My Kitchen in the Desert

Hello!

Don’t know what it’s like where you are, but here it’s 39 degrees outside. That’s Celsius. For the non-metricated, 39 is very hot! Well over 100F. Obviously it’s summer. Most of Australia just has hot to very hot summers. But here in the desert we get very hot to extremely hot days, for days on end usually. However, I shouldn’t complain. The 2007/2008 summer has, so far, been very mild.

It’s not mild any more though. And it’s hard to be inspired to cook, let alone plan healthy nutritionally balanced meals for yourself and or the family. Especially if you’ve come home to a hot house after a long, hard day at work. A lot of people will simply eat salads, day after hot day. Generally served with barbecued meat if they’re not vegetarians. I like salads. But not every day. A lot of people will order take away, but that’s costly and can blow out most people’s budgets if done too often.

So how do you stay inspired?

First, you have to recognize that summer is hard work. It is okay, I believe, to resort to using frozen vegetables or jars of ready made sauces (but try to choose sauces that are not overly processed). Keep your meals simple. And no, you don’t need to serve more than one course. Dessert can be passed over to become a late supper, and is probably best to serve chilled fresh fruit, sliced thinly and presented decoratively on a small plate. Looks divine, looks artistic and appetizing, but it’s healthier than a pudding.

Secondly, look to cook books or DVDs of your favourite cooking shows for sources of new recipes and motivation to get into the kitchen. This summer I bought Rosemary Stanton’s new book, healthy eating for Australian families. What a wonderful and truly inspiring book! Thank you Rosemary! For those who are unaware, Rosemary Stanton is one of Australia’s best known and respected nutritionists. You can trust her nutritional information to be scientifically accurate. Very important for those of you looking to adopt healthier eating patterns and lose weight. This book is not vegetarian, but there are a number of vegetarian recipes in it.

My other source of inspiration has been Nigella Lawson. My daughter gave me a copy of Nigella Express for Christmas, and I had already borrowed from the library a copy of Forever Summer. Nigella? Yes, I know many of us associate Nigella with decadently rich and choclately recipes BUT do not be so quick to judge. The vast majority of her recipes are very healthy, and those that aren’t can usually be easily rendered healthier with simple substitution of ingredients.

I don’t always need to religiously adhere to the recipes. I’m happy to experiment and change ingredients here and there, especially if the end result is healthier and vegetarian.

Does your supermarket publish free food magazines? Woolworths and Coles in Australia both do, and their magazines can be great sources for new ideas and recipes for the jaded cook.

So, armed with cookbooks and magazines, you now need to to allot yourself some leisurely time to read through and enjoy fantasizing about cooking. For those who work full time, you’re going to have to do this one weekend, just give yourself a couple of hours. Make yourself a coffee or cold drink, a snack and take books and a notepad and pencil into your favourite sitting area. Relax, read and enjoy.

In summer I also try to ensure I cook meals that will have left-overs so I don’t have to cook every night. I love to cook but I don’t like having to cook. There is a subtle difference.

I do up a meal plan each Saturday. It will cover a couple of weeks, and on it I’ll note if anyone is going to be away and not need feeding. I won’t always stick to the menu plan, but it’ll be there as a guide, primarily for shopping purposes.

I buy fresh fruit and vegetables twice a week. But when I was working full time I had to scale back this to just one big shop, on a Saturday morning with the crowds. I by far prefer shopping at a more leisurely pace, doing the main groceries once a fortnight or every three weeks, and fruit and veg twice a week.

Clean out and organise your pantry cupboards. In my current kitchen I don’t have a proper walk-in pantry. It’s appalling! I’m back to the old-fashioned kitchen cupboards which aren’t at eye height. The top cupboards are too high for me, so everything goes into the bottom cupboards. Which makes it very important to keep it organised and tidy so I can see at a glance what I’m short of when I’m writing out my shopping list, or looking in for inspiration.

How hot’s your kitchen at dinner time? Does it cop the fierce setting sun? My kitchen’s lovely in the mornings, gets a bit of sun around lunchtime and then stays constantly warm for the remainder of the day. My preference, in summer, is to pre-prepare my evening meals so they’re cooked, covered, in the fridge, ready to pop into a microwave later in the evening. The exception for me is when I am preparing salads. I much prefer to do those at the last minute, or no earlier than an hour or two ahead.

If your kitchen is dreadfully stifling in summer, is there somewhere else you can chop the vegies and cook? Those outdoor kitchens so popular in Australia these days are a wonderful invention.