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In this lesson, I interviewed simple cooking expert Dana of Minimalist Baker, a site that my wife Eva and I both love. We’ve cooked a couple dozen of their simple recipes, which are delicious, easy to cook, and pretty much all plant-based. She is the author of 31 Meals Cookbook and co-creator of The Food Photography School and the Essentials of Building a Great Food Blog Course. She’s also an exercise enthusiast, green smoothie addict, and aspiring wine and coffee aficionado.
In the interview, Dana and I discussed:
- Her minimalist approach to cooking
- Finding the balance between healthy cooking and delicious cooking
- Advice for those just starting out with cooking
- Advice for those who are very busy, without much time to cook
- Good ways to get veggies into a meal if you don’t really love veggies yet
- How she stays slim while cooking so much
- Her go-to healthy meals, including her favorite smoothies
Dana and John have a fantastic new cookbook coming out, which I highly recommend: Everyday Cooking.
Some recipes I mentioned in the interview above:
- Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl
- Mediterranean Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Crispy Peanut Tofu Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry
- The World’s Easiest Cinnamon Rolls
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
Watch it, Dana is great!
Exercise
Joyfully explore a new method of cooking this coming week, at least once. Or two or three times, if you can!
Find a good online video tutorial on the cooking skill you want to explore.
Depending on your level of cooking knowledge/skills, you might try:
- Chopping & roasting vegetables with some spices
- Make a big, hearty salad
- Make a vegetable & fruit smoothie
- Stir-frying vegetables and a protein (I like tofu, tempeh, seitan, but I’m a weird vegan)
- Cook a simple pasta sauce, boil some noodles, throw them together
- Make a tahini sauce, drizzle it on some roasted or steamed vegetables and grains
- Making a soup or stew
- Making a simple chili (here’s my recipe)
- Make a Buddha bowl (see the Minimalist Baker recipe above for a good example)
- Cooking Pad Thai (boil some noodles, cook a protein, and stir fry them together with a sauce, then add sprouts, lime juice, chopped peanuts, etc.)
- Make a simple Indian or Thai curry
These are just some ideas … if you know all these, try something new!
There are so many recipes online, but here are some of my faves:
- Minimalist Baker (mostly plant-based)
- Oh She Glows (vegan)
- Stone Soup (non-vegan)
- 7-Day Vegan
- No Meat Athlete