Polly’s Kitchen Tips

photography by Michael Wilson

• Think of four or five meals you can make with pantry staples and always have the ingredients. For me, that includes coconut milk, fish sauce, and Thai curry paste for Thai-ish curry with any main ingredient like tofu, chicken, or vegetables.

• Sprouted brown rice is excellent. It cooks more quickly than regular brown rice and has richer nutrition, including a lower glycemic index. I mail-order mine.

• Upgrade your coffee grinder to a burr type, then use your old blade-type coffee grinder for spices.

• I have a tiny cast iron skillet that’s always sitting on my stove for toasting nuts, seeds, and spices. (No need for oil.)

• I buy organic because I can afford it and because there is a huge dead zone in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico caused by fertilizer runoff.

• Put your apron on when you walk in the door. If you sit down, change your clothes, or have a drink first, dinner may never happen.

• Curate recipes. Keep a cookbook or a recipe box or a digital file. I have a lot of recipes I’ve cut out, copied, or written down in files ranging from “Try” to “Try again” to “Good.” The best make it into my three-ring binder with plastic protectors. That way, good stuff gets into my repertoire and we eat things we like more often.

• Also have a good handful of things you can make without any recipe, but can vary according to what you feel like and what you have. Know how to make a good stir-fry, frittata, pasta carbonara, pasta with vegetables, or tacos or burritos.

• I to buy frozen fish,and thaw it slowly. It keeps if you don’t use it the day you buy it. Know which fish are sustainable and which you should give up. (There’s no reason to ever eat Asian farmed shrimp or orange roughy or bluefin tuna.) If you see frozen black cod, definitely buy it. It is delicious and fatty, so it’s easy to store and cook.

• Get a microwave popcorn popper—mine is a silicone bowl with a vented lid—and never buy packaged popcorn again. You’ll always have a (whole-grain) snack available.

• I dress salad in the bowl: Wash lettuce, then dry well by patting with a clean kitchen towel. (Best is to wash a big batch, wrap in a kitchen towel, put in a plastic bag, and keep in refrigerator for salads all week.) Don’t buy salad dressing! Just put your greens in a salad bowl and pour olive oil in 1-tablespoon increments (don’t drench) over them. Toss until the leaves are just coated. Salt and pepper, toss again. Then, for every tablespoon of olive oil, add 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar and toss.

• I think anyone with a spouse or children or friends should be able to produce a celebratory birthday cake. Make your first one with a cake mix, then move up to homemade. You do not need to make it look like something else or cover it with fondant or frosting rosettes.

• Never use charcoal lighting fluid! Get a charcoal chimney. It works so much better and your meal won’t smell like car exhaust.

• Always make a meal plan before you go to the grocery store. But only for four or five nights of the week. There will always be nights you go out, or aren’t feeling it, or there are leftovers, or someone invites you over.

• If you’re the cook and someone else is the dishwasher, take pity on them and intentionally think of ways to use fewer bowls and pots and pans.

• Grow fresh herbs. It makes something super-simple taste great. Fresh mint is my favorite: It’s especially versatile for Vietnamese and Middle Eastern dishes. Chives, tarragon, and basil, of course, are especially nice fresh.

• Eat vegetables at breakfast. I almost never eat scrambled eggs without something in them, like frozen peas or chopped zucchini, or, best of all, a really big handful of spinach that I’ve cooked down.

• Make your own granola: Mix 3 cups of old-fashioned oats with 2 cups of mixed nuts and seeds. Add some healthy things like hemp or chia seeds. Mix ⅓ cup canola oil, ¼ cup maple syrup, and ¼ cup honey in a saucepan, stirring until dissolved. Toss with the grain/nut mixture, spread on a baking sheet, and bake in a 325° oven in 10-minute increments until it’s as brown as you like. Add a cup of dried fruit.

• Cottage cheese is so good! It’s low carb and low calorie, and new brands are much better than what you remember. I have it for breakfast with pears and hazelnuts. Or mangoes and granola.