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Food for Thought Friday: "I would never think to do that"
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People who eat my cooking say this to me all the time:
“I would never think to put _____ on top of _____!” or
"Wow, I would never think to use _____ (spice) with _____ (veggie, etc); it’s so delicious!”
My response to these comments is generally a shrug 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️. How do I know what to put with what?!
Maybe you could call it the natural instincts of a born-foodie/chef, or more likely a lot of trail/error/practice/curiosity. I firmly believe that ANYONE, most especially YOU(!) can come up with simple, delicious flavor combinations on the regular, and you don’t need any chef skills to do it.
Today I have a ridiculously easy, even STUPID SIMPLE trick for you to start doing this. This idea is so simple that I feel silly telling you about it, but… I know that the most obvious-seeming tricks are often the favorites!
So, how can I help you “think to” try adding a new spice to your food, or coming up with interesting flavor combinations?
Well - we’re gonna use one of my favorite behavior-change tactics: “nudging” - meaning we’re gonna put those spices right in front of your face at the time where you are most likely to “think to add” them!
Your hot tip for today:
Gather a few spice mixes (and/or single spices and/or shelf-stable sauces) you’d like to try more often, and put them on your table where you eat so you can see them when you’re eating. That's it!
If you want to have slightly more fun with it - make it look cute/intentional! Maybe you have a pretty platter, tray, or wooden board (like mine) that you enjoy looking at - use that as a cute little home for your spices/toppings.
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Then - while you’re eating - WHATEVER YOU’RE EATING! It could be anything! - add some spice or sauce or topping to it! You can try it on just one bite, or you can add it to the whole meal! Pro-tip: especially for spices you're unfamiliar with, this will work best on plain-ish foods like roasted/sautéed veggies or eggs.
I do this currently (^these are photos of my table yesterday IRL), and it’s awesome. As you can see - I have a wide selection of items here, which include the following:
- good olive oil for finishing
- chaat masala (my FAV Indian spice blend - Thanks Priya Krishna! This one is next on my list to try.)
- chili flakes (the ones from Diaspora Co are amazing)
- cacao-honey
- kecap manis - (one of my fav store-bought sauces, it’s a sweet/dark soy sauce from Indonesia)
- a few spice blends I haven’t actually tried on my food yet but am meaning to: a berbere blend and a NOLA seasoning from a friend who moved. (Thanks, Jess F!)
- a fancy truffle balsamic that my friend brought me back from France! (Thanks Viviane!)
- a variety of salts
Over time, you may discover new favorite spice toppings and flavor combos, and you can then curate your little spice-toppings-home.
Now, if you want to take this idea one step further, you might consider getting a sauce caddy (think something like this or this) for refrigerated sauces that you more easily bring to the table and then add to your meals. I haven’t done this yet but am considering it as I’m often bringing multiple fridge-sauces to the table because I can’t decide which one I want to use until I'm eating.
Alright - that's it! That’s your hot tip for the day! So - spend 5 mins, grab 3 unused spice mixes or seasonings you’d like to try, pick out a cute plate or trivet or other “home” for your toppings, and put 'em on the table! And if you want to read more about my toppings strategies - the easiest way to make your food 10X better with zero cooking effort - check out my Friday email from a few weeks ago here.
Before you get back to the rest of your Friday - two quick things!
1. Next Friday I will be announcing details for an upcoming live cooking class I’m gonna be teaching called Intuitive Cooking TONIGHT! It will be an in-the-kitchen, on-your-feet zoom class that will include a kitchen scavenger hunt, quick lesson on my favorite cooking “formula,” AND THEN I will guide you in cooking something live during the class from whatever you have, no pre-class-prep required! It will be very affordable, in the $20-30 price range, so get excited! Stay tuned for details/sign ups coming next Friday.
2. Do you look forward to these Friday emails?! If so, I want to talk to you! Like - actually have a real conversation (just 20 mins, and it will be so fun!). In exchange for your time, you get to choose from two different thank you gifts. Sign up here by Tuesday 3/23 if you wanna chat with me for 20 mins and get your gift!
Happy Friday, happy cooking, and until next week,
Jess
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
If you like this email, it would mean so much to me if you'd forward it along to your favorite food-loving friends. Wannabe subscribers can sign up here. Thanks for reading!
In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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