I will share this recipe, LOL!

By Jennifer Whitmire, MS, MEd, MH, CHES, NEP

Do I ever get tired of eating this way?

It’s a fair question. If you looked through my food photos, you’d notice a lot of bowls, salads, roasted vegetables, beans, and colorful, rainbow meals. At first glance, they probably all look very similar. In fact, many of my breakfast photos almost look like the same picture.

The funny thing is, I almost never eat the same meal twice.

Yes, there are days when I intentionally make extra for leftovers for lunch the next day, but when I’m creating a meal from scratch, it is almost always different from anything I’ve made in the past month.

That wasn’t always the case.

I used to depend on recipes. I collected cookbooks, searched Pinterest, and spent hours every weekend planning meals and deciding what I wanted to make for the week. If I didn’t have the ingredients for a recipe, I usually felt like I needed to choose something else.

Over time, that changed.

Today, I rarely begin by asking, “What recipe am I making tonight?” Instead, I open the refrigerator and ask, “What colorful foods do I already have?”

That one question has completely changed the way I cook.

I Don’t Search Recipes Anymore

I used to be jealous of people who could create a meal from whatever happened to be in the refrigerator. One of my favorite cooking shows was Ready, Set, Cook. I loved watching talented chefs discover what ingredients they had and then create something delicious without a recipe.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I still love recipes. I still create recipes and teach cooking classes. Recipes introduce us to new ingredients, new techniques, and flavor combinations we may never have discovered on our own.

Many of my favorite meals began with someone else’s recipe, but over the years, recipes became more like guidelines than rules. Unless you’re baking a cake or pastry, most recipes allow for quite a bit of flexibility.

Looking back, I realized those recipes were teaching me patterns. Once I understood those patterns, I didn’t need to follow recipes as much.

Instead of measuring every ingredient and following step-by-step instructions, I began creating meals around a simple formula.

How I Begin

When I open my refrigerator, I don’t see ingredients. I see possibilities.

As I’m putting a meal together, I work through a few questions.

#1 What greens do I have?

It might be romaine, spinach, kale, a Chinese cabbage, or mixed greens.

#2 Which vegetables need to be used while they’re still fresh?

Maybe it’s broccoli, mini bells, roasted Brussels sprouts from last night’s dinner, half a cucumber, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, bell peppers, or whatever happens to be waiting in the refrigerator.

#3 Where will most of my protein come from?

All whole plant foods contain some protein, but I usually focus my meals around beans or lentils or a sauce made with nuts and seeds, because they’re naturally rich in both protein and fiber. Sometimes I’ll use tofu or tempeh. Other days, nuts or seeds.

#4 Do I have enough color?

This is one of my favorite questions, because it naturally encourages variety. If everything in the bowl is green, I know it could use something orange, purple, red, or yellow.

#5 Where will my healthy fat come from?

• Avocado
• Walnuts or another favorite nut
• Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, or another seed
• A nut or seed butter
• Olives or tapenade

#6 What herbs would make this meal even better?

Do I see basil, fresh cilantro or parsley, or rosemary, oregano, dill, mint, or tarragon?

Fresh herbs have become one of my favorite ways to add both flavor and another colorful plant to the meal.

#7 What dressing or sauce ties everything together?

One week I might have a creamy white bean ranch. Another week, it may be a lemon-herb dressing or cheez sauce.

Sometimes I invent something entirely new.

Those few questions have probably done more to improve my eating than any cookbook I’ve ever owned.

One of My Bowls This Week

One of my bowls this week included:

• Mixed greens
• Chickpeas
• Roasted Brussels sprouts
• Purple cabbage
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sprouts
• Avocado
• Pumpkin seeds
• Fresh basil
• Homemade dressing

Tomorrow’s bowl will almost certainly be different. The chickpeas might become black beans. Cilantro may replace the basil. The Brussels sprouts might be replaced with roasted zucchini or cauliflower. I may use a completely different dressing.

The formula stays the same.

It’s just the ingredients that change.

Why This Works

One of the biggest challenges to healthy eating is decision fatigue. After a long day, many of us stand in front of the refrigerator wondering what to make. I’ve been there.

Having a simple framework removes a lot of that stress. Instead of trying to invent dinner from scratch, I simply work my way through the questions.

What greens?

What vegetables?

What protein?

What color?

What healthy fat?

What herbs?

What dressing?

Dinner almost creates itself.

Jennifer’s Everyday Bowl Formula

Greens

2–3 cups mixed greens, spinach, kale, romaine, or arugula

Protein

½–1 cup cooked beans, lentils, tofu, or tempeh

Color

2–4 different vegetables, raw or roasted

Healthy Fat

Avocado, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, or another favorite

Fresh Herbs

Basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, mint, or whatever you have available

Flavor

Your favorite homemade dressing

Directions

There aren’t any rules. Choose foods you enjoy.

Combine different colors, textures, temperatures, and flavors.

Taste as you go, and adjust until it makes you smile.

Traveling and eating straight from the grocery store VS at home and starting from scratch.

The Bigger Lesson

Looking back, the biggest change was learning to trust myself in the kitchen.

Once I stopped asking, “What recipe should I make?” and started asking, “How can I make a delicious, colorful meal from what I already have?” healthy eating became much easier.

It’s also much more enjoyable.

I have lots of variety, because every bowl is different.

Sometimes I use Mexican flavors, sometimes it’s more Mediterranean or Italian.  Some are filled with roasted vegetables, while others use whatever is growing in the garden.

None of them are exactly the same, and that’s exactly the point.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean following recipes. Recipes are wonderful teachers. Eventually, though, they can teach us something even more valuable.

They teach us how to trust ourselves in the kitchen.

Once that happens, healthy eating becomes creating meals you genuinely look forward to eating.