Point of view
Eating more adventurously doesn’t need to cost a lot, says our columnist. Just be prepared to throw caution to the wind – and add some chilli
If I’d known as a teenager that the question I’d ask the most as an adult would be: ‘What are we having for dinner?’, I would have laughed. Surely there would be more to think about than that? Surely I’d be too busy being an international film star to worry about anything that mundane? Of course, other things have occupied my mind (mainly when is the recycling being collected), but there’s no question that I’ve spent more time than I would like staring at a piece of paper trying to plan a week of meals. Often the solution is to fall back on old favourites again and again in an endless loop of familiarity. One day, I was having my dinner while the cat was having hers (we like to eat together as a family), and I was staring at my plate of fish and mash wondering if the cat would like to swap dinners with me (hers smelled delicious).
It’s my own fault in many ways; I’m not very open to change when it comes to food. As a child of the 1970s, I struggle to acknowledge any meal that doesn’t come with a heavy cream sauce. The problem is that, as well as being rather unhealthy, it’s also quite bland – although, confession time, I quite enjoy that.
The breaking point came a few months ago when, on a trip to the supermarket, I was struggling to think of anything to cook for dinner that would make me happy. I realised I needed a food makeover to get me excited about mealtimes again. I don’t mean by eating more expensive produce – lobster and caviar aren’t the answer – but something needed to change. I found myself wandering the herb/spice/sauce aisle and had an epiphany. I needed to try, quite literally, to spice things up – to abandon the bland and sizzle a bit. My plan was simple: invest in a few new ingredients that will keep for a long time and help make things a bit more interesting.
Like adding a splash of red lipstick just before you leave the house; slightly dangerous but still manageable.
Planning mealtimes became fun again. A roast chicken on Sunday made a great leftover burrito with some chipotle paste on Monday. Dull frozen prawns could be a brilliant
