Picture this: you just got home from work, tired and hungry; you go to the kitchen to find a mostly empty fridge and pantry. You’ve been trying to eat at home more for whatever reason, but tonight you are so hungry you decide to just order food. What if I told you that you might have more food than you think? This is what to make when there’s nothing in the kitchen.
When I was growing up my dad was a professional cook, and he had this ability to make a meal when there seemed to be nothing in the kitchen. I learned this ability from him, and this was a very handy skill to have when I moved out and got married or when I needed food quickly after work. When I started thinking about starting a blog, I took this skill that my dad taught me and added my own flair to it. Thus the “un-recipe” was born.
What is an Un-Recipe?
An un-recipe is a quirky way of saying a recipe formula. If you are not going for a very specific recipe with a very specific taste or composition, it’s easy to come up with quick-to-make dishes, or to sub ingredients for a recipe you’re trying to make. Whether people realize this or not most recipes follow a very basic formula of protein, vegetables, carbs, and sometimes fats. Some examples of this are:
- Stir frys
- Savoury pies
- Casseroles
- Soups
- Good old-fashioned steak and potatoes
Who Could Use an Un-Recipe?
The great thing about un-recipes is they are totally customizable. This makes them great for people who have food aversions or dietary restrictions such as vegetarian or celiac. The un-recipes that I use regularly are also very quick and beginner friendly. This means that even if you haven’t cooked before you could definitely make a delicious meal at home.
I also try to make my un-recipes fairly quick to make, which is good for a busy university student or a busy mom. These also have few ingredients which make them great when there’s nothing in the kitchen.
In Conclusion
Essentially, an un-recipe is just my quirky word for something that already exists. Changing the wording or context for something– for me at least– can mean the difference between a clean house and a dirty house (you can read more about my homemaking rhythms here) or eating and not eating. If you think it’s silly that’s totally fine, but if you think that un-recipes would be helpful, stick around to read in more detail about how to make delicious food when there’s nothing in the kitchen.