I don't like cooking and I don't know where to start

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pandathorax

Assistant Cook
Joined
Dec 23, 2012
Messages
3
I'm a mess. I live by myself and, frankly, don't really need to cook much. Not that I'm rolling in money, but I can afford to buy a decent frozen pizza, etc. When I do cook, I like it and think I want to cook more often. The prep process feels like an unnecessary waste of time. Don't get me wrong. It IS necessary, but it's daunting and I guess I just want to eat the finished process.

I'm vegetarian. I can make pretty much only make mashed potatoes and, perhaps bizarrely, punjabi chole. I've made it a bunch of times using a recipe and a seasoning packet.

I want to like cooking, but I'm 36 and I have almost zero experience. Just getting started with the basics seems like a hill to high to climb.

Anyone have any advice?
 
If you can make mashed potatoes you're already a step ahead of some. We recently had quite the thread here on mashed taters...
:chef:
 
You might get started by doing some research -- visit the bookstore or library and browse through the "cooking for one" oriented books; no need for you to reinvent the wheel - take advantage of the specialized recipes of the types of food you like. Cooking for one can be very freeing in that you can cook what you want when you want it. Being a vegetarian, you might want to familiarize yourself with the fresh vegetable section of your grocery store and choose things you like to eat, then Google to find a suitable recipe. Discuss Cooking is a fine place to discover new recipes.

I personally find Indian food daunting to make because of all the ingredients and prep involved, but when the recipe makes a fair quantity, I always freeze the leftovers in single portions and love being able to just microwave a bowlful for a meal.

Since it's that time of year, you might make a New Year's resolution to pick out a recipe for something you really like and make it sometime during the first week of the year.

The talented cooks here will always answer specific questions about ingredients or techniques. Just ask. Hope this helps and inspires you to just do it!
 
Panda, you don't sound like a person with a temperament suited to cooking. Maybe you would be better served by some introspection about what activities you do enjoy and focus your effort on those.
 
Well this is certainly the place to come for tips and recipes. Stick with simple things that you enjoy. A baked potato topped with (insert whatever you like here) is a filling and nutritious meal. Keep it simple.

BTW, there is no law that says you have to like to cook. My MIL absolutely hates cooking and gets by with whatever she picks up at the ready made section of the grocery store, fruits and fresh veg. She doesn't even own a stove or oven anymore. When the last one broke she didn't replace it. I did buy her a counter top chef's pot but I doubt she uses it.

Don't force yourself to do something that you really don't enjoy. Life is too short.
 
My advice is to work with meals in which one or more of these is true:
- Your preparation is significantly better than what you are likely to guy ready-made.
- Your preparation can be made for significantly less than over-priced packaged or restaurant versions.
- You simply can't find something you like ready-made.

A great many things that meet one or more of those are very simply and require little preparation. You can make a pizza that's better than what you will find frozen and/or in a variety you won't find, and preparation is minimal if you buy the crust ready-made. For instance, cheese and prosciutto topped (after baking) with fresh arugula.

Cooking for one, it's hard to find good single servings. But you can make a single serve amount of pasta and dress it with a quality cheese, a good oil (olive or avocado) and fresh basil. No prep to speak of.

The other day, Ming was making different meals of fish and avocado puree with wasabi. All were very quick and low prep, as in salmon flash broiled.

Ming, on his "Simply Ming" program, frequently features dishes that need little prep and very little time.

And most recipes require no high level skills. For instance, if you cut a pork roast up into smallish chunks, brown them over high heat (look up how to brown without sticking - that's one useful bit of knowledge), put the meat into a dutch oven with chunked potatoes, carrots, onions, a cup of red wine, salt, pepper, and some sage, and put it covered into a cold oven and set it to heat to 400F and leave for about an hour 20 minutes, you get a big batch of braised pork and vegetables that you would hunt a long time for in a restaurant and not find at all frozen and have meals for multiple nights. The rave-about good, and if you can cut the materials up with drawing blood, there's not much else to know.

Look, I really like to cook, but I still like go for things that I can get better made myself.

One thing, though. Ming's usual fare excepted, much Asian cooking involves considerable prep, because the tradition was to cook quickly using a minimum of fuel, so there's a lit of cooking and slicing to make small pieces that cook quickly.
 
GLC - this poster is a vegetarian...

One of my favorite "ready-made" meals is pasta with Marinara, I buy the Bertolli Marinara, I can't make it better. The hot pasta is usually enough to heat the Marinara. Do you eat dairy? Select a grated, fresh parmesan to top it, not the stuff in the green jar from Kraft. With this sauce you can add additional veggies, like mushrooms, broccoli, squash.

The same sauce can make a veggie lasagna.

Herdez makes a tomatillo salsa that is fantastic as a base for a white bean chili. There's millions of good ideas out there for quick simple meals, give us an idea of what you like to eat.
 
Panda, I'm a long time member here and I'll share something that many will find surprising. I don't particularly like to cook either. On the other hand, cooking is my answer for eating what I like, and cooking it myself gives me that result. Actually, it's all a matter of motivation and many people don't cook because they aren't picky about what they eat. The fact is, that anyone who can read can cook, providing they are motivated to go through the trouble. At any rate, welcome to Discuss Cooking and I hope you stick around to find out if you want to cook, we'd all love to share the journey with you.
 
Head for your local library. You will find a plethora of cook books for vegetarians. Head to your local store and pickup the fixings for a salad.

Cooking doesn't have to be daunting or a waste of time. Keep in mind the end result. Something you enjoy eating and a sense of accomplishment. Tearing up lettuce, adding and peeling cucumbers, carrots are activities that will feed you a nourishing meal. Discuss with your friends their eating habits. You may find out that one of them is also a vegetarian. You can compare notes.

