Learning to Cook with Less: Notes from a Small Kitchen
When I moved into my first apartment, the kitchen came with two burners, one drawer, and a oven that only had two settings: off and aggressive. For a few weeks I ordered takeout and told myself the space was the problem.
It wasn't. After a year of cooking with a short shopping list and a handful of pans, I have changed my mind about what a kitchen needs. Here is what stuck.
Start with one good pan
A single heavy skillet does more than a shelf of specialty gear. It sears, roasts, simmers, and goes straight to the table. I bought mine second-hand for a few dollars and have not missed anything else. If you want to read more about caring for it, I wrote a short guide to seasoning cast iron last spring.
You do not need more equipment. You need to cook the same few things often enough that your hands know what to do.
Keep the list short
I shop for about ten ingredients a week: onions, eggs, rice, a green vegetable, something with beans, and whatever looks good at the market. The limit forces creativity. Last month's five-ingredient lentil soup came out of exactly that constraint, and it is now a regular.
Cook once, eat twice
Roast a tray of vegetables on Sunday and they become a salad on Monday, a filling for flatbread on Tuesday, and a soup base by Wednesday. Leftovers get a bad name, but they are really just the first step of tomorrow's dinner. I keep a running list of weeknight ideas if you want a place to begin.
That is all for this week. If you have a favorite small-kitchen trick, send it along through the contact page and I may feature it in a future post.