I’ve had a constant observation over my years of cooking: the closer a meal resides to the intersection of easy and enticing, the deeper the conversation that happens around it. You might be wondering, “What qualifies as easy?” Well, in my book, easy means limited clean-up, quick prep, and no extraneous dishes to appease Kid 1 or Kid 2. “What characterizes enticing?” Flavorful, aromatic, visually captivating, and different. The routine “Taco Tuesday” or “Burger Wednesday” dinner that we ALL do (ALL the time) is high on ease, low on enticement (sad, but true—no matter how spectacular your guacamole). It’s good, reliable food for good, predictable conversation: “How was your day? What did you do? Talk to anybody? What’s on tap for tomorrow”. Question. Answer. Question. Answer.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the high enticement, low ease meal. That’s the one you’ve been planning all week, racked-up a bunch of pots and pans in the making, and then flourished with lemon curls and rosemary sprigs. Instagram has taken to calling this “project cooking” during our collective hunt for new quarantine pastimes. The conversation-killer of this over-the-top meal is the mess that looms in the kitchen: “The crust on this salmon is amazing! Is that what turned the bottom of our skillet black? We should probably get that in some water to soak.”
Then there are the meals that sit squarely in the middle of the easy and enticing Venn diagram. They’re sense-electrifying, gather-around dishes with the promise of bright flavor, endless bites, and a simplicity that won’t leave you anxious about doing the dishes or cleaning-up. When on the table, these dishes make you want to linger for the “go there” conversations that hold you like a weight to your seat. That’s what my ‘Easy Like A Summer Sunday’ Fresh Tomato Pasta and Lemon Za’atar Grilled Chicken Skewers are all about.
Over the past month, I’ve made these recipes A LOT—mostly for my husband, kids, and the few family members in our “COVID cohort.” I’ve loved their quick, painless prep and the motivation that they seem to give all of us to show-up fully present—with our eyes, ears, nose, heart, mind, and, of course, tastebuds. Once our tastebuds are satisfied and our eyes have out-done our stomachs, we talk… and talk some more. I find these lengthy, uninhibited conversations are needed more today than I’ve ever known them to be in my lifetime. I, for one, am feeling inundated with different perspectives, new questions, opposing opinions, and constant self-analysis. Thankfully, another dinner—another chance to “talk it out”—is just a day away. To Dinner! [Clink]
