salted. So I think, 'oh yeah, I've got that bottle of Bragg, and Bragg's isn't that salty, so yeah, that should work'. So I reach into the cupboard, happy to spot our unopened bottle of Bragg. I pour a tiny bit into the palm of my hand and do the lick test. Yahghghghggh! Imagine if you will, simultaneously snorting and licking a mug full of lukewarm sea water. I did not remember Bragg being that salty.

I have never seen this warning in recipe books, but it should be there: NEVER pour a marinade, a dressing, a spread, a topping over a meal without trying it first. The 'lick test' can make or break a meal, I highly recommend you incorporate this into your food rituals. Trust me, I've ruined plenty of cooking and baking sessions...


There's this great quote by Picasso that goes:'People who try to explain pictures are barking up the wrong tree. I took this picture, so I feel that I have a right to explain. You can't hear the angels humming, but believe me, when I stepped back from my washing station and it looked like this there was some beautiful tunes goin' on in my head (even though both kids where whining and climbing up my backside). I love cooking, and enjoy the freedom to make a slight mess, yet, I never enjoy my food as much as when I can look at a clean counter.