You now know enough to design a meal from scratch.
Building balanced meals
The point of everything before this lesson is to make you less dependent on recipes. A useful meal, most of the time, has one protein, one starch or carb, one or two plants, one source of fat, and one flavor accent.
That's it. That's the whole framework. Everything else — cuisine, spices, cooking method, seasonality — is choice, not requirement.
The one-of-each formula
- · 1 protein — eggs, beans, fish, chicken, tofu
- · 1 carb — rice, potato, bread, oats, pasta
- · 1–2 plants — greens, roasted vegetable, salad, fruit
- · 1 fat — olive oil, butter, avocado, nuts
- · 1 accent — lemon, herbs, spice, sauce, ferment
One simple meal
Design your own
Pick one item from each row above. Cook it however you like. Log it. Notice what worked. That's the whole practice.
Cook it and log itSomething to investigate
What's the meal you keep meaning to try? Log it as an intention, then cook it this week.