Bowl Food

I keep thinking about my tendency to cook things that just go into a bowl.  Like it is something a little bit worrisome.  Clearly, I am not a real cook.  Or something.

And I'm not compared to many of the people I know - they cook like art, cook like love, cook beautifully.  And those are worthy, worthy goals, and I will be happy to feast on the end product if you invite me to dinner.  Not you you, I mean a global and generic 'you'. You know.  But me, I just want to cook good things to eat.  If its just for me, I want to be quickish. Get back to the knitting.  If it looks nice, that's a bonus, but not a necessity.

Mostly, it goes in a bowl. 

Lentils and Rice, with a bit of balsamic and butter, spinach with feta and paprika, roasted butternut squash mashed up with a bit of nutmeg and fried onion bits, that chickpea and kale soup, brussel sprouts tossed with salt and pepper and oil and roasted til brown and crispy and soft (add some walnuts for the last 5 or 10 minutes).  The ever popular vegetable stir fry.  In the summer, fresh tomato slices and ceasar dressing and walnuts, or nectarines and plain yogurt and wheat germ and a little maple syrup.

I'm a fan of a large green salad with almonds and chicken and tomatoes and scallions and a goddess dressing.

There's a rosemary thing with parsnips and fettucine.  That is oily but good.  Must find the recipe. 

And that Mahogany stew.  I never cook that any more, too much for just me and it is rather a lot of meat.  But the carrots that have been cooked in are about the most delicious thing in the world.  I've been meaning to try it again with some parsnips too.
(The parsnip is undervalued in American cooking and it is really a damn shame.)
Oh and the mushroom and white bean and tomato sauce/stew.  With a bit of lamb sausage.

All in a bowl.  Not, obviously, all at once.

I got thinking about this today after reading this NY Times article about some of the cook books out now (I want to go buy them all).

I have a couple of friends who are notable cooks and I find myself shy around them, of cooking for them - because I don't think of myself as a real cook.  Almost every one of the things I mentioned above are things someone fed me or told me about that I just plain old stole.  I guess I think real cooks invent more.  And garnish. 

I bought an Ottoman cookbook last year - not that I've done much with it - and one from Elephant Walk in Boston - THAT was a notably good meal.  And a good read as well.  More than I knew about Cambodian culture than I did before.

What do these things have in common?  Mostly bowl foods. Things with legumes and vegetables and rice, things that ladle, things that need an edge to hold them.

I had this moment at thanksgiving:  I kept forgetting to call my mom to review the stuffing recipe of my ancestors (very good, by the way) and in the end I went to the store and threw more or less what I'd need in a cart and added some chestnuts because I like them and just...decided to figure it out.  I've made stuffing before.  I've eaten stuffing before.  It was kind of a new moment for me as a cook, one of those tiny moments that turn out to have larger repercussions

We were being vegetarian, so I was thinking about adding mushroom stock for depth of flavor, but in the end Mom talked me out of it - thought it would be too damp - and you know what?  I was right.  The stuffing as OK, but it could have been better.  And I didn't need a recipe and instructions from my ancestors, I knew.  But I'm not a real cook, so I gave up the idea too easily.

After the holiday I took the leftover stuffing and the leftover soup and the leftover everything else and threw it all together (with some mushroom stock, thank you very much) into a pan and made this weird vegetarian stew.  Which I ate out of a bowl.  And you know what?  It was a bowl of brown mush, but it was enormously tasty mush.

I find bowls warm and comforting (I love handle-less tea mugs for the same reasons, cupping my hands around them makes me feel grounded and safe and connected and aware) and I like stews and noodles and roasted vegetables and mashed up legumes with lots of savor. 

I wonder where this idea comes from, the idea I have that the way I like to do something is not just automatically OK?  I somehow have to go through these mental gymnastics to recognize what's good and personal and reflective of the self about the things I do, and that there is no need to align it with anyone else's ideas or habits unless I want to incorporate something I find good and choose to adopt.
I was talking to a male friend over the holiday and though he has just as many questions about his own life as I do, he doesn't have that...sense of apology that so many women do.  That I struggle with sometimes.

That's something I'm grateful for this year, that I am learning to be friends with men again.  And also?  I can cook. 

Comments

[Jennie]

I love this whole post. Especially the mental image of cupping my hands around a handleless cup. Wonderful.

[Leo]

Maybe you can help me out with something…? I want to order all of my food online from now on because of various reasons, but I don’t know where to go for quality food. I have tried 2 companies so far, Fresh Dining, and and Celebrity Foods, but I wanna get others I can try out. Do you know of any? The main thing I’ve ordered so far is steak. I guess you can say, I’m a steak junkie. LOL!!! From what I have found out (from what I have ordered so far) I think I am able to regulate the quality of beef I buy. I hate going to a store and getting that crappy slab of beef that I have to cut down until there is like nothing left. Hahaha!!!! (its so true though) Anyhow, sorry that I made this comment so long. If you can help me out or point me in a direction where I might find more quality foods online, I would greatly appreciate it. Have a good day or night! (depending on when you read this) LOL!!!!

[Jenny]

I just finished watching Ratatouille again, and really - "Anyone can cook!" The mere fact that you know what a lentil and a parsnip are (and some cool things to do with them) makes you a cook. And also is making me ravenous for something yummy! I love to eat bowl food!

[Celia]

Bowl Food! at last I have a name for the way I prefer to eat! And now, I believe I'll go eat.

