I think you’ve raised some great points, Kathryn! Preparing tasty and healthy food at home isn’t instant (though you’ve previously written some useful posts about making it more convenient via spice mixes, freezing foods and other planning).

I must admit that I’m biased towards the shifted emphasis you propose, because I already enjoy spending time on food preparation. You don’t have to convince me that it’s worth it!

I don’t agree with 1-minute fast, but I do mentally assess recipes and usually won’t give it a second glance if it involves more than 40min of prep. I think that having simple and straightforward recipes makes cooking more accessible, particularly in an age when so many people still haven’t grasped the fundamentals of cooking.

Many people don’t have the time or inclination to slave for hours in the kitchen, which I why I always curse recipes in newspapers/magazines that have a 20+ ingredients. On the other hand, cooking shouldn’t be so fast or expensive that one needs to buy garlic-infused olive oil (i’m looking at you, nigella).

Quick and easy, yes. Instant, no.

As a stay at home mum, I think 30-40 mins on meal prep is quite reasonable. Having said that, what I baulk at is the amount of ingredients that make up a meal. While I’m not a huge fan of the 4 ingredient fad, if there are heaps of ingredients and measurements I tend to pass on that recipe and go for something a little more simple in its composition. So for me its not the time it takes, but the amount of ingredients and the subsequent chopping, cleaning and measuring that annoy me!

I have thought about this a lot. (Keep in mind I just got home from work so exhausted from my present heavy workload that I didn’t even cook my dinner – I just got a container of leftover home-made, low fat chicken curry with lots of vegetables out of the fridge and ate it, without even cooking…. – but it probably took me over 1hr to prepare on Monday evening!). I subscribe to the Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine and find myself rarely able to truly fall in love with any of their recipes because most of them seem to be healthy recipes specifically transformed to suit time-pressured, budget-savvy individuals, to the extent that I feel that their recipes do not have enough of a luscious overflowing variety of nutrients. Yes, most people are time-pressured, and living on a budget, but there is a point where it can be compromised too much – for a little bit extra time and money you can make healthier meals. (It took me a while to make a conscious decision to prioritise health in this manner). I generally have no interest in making a meal that is trying to be a family-friendly budget winner by using sausages, or where the only vegetable is a fashionable side of broccolini – I’d rather have a salad or stew sparkling with exciting flavours of myriad ingredients. Not necessarily fancy ingredients that you have to go to a specialist store – just a good solid mix of healthy ingredients. While not diabetic myself, I have taken to browsing Diabetic Living because it is targetted at those who have a non-negotiable medical reason for not compromising, so it is more likely to have more appropriate meals. That said, the reality is there will be times when you get home and need fall-back options, and that’s when it’s good to be aware of strategies like the use of your own pre-prepared frozen/refrigerated leftovers, intrinsically quick and easy meals like oven-baked/grilled fish with a serve of frozen vegetables (heated in the microwave). It’s good to have options when time is flying by, but I think it’s important to sing the praises of gloriously healthy food. Things that are naturally easy and quick like grilled fish, etc. are great – what is a concern to me is the recipes that look like they have been deliberately manipulated (dumbed down?? shortened?) in order to suit a busy lifestyle, e.g. fettucini with a really sparse/simple sauce which may be a quick, tasty dinner but which has hardly any fibre/vegetables/protein….

I’m with Helen on this one. Also, if you’re organised and pre-prepare, your 30 minutes spent throwing together a really good bean salad on Sunday evening will be instant when you come home on a 43 degree Thursday and need to just scoop some food out of your mum’s old Tupperware.

You need to keep in mind that some recipes only look hard – if I was to describe or write down any of my favourite ‘easy’ recipes, they would suddenly look a lot longer because of the long list of spices, or the marinating over night in the fridge. When you actually do them, they are a doddle.

Mostly cooking is a hobby and a pleasure for me. I used to think I was short of time but soon realised that, rather than watch that TV program that I didn’t really like that much, I could spend that hour cooking.

It is true that some evenings I genuinely don’t have time but I’ll happily spend Saturday/Sunday morning pottering in the kitchen to prepare stuff to eat later in the week.

So I don’t mind if the recipes are presented as quick or not. There’s always a way to fit them in.

It’s a really interesting point you bring up! I’ve noticed that my husband spends a lot longer than i do in the kitchen making any given recipe. He’s just an inexperienced chef who takes longer to figure out the recipe and is less efficient with his process. So ‘quick and easy’ may be misleading anyway, depending who you are talking to.

In any case, I really like the idea of emphasizing the importance of cooking, regardless of the time commitment. As others have stated, cooking might take time but leftovers are worth it!

It’s really interesting reading your comments, and not what I was expecting. It seems from a few of you that it’s quantity of ingredients, rather than the speed of cooking, which is off-putting. Because it leads to a perception at least, that the dish is complex?

I’m also heartened to read about your use of leftovers. Leftovers are a saviour when trying to eat well. I currently have a freezer full of leftovers. And another meal in the fridge, ready for tonight. Much as I love cooking I don’t want to do it every night.

