When you learn to cook, you typically follow recipes – whether in writing or instructions from someone else – usually as precisely as possible. I recall a kids’ cookbook growing up that included basic recipes for things like scrambled eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches, and I do mean basic: bread, American cheese slices, and butter (for the outside of the bread). As I grew more comfortable with each recipe, I began to alter it. The American cheese became a combination of cheeses (typically Havarti and Pepper Jack), I stopped buttering the outside of the bread, and began adding vegetables or even sandwich meat. Yes, you could argue that it then becomes an “[insert sandwich meat] sandwich” instead of a “grilled cheese sandwich,” but the important part isn’t the name… it’s the fact that I enjoy eating it.
Now, when I find a new recipe, I treat it more like the pirate’s code in Pirates of the Caribbean: “the [pirate’s] code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.” This shrimp bowl, for example, is very loosely based on a shrimp bowl recipe from Centr. (To be fair, I have made their recipe as written.) Theirs is almost certainly healthier, deliberately balancing the appropriate carbs, greens, and protein. My approach was more cobbled together with ingredients currently available in the house, including leftover rice. Thus the recipe became simply guidelines.
Ultimately, my goal when cooking is to make something we enjoy eating and that we have the ingredients for. Not every meal has to be a fancy attempt to follow a recipe precisely; it’s more important to have a fairly balanced meal that can be assembled in a short period of time.
We found ourselves looking for lunch in Oak Park recently, having seen a movie (
