Lunch – I wanted to show you how my salad bowls are like buckets in relation to the vitamin water. This is a salad beast with peanut sauce, cashews and a veggie burger.
Okay, maybe the blog title “How To Cook” is misleading as I have no cooking advice to offer. I have always enjoyed cooking, but don’t consider myself a good cook.
I have had a ton of cooking and baking and overall kitchen disasters. But, since I love to EAT I couldn’t just throw in the kitchen towel and quit.
www.nataliedee.com
But, I kept cooking and learned a few things a long the way. Here are my tips for “how to cook if you consider yourself a bad cook…” (If you’re a good cook please stop reading this post and come to my house as I’m hungry.)
1. Be okay with making crappy food. It’s all about trial and error. If you want to learn how to season food, how long certain foods take before they are charred to a crisp and why salt and sugar should be kept in 2 separate places – you have to just try.
2. Use a recipe. I personally do not like recipes and avoid them at all costs, but recipes are vital if you are baking or seasoning dishing for the first time. “Eyeballing it” will come to you eventually – once you’ve been using a recipe for a while.
3. Cook for yourself. At least to begin with, you should be tasting your food and tweaking it to your own taste buds. Then, you can ask for a second opinion and get to know how the palates your cooking for differ.
4. Make a big mess. ‘Cause this makes you feel like what you made is a big deal.
5. Cook for someone else so they have to be the one to clean up said mess.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions. I have literally had a friend ask me, “How do you make a grilled cheese sandwich?”. Sure they could have figured it out, but I gave them some tips that made the bread perfectly toasted and flavorful and probably that much better.
7. Fish can be undercooked, any other meat can’t. When I was 18 and first started cooking for myself I turned vegetarian and have only recently started to learn about cooking meat. So, this wasn’t always part of my knowledge. I stick by this rule to be safe.
8. Don’t be scared.
Why am I doling out all these tips? Because salmon is my favorite fish in the world and I never make it because I think “I don’t know how to cook it”.
Well, I bought a piece of pre-seasoned salmon today and made the best meal I’ve cooked in a long time. Success! I put it in a pan. Turned on the heat and cooked it through. Done and done and not rocket science. 
In a separate pan I cooked onion and spinach with vegan Worchester sauce, balsamic and other seasoning. So good.
Question: Are you a good cook? Have any tips to offer?
My final tip: If you make something really bad, throw it away and go get ice cream. Works every time.
I don’t consider myself a “good” cook, but I’m okay I guess. I make dinner almost every night and it’s not always a disaster, so that’s a bonus.
I love salmon (and all types of fish) too! I made an awesome slow bake salmon that I found in bon appetit from last month- Slow-Baked Salmon with Lemon and Thyme- seriously so easy and was one of the best meals I’ve ever made. My boyfriend and I made it for his aunt and uncle and they were impressed… and so I was I, considering we didn’t do very much!
Just found your blog, really into it so far 🙂
I’m not the best cook in the world, but some things I do really well…especially chocolate chip cookies. One thing I learned is that sometimes mistakes can be made into something else if you are creative. One time I overcooked (okay who am I kidding, I burned the heck out of) some cupcakes. But then I scooped the insides out and got them a little stale and made a souffle/bread puddingy thing by modifying a recipe from a cookbook. It was pretty delish, I have to admit. 🙂
I LOVE to cook – especially bake! IF you’re looking on expanding your horizons, check out a local cooking class – they are fun, informative, and it will give you courage and confidence to try new things! GOOD LUCK!!
I wouldn’t consider myself a great cook. And what puts me off from trying to experiment with new things is the darn cost of food! I can’t afford to possibly have to throw something out. And I have a love/hate relationship with food, if it’s bad I just can’t force myself to eat it.
Big fan of #5…I hope my hubs never catches on to that one 😛
At the risk of “tooting my own horn” (Oh, what the heck? Why not!?), I’m a pretty good cook. And I think all your tips are spot on.
I do have a “part 2” to add to your “Use a Recipe” pointer: WRITE YOUR RECIPES DOWN! I can’t tell you how many times I “threw together” a meal that I LOVED or made adjustments to a recipe that turned out better than the original… then, when it came time do duplicate it a few days (weeks/months) later, I forgot what I did!
Awesome advice. I would like to add however that Chicken can also be undercooked. Trust me, you do NOT want undercooked chicken. *shudders*
I love your salads. They’ve inspired me to start making more myself.
What veggie burger do you use? There is a really popular type that my dining hall serves but I’ve never known what brand it is, and while everyone else thinks it tastes like dirt I love it! And it looks like the veggie burger in your pictures.
The only other type I’ve tried is Dr. Prager’s and it’s sad to say that I’m not really a fan :(. Maybe it’s too healthy tasting..?
I like to think I am a good cook 😉 But I do love to cook and my number one tip that has made me a better cook – is being creative in the kitchen!
I love to cook for other people but I eat for function (mostly). My one tip for cooking: read the recipe the whole way through before starting! Love your salad!
Sweet post! Always a great thing to encourage others to cook… such a fun thing to do with or for friends, or even by yourself. One of my favorite thing is making a meal then watching the people I love eat it up. Makes me feel all “provider of the house” and what not.
i, too, am a novice cook, at best. i have no interest in cooking at all. salad beasts – yes!!! dump carbs, proteins, fats in a bowl – balanced meal!
i still ask my mom how i hard boil eggs…every. single. time.
I’m a novice cook at best. Once I tried to make falafel patties and they turned out as falafel cookies because I added way too much liquid. I have no shame…I still ate them.
P.S. Bucket salads are the only way to go.
Love this. But what happens when all you make is crappy food? I may or may not have that problem…
Your post has moved the debate fodrwra. Thanks for sharing!