Why is it so scary to cook?

Dark sweet chocolatey stuff in a glass jar used to be my addictive habit and my main food source when I was living in the 1996-7 era, when I was about 19. It became addictive as I associated it with reading books. I would lie in bed and read, scooping chocolate spread out of the jar with my fingers. Sometimes I added it to bread or toast. I don't recall eating much else. I would walk to the shops to buy more, disappointed if I couldn't buy the collectible glass jar that became a drinking glass. I had quite a collection of drinking glasses. And I thought that I had too many of them after thinking about how many I could see.

I remember my shock at seeing my housemate prepare natural baked vegetables in the oven. After seeing that, I kicked myself into a bit more cooking action but was scared even to make pasta. It was all too complicated, even after having grown up eating vegetables every night, and also after living with other people who encouraged me to cook. I had no idea though how to actually put the stuff together, how to cook it properly, or even at all. How to use a microwave, as I had never had one as a child and only knew how to heat a pie from doing that myself at the servo near where I grew up. I had no idea how to actually cook anything. Habit was acceptable as a rut. Eating and reading were acceptable. I would however easily pay a lot more money to buy fast food, to eat a hamburger was easy. It was advertised once or twice as something that held my intrigue, so I had to find out why. Then I got stuck on that because it was good once. The really intimidating cooks I shared a home with were the ones who could make things that you could buy at an Indian restaurant. Vegetable samosas. I was amazed at the huge bowl that held the prepared vegetable and spices mixture, and picked at it, tasting it a little from its shelf on the fridge, as if I was still at home picking at mum's potato salad. And just waiting to be discovered and told off like a naughty child.

I was unprepared for independent cooking. I tried cooking garlic at full heat and burnt it horribly as I stared at the discusting old food stains on the wall behind the stovetop. I wanted to try making a stirfry. I still am no master at the art, but at least know a bit more to manage making unburnt, edible home cooked food.

Steaming is easy. So were the packets of fishballs from the Asian grocery when I was 21. I put those and prepared dumplings and mini tringular curry puffs in the microwave, guessing at the times and temperature. I had no absolute method and was breaking out of ruts and doing the same thing to a method. Although I was including it in my life in other ways, which may have encouraged me to try to expand upon tired routine, although it is no excuse for poorly cooking food. Sometimes just to eat them warm enough was good enough, but not really, just to stuff my mouth. I cooked a crab that my brother had caught when out fishing around that time when I was living at home for a little while. It was surprisingly easy. Boiling water, and plopping it in until it had turned bright orange. Not much meat to eat from it, but a good enough native food. Like prawns so much tedious peeling to get to a little flesh.

Never into peeling vegetables.. To buy organic and just tò wash them is good enough, plus you get more nutritional benefit from the skins of carrots and potatoes than when they are stripped of their skin. How hard is it to set an oven temperature of 180 celcius, cut up some vegies and put them in the oven for a while, about 25mins - a little more depending on the vegetables? They taste that yummy and are cheap and healthy.

Here's the recipe and what to do to make oven roasted vegies. Come on, it's easy. Just try reading through and see if you think you want to try it!



Oven Roasted Vegies

Preheat the oven to 180 celcius. By that, I mean turn the dial on the oven to 180 celcius, and leave the oven to warm up for about ten minutes. Then once you have the vegies ready you can put them straight in to cook.

What kind of vegies are good roasted in the oven?

Carrot, washed and skin left on, cut into chunks about 5 cm long.
Potato, washed and skin left on, cut into quarters - depending on the size of the potato, as you can get baby size ones, which only need to be halved.
Pumpkin, leave the skin on, washing it well before you cut it with a big sharp knife. cut it into chunks, no bigger than 5 cm in all dimensions.
Zucchini, washed, and cut into 5 cm chunks.
Just some examples of common vegetables to roast in the oven.
Choose your vegies, wash them, leave the skin on, and cut them into chunks. Place them evenly in an oven tray, with some depth so the juices and oil are not spilt over the side.


Add some salt, or vegie salt, or Herbamare, and maybe a few garlic cloves, rosemary - the fresh herb is best, and you just wash it and then put the whole herb branches around the vegies in the tray.

Add some chopped onion, make it big chunks, as it will brown and even blacken around the edges in the oven.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the vegies and onions and herbs, not a lot, a Tablespoon if you want to know about how much in measurement to make it easier.
Add halves of tomatoes too.

Cook in the oven for about 45 mins, check the vegies after 30 mins, removing zucchini if well cooked. Potato will take the longest to cook.

Serve as a side or by itself, however you like it!



Roasted vegie soup

From the roasted vegies, you can also make a soup. Now do not panic! It is as easy as getting a blender or food processor, and putting the cooked vegies in. You blend them up for a minute or less until they become smooth. Or do it with even less time in the mixer to make it chunky. You can add plain natural yoghurt, soy cream cheese, or sour cream in to the blend for a few seconds too, and it makes it thicker and creamier! Mmmm!

Serve it up either way, as vegies or as a soup, and you will be impressed at how well you have cooked a healthy easy meal!

You can also make your own chips. Wash some large potatoes. Cut them into whatever thickness you like or can manage to cut them, make them big like wedges, or thin like take away chips.





Make your own Chips

Preheat the oven to 180 celcius. Wait ten mins - 10 minutes - before opening the oven to put the tray in to cook.

That gives you time to chop the potatoes.
Wash them first, leaving the skin on. Cut the potatoes into chips or wedge shapes.

Pour a little olive oil or other cooking oil on the tray, olive oil is nice tasting, but can be expensive. But is worth it.
Spread the oil around the tray with a cooking brush, or with a bit of greaseproof paper folded into a square. It's less to wash if you use the paper, but quite quick with the brush too, and you don't actually get oil on your fingers with the brush. The brush looks like a paintbrush, and if you want to, you can just use about a 1cm thick paintbrush that hasn't been used before, and clearly mark it as a cooking implement!!

Add the potatoes to the tray, making sure you have one layer of chips evenly around the tray.

Shake over chips some salt, Herbamare, or another seasoning you like, such as pepper, paprika powder, or chilli powder.

Put into the oven for up to 45 mins. Check after 25 mins, and turn the chips if you want them crispy on both sides.

After they are cooked, serve in a bowl with a dip or three!

Bean Dip for potato chips.

Tin of organic baked beans - or try tinned organic chickpeas, lentils, borlotti, four bean mix, or any other beans in a tin. Preferably organic, as the beans are not sprayed with harmful pesticides.
A few cloves organic garlic.
Fresh bunch of organic herbs - if you can - sage, thyme, basil, rosemary, dill. Try just one or add little bits of some or all.
A fresh whole tomato - organic if you can buy it or afford it!
Onion, organic if possible.
Tamari or Herbamare or salt and pepper.

For the onion and garlic, peel and chop finely. Cut the tomato into chunks, like little squares.
Wash the herbs and strip the leaves of the herbs from their stems by hand.
Open the tin of beans, whatever your choice is - they will taste different.
Pour a tablespoon of olive oil, and spoon this, onion and garlic into a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir for a few minutes.
Add tomato, and herbs. Add a dash - a tablespoon or less of Tamari, salt, or Herbamare. Stir in. Cook at same temperature for a few more minutes. Add beans, mix in to heat the beans. Turn off heat when beans are warmed through.

Serve into bowl, if you don't want to do anymore or if you like the dip chunky. You can also use the mix as a side serving, or add it to salad.

If you want a more dippy dip, pour into a blender or food processor and mix until smooth paste.

Add to serving bowl and enjoy with your chips or with fresh thinly cut raw vegies, like carrot, capsicum, cucumber.