[Ashley]

Hi, Juno,
I've been lurking for a while, but this is my first comment. I'm also a bowl-food person, and I wanted to recommend the Gold Rush Chili from fatfreevegan.com. It's surprisingly easy and quick to prepare, and probably one of my favorite dishes. Also really good for you! I hope you enjoy!
Cheers,
Ashley

[Nic]

Trusting in yourself as much as you trust in others can be hard. From how you talk about food though, you are a cook. Your philosphy on food doesn't have to be the same as those you respect. It is your philosophy, not theirs. You are right though, it can be difficult not to be apologetic for being different to the perceived norm.

Also, is there any chance that you could share the rosemary and parsnip recipe? Being British we know that parsnips are good, and it sounds amazing.

[Gina]

There is nothing wrong with one bowl meals. You are a cook. Who says that cooking has to be a multi-course, dirty up the kitchen affair? Why can't it be a slow simmer of ingredients that are ladeled into a beautiful piece of crockery? In fact, I am greatly in favor of the bowl as a way of perfect portioning. In many places, I've read that one's own cupped hands are the perfect meal portion. Thus, if you bowl is more or less fitting into your hands, then the contents are the perfect amount for your stomach. It all seems so very perfect and organic to me. Keep on with the bowl meals!

[Martha]

It's just easier to eat out of a bowl, in my opinion.

[Jessica]

I have a new favorite soup that I highly recommend http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=2061 - it's the Chickpea Noodle Soup from the Post Punk Kitchen - I made it last week for the family and everyone enjoyed it immensely. I would say though that next time I might use fewer chick peas. But either way it's a serious comfort soup. Oh, and it goes in a bowl quite well!

[Ruth]

There are restaurants designed around the concept of bowl food. Bowl food is yummy.

[Anne]

And also? You rock. Just as a general principle.

[Laurie]

Mmmm, bowl food is comfort food. I'm even happier when I find something that is prepared and eaten in the same bowl! It seems so thrifty and reduces the dishes to wash.

[kmkat]

I am with you 100% on the parsnips. Have you ever mashed them and put on gravy? Even better than mashed potatoes and gravy, and that is going some.

[Trista]

I love bowls. I have a cookbook to recommend to you- "Three Bowl Cookbook" by David Scott & Tom Pappas. It is a four seasons vegetarian cook book of dinner menus of three different dishes for three bowls (or maybe a cup and two bowls). I also love your blog!

[Rose]

I thought your dishes sounded yummy! I had just eaten my dinner of orzo with an olive oil saute of garlic and kalmata olives and parmesan(out of a bowl!)so I was full but I totally get the bowl thing. It's my favorite way to eat too! And congrats on the friends with men thing as well as the accurate observation that they don't seem to guilt themselves out as much as we do. Why is that??

[Jocelyn]

Not only can you cook, you are a cook! Can I come to your house for dinner? I am such a huge fan of bowl food myself (as well as food that you put together and then let cook over a long period while you do something else; hence the need for bowls), and I think I might steal your brussels sprouts idea, if that's OK. I know what you mean, though, about the need to apologize or to question that sense of rightness; it was a revelation the first time (funny coincidence) I threw Thanksgiving stuffing together all on my own and it turned out well. Pretty much changed how I do things in the kitchen!

[Jennifer]

It all sounds yummy. I love bowl food, and would eat it all the time ... except for the little goobs here in my house who don't deal with Their Food Touching or, heaven forbid! Mixed Together!

Yep, you're a cook. And it sounds like a creative one! That's the best kind!

Jen

[TJ]

I couldn't agree more with your love of bowl food and parsnips. Truly, parsnips are fantastic.

[naomi]

Bowl food is awesome, and garnishes are for people with too much time. :)

[Shannon]

You're not alone. I love bowl foods and eating out of bowls. And using spoons to eat. Even if it is a dish that can, and is usually, eaten off a plate, I'll put it in a bowl. I am bad and don't often sit at the table to eat unless I've got company over, so when I eat (and not in front of the TV 'cause I don't have one), I like to cup the bowl in my hand and eat.

I think part of the joy of cooking also comes from a well made kitchen. It sounds weird, but if the space is bright and airy and things are well placed, the experience is way nicer than a tiny, cramped, dark kitchen.

[Deborah C.]

Apparently, women tend to apologize needlessly more than men. Don't worry about that.

You ARE a cook. The foods you listed sound wonderful, and I'd love to see recipes - maybe I can convince my daughters that beans are good to eat! There is absolutely nothing wrong with bowl food. Bowl food is comfort food, like chicken soup. Keep on cooking!

[elizabeth]

I usually refer to myself as a one dish cook. I've never been good with sides - it's too hard to get them to come out all at the same time. My husband is a vegetable god, he makes the best veggie sides known to man. It's a good balance. But I prefer my bowls. :o)

[Meg McG]

Plates are sloppy. Food gets cold faster on a plate. Things fall of plates. No need to apologize for liking bowls. feel sorry for the non-bowl users.

[kelli ann]

food in bowls is enveloping, comforting, the sides coming up over you and keeping you warm. some softly-lit noontime honouring from snowy quebec- peace,

[Lizbon]

I've been wanting for years to write a cookbook with no recipes in it; instead it would teach people how to cook. To cook like I learned to cook. I am one of those people who do it naturally, experimentally, and fearlessly, and I arrived at that simply by doing. Also, by smelling everything before I put it in. Taste and smell are so closely aligned that you can pretty much tell what will taste good together if you take a sniff first.

I also eat mostly things that go in bowls. And I never garnish. Garnishing is for fancy. Bowls are for home.