And lastly, come back here. The folks here are friendly and ready at the drop of a hat to help.

Welcome to DC. A fun place to be. :angel:
 
GLC - this poster is a vegetarian...

I missed that the first time. But the rest applies. The current fashions in vegetarian pizzas and vegetarian tacos include so many good ones requiring minimal prep. Doesn't take a vegetarian to like the one I saw recently, taco with tempura fried avocado wedges and shredded cabbage with wasabi sour cream.
 
I missed that the first time. But the rest applies. The current fashions in vegetarian pizzas and vegetarian tacos include so many good ones requiring minimal prep. Doesn't take a vegetarian to like the one I saw recently, taco with tempura fried avocado wedges and shredded cabbage with wasabi sour cream.

Stop, you are making me hungry...:pig::LOL:
 
My idea of a perfect meal is a big bowl of steamed broccoli with a big hunk of butter on it. And I am not even a vegetarian. :angel:
 
They are more expensive, but take advantage of the prepped veg in the produce department.

Even better, since you are cooking for one, take advantage of the salad bar, if your store has one, for fresh veg already chopped, you can buy exactly what you need with no waste, who says that salad bars are only for making a salad! This is a huge time saver!

Commit to learn one new dish every week, and before you know it, you'll have a collection of easy go-to recipes.

Don't get bogged down with complicated recipes. TV chefs are constantly challenged to make more interesting and complicated foods, so following their recipes full of exotic or expensive ingredients, can be daunting. Learn "base" recipes that are easy to build on and customize.

And clean as you go, no need to make cooking more of a chore than it needs to be.
 
There are frozen vegetable mixes that you can use that cuts down on prep time. There are stir fry veggie mixes, chopped onion, chopped green pepper, and other mixes. I like two in particular. One has onion celery and green pepper that I use in my jambalaya and and onion green pepper and carrot that I use in my chili. So check out the frozen section as well if you want to add to a dish.
 
A friend (who is a vegetarian) made a simple lunch for us the other day. She put three potatoes in the microwave (nuked those), chopped up a red onion, some cilantro. Mixed chick peas and the cilantro with the mashed up potatoes. We ate those on piri (punched a hole in the top), scooped the mixture in, dressed with yogurt, taramind (sp) sauce, and some powdered Indian spice (I think it came with the piris). It was fun to eat and suprisingly filling. When cooking for one, your freezer is your best friend. Freeze the leftovers in portions so you can grab them quickly. On the weekend, make a big pot of vegetarian chili and freeze that in portions for a quick lunch. Welcome to DC, btw. I love to cook, but not every day. Some days, I just want a big bowl of popcorn.
 
Head for your local library. You will find a plethora of cook books for vegetarians. Head to your local store and pickup the fixings for a salad.

Cooking doesn't have to be daunting or a waste of time. Keep in mind the end result. Something you enjoy eating and a sense of accomplishment. Tearing up lettuce, adding and peeling cucumbers, carrots are activities that will feed you a nourishing meal. Discuss with your friends their eating habits. You may find out that one of them is also a vegetarian. You can compare notes.

And lastly, come back here. The folks here are friendly and ready at the drop of a hat to help.

Welcome to DC. A fun place to be. :angel:


+1
 
"I'm vegetarian. I can make pretty much only make mashed potatoes and, perhaps bizarrely, punjabi chole. I've made it a bunch of times using a recipe and a seasoning packet."
Nothing bizarre about punjabi chole! It also goes by the name of "chana masala", "chana" meaning chickpeas, as you know, and "masala" meaning mixed spices, so I assume that you are able to buy masala spice mix. That is fine, my BGD and I sometimes buy premixes at oriental groceries, but if you ever decide to save money and make your own, for one portion combine 1 teaspoon (tsp) each of turmeric, cummin, coriander, and garam masala (this last one, "hot spice mix" can also be made from scratch, but you can find it premixed in the spice section of any good supermarket with the other spices that I mention) and 1/2 tsp of chilli powder. Most of us make it up in bulk and store it at room temperature in a tightly lidded jar. You can use this with yr chickpeas, or, if you are not vegan and can eat eggs, add it to egg curry or andai masala. You will need:
6 Hard boiled eggs. These should be cooked and ready when you start the masala. Peel off the shells, but leave them whole.
6 Tablespoons (Tbs) of any kind of vegetable oil (don't waste money on olive oil here)
Two large onions chopped to a small dice (there should be a video on YouTube that demonstrates this. All you need is an onion a board, and a sharp knife)
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbs tomato ketchup (transfer the rest to a small jar with a tight lid and save in the 'fridge')
Fry the diced onions in the olive oil in a pan on medium heat until soft and translucent, about five mins. Don't let them turn brown.
Add enough water to one portion of masala in a container (not plastic!) to make a paste, and add it to the onions and cook for about 10 minutes or so.
Add the diced tomatoes. This should provide enough moisture, but if the paste is beginning to stick, add a little water and stir it in.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for about 15 minutes or so. As you are cooking and tasting, add any salt that you think is needed.
Add the whole boiled eggs and let them warm through.
Serve with rice or whatever you fancy.
If you like this, there are other masala recipes on line, I'm sure, and if you follow this and some of the excellent ideas already posted, in no time you'll be cooking and enjoying good food!
Cheers
 
You guys are totally awesome. Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will be taking your suggestions and your responses have gotten me excited about cooking. Maybe I can ride this motivation into being more cooking-friendly.

Merry Christmas to everyone!
 
You guys are totally awesome. Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will be taking your suggestions and your responses have gotten me excited about cooking. Maybe I can ride this motivation into being more cooking-friendly.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thanks, panda. One more thing -- if you wouldn't mind, can you tell us where/how/why "pandathorax" comes from? Inquiring minds (and nosy people) would love to know.
 
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