'Five' ingredients or less

[vass]

My main cooking problem is with executive function/attention/general brain fog. If there are too many ingredients or steps, I just tend not to eat, or to eat junk instead of cooking a meal. I once had a three day brain block when it felt too hard to make a banana smoothie. All I needed was ice cream, a banana, cinnamon, and milk, but I also had to get the blender down and wash it afterwards, and it just seemed too hard.

So, it occurred to me this morning that I should try googling for recipes with five ingredients or less/fewer. I found a lot of recipes, but one small problem: THEY CAN'T COUNT.

Take this recipe for crockpot mashed potatoes: it purports to have five ingredients, but actually has nine. I'm guessing they thought the condiments didn't count. Well, if I were adding salt and pepper to my own taste, they wouldn't count. But if they're a step I have to get over while following a recipe, they certainly do count. If I have to go to the supermarket to buy onion powder, garlic powder, and white pepper, because I've never used those things in my life, then yes, they count.

I used to be a good cook.

Does anyone have any brain fog friendly vegetarian recipes? Preferably not too starchy, since insulin resistance contributes to the brain fog.

Comments

This five-ingredient lunch has served me well!

[jesse_the_k]

When I discovered I was celiac (unable to digest the protein in wheat, barley, rye, and many oatmeals) I had to learn a new way of cooking. Sandwiches for lunch were out, as well as flour tortillas. In their place was my 5-ingredient lunch, which I've been eating for more than four years and I'm not bored yet. As long as I was completely replumbing what I ate, I followed my acupuncturist's recommendation to eat a lot of protein combined with very few carbs. Don't know or care whether it's the celiac alone, or the celiac + diet, but I've definitely had more energy since then.

One thing which has made cooking possible for me has been MyGuy's willingness to create meal-size protein packages. Grocery stores offer price savings on larger quantities. They'd never last fresh in a two-person household, but because he's sliced and squished and wrapped them into 120-g units, the whole, "now what am I going to have for lunch?" issue gets a lot less stressful.

Right now our freezer contains:
Chicken breasts
Pork tenderloin
Beef tenderloin
Shrimp
Beef liver
Tempeh
Beef flank steak
Whitefish filets
Elk burgers
Ostrich burgers
Bison burgers

That's the protein. The other half are the greens: dark leafy and once you learn how to cook 'em, delicious. We get these from locals during our tragically brief growing season, and from the engines of industry otherwise:
Chard
Beets
Napa Cabbage
Bok Choy (and a host Choy cousins (Hmong, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese growers vary the names. I just check with the veg supervisor to make sure that these are short-cooking like the previous, or long-cooking like the next))
Collards
Mustard
In midwinter when even the contrapolar supply is totally hopeless, I use frozen green beans. (Frozen spinach or leafy greens are so far away that it's not even worth the effort.)

When I began this regime I'd prep each ingredient completely and set it aside. Then at the end I'd bring everything back together for a get-to-know-you reheat. And I know that works -- the onions won't lose any of their magic if they end up sitting sentry on the counter for 15 minutes while I do the other bits.

After a year I got a good enough feel for the timing that I can multi-task -- I can defrost the protein while I'm chopping the onions and so forth.

So, let's make lunch!

INGREDIENTS
Oil
Onion
Greens
Protein
Liquid

POTS
3 qt skillet with lid
3 qt casserole with lid

The DRILL
1. Clean GREENS
For one serving prepare one third to one half a head of dark greens; strip leaf from rib, discard rib. tear leaf into palm size, clean thoroughly (gravel can lurk within)
Place in casserole, cover, microwave for 2 minutes (except 6 minutes for collards).
Remove from microwave, open lid to permit sulfurous steam to escape, make sure leaves are just slightly underdone, put lid back on.
Greens continue to cook.

2. Slice onion as you please
Oil into skillet, set on medium,
when smells nice add the onions,
shovel around,
leave uncovered,
shovel around again,
Cover. Let sit until step 3, then empty into greens

3. Protein.
Unwrap packet
Place on dish
Defrost in microwave (Better to err on the side of still too frozen, because it simplifies next step)
Cut into cubes
Saute in pan until seared around 5 minutes

4. Let's dance.
return onions and greens to pan, cover, turn down low, let flavors mix for 10 to 15 minutes. If things look a little dry, I add moisture and flavor with rice vinegar or lemon juice or soy sauce.

I transfer the completed dish into the casserole so I have two dishes to wash.