I write “quick” recipes for a magazine and one of the things I notice is the meals are rarely leftover-friendly. To get something done in 10 minutes you’re cooking a steak with an interesting marinade; constructing a salad; cooking a piece of fish to go with salad; making small fritters. But none of these are dishes suitable for freezing, or storing in the fridge for lunch next day. So the quick timeframe can be a false (time) economy. Because you have to do it again the next day.

Hi Kathryn, I’ve been a lurker on your blog and this topic today has coaxed me out of the ether to leave a comment.
I’ve been a committed cook-from-scratch kinda person since I left home 20 years ago. Why? Because freshly cooked food tastes better, simple as that. I’ve become an avid recipe collector over the years and I’ve always been sceptical about “fast and easy” recipes, mainly because I think most food needs more cooking time, not less to taste better. Take for instance the simple act of frying an onion. “Fast and easy” recipes have you frying that onion for a minute or two. But onions need longer, slower frying (about 5-10 minutes) to develop that mellow, sweeter taste. But, that’s not fast so taste is sacrificed for —-I don’t know what? Whatever you make with an undercooked onion isn’t going to taste great, the cook thinks that cooking isn’t worth the effort and cooks even less than before. It’s a self-defeating philosophy.
Somehow we have to resurrect proper home cooking, acknowledge it is worthy of time and effort and give it the respect it demands.
How? That’s the hard bit.

I concur with those who’ve said a long list of ingredients can be an off-putting factor for them. I’ve always cooked from scratch and I enjoy doing it. However, as a full-time worker with plenty of other demands on my time, I’ve come to realise recently that I need to reduce the amount of time I spend on food preparation so I can fit other things in – like gardening, to produce some of my own ingredients!

I think the modern emphasis on speed in cooking literature has probably been influenced by two societal movements: that of convenience (especially for housewives – think of the massive change in women’s labour in the home in by modern washing machines, for example), and the eventual response to our move to a two-person working family being the norm. Relatively suddenly, most of us don’t have a stay-at-home wife / mum in the family to ensure each day that meals are prepared, lunches are packed, and so on.

The response has been a democratisation of cooking. There are less hours to be devoted to it, because more of us are working outside the home. And we’re less expert at it. So the emphasis has switched to convenience and simplicity.

I see this as a good thing! There’s certainly a place for the more complex cookbooks and recipes written by chefs for people who have the time or inclination. For my part though, I’m grateful that the norm has shifted to simpler cooking – and increasingly, to healthy cooking.

Well, this post was a bit of a shake-up for me. I write about food and cooking and I’m always touting recipes that are quick and easy in the hope that people will actually cook rather than opening a can or microwaving something, ordering in, or going to a restaurant. But we should take care, take time and be mindful of what we eat. I know that I can make a recipe in 20 minutes because I know how to cook, but to the uninitiated it could take much more time. I might lose their trust and I might actually turn people away from the very thing I am trying to promote. Thanks for the sobering thought

Interesting discussion. I divide my cooking (as I guess most fulltime workers do) into weekday and weekend cooking. The weekend cooking is for the 40+ minute recipes, where I have the time to prepare and cook and don’t end up eating dinner at 9pm!
On the comments about quantity of ingredients, I also agree. As a single person, mainly cooking for one, using small amounts of many ingredients (especially fresh) can be wasteful and expensive.
A side note – there should be more recipes for one person as well!

Interesting! I just realised I never pay any attention to ‘quick’ claims etc on recipes, nor to the quoted prep time, nor the length of the ingredient list. I scan the recipe and mentally classify it into ‘weekday’, ‘weekend’ or ‘special occasion’. And it’s sort of based on the amount of fussing around it requires – everything requires stuff to be chopped then cooked for a while and so most things really take much the same time. However, if I have to stand there and nursemaid it for an hour adding things and stirring every five minutes – that changes its category!
I’m not bothered by a long list of ingredients if I have them all; usually half of them are spices which only require a quick teaspoon. Something that does put me off is requiring more than one type of fresh herb as I know I’m not going to use the rest of more than one bunch before it goes soggy.
I’m also not a fan of the four ingredient things. I want a bit more variety in my meal.

Greatest culinary find of this insane heatwave?

Cold tomato soup. Take a bottle of tomato juice – a tasty one – and chill it (if, that is, your refrigerator has not been shut down by Victorian power outages).

Chop 2 spring onions, the zest of 1 lime, 1 clove of garlic and a bunch of coriander all together quite finely. Toss with 1 avocado, peeled and diced and a little cumin. Pour into bowl, adjust seasoning (a pinch of sugar might be needed) and serve with wedges of lime for squeezage. A thread of extra virgin olive oil is extra good, right at the end.

Cannot quite express how deeply satisfying (and fast) this is in hot weather. That Deborah Madison, I tell you. She’s a star.

Idiot…gave old blog address.

Anyhoo. (Must be the wretched heat).

Yes, I suppose we need to be honest, don’t we, about how long things actually take to prep? I like chopping – the old adage that it’s a form of therapy is oft thrown about because for some it is absolutely true. For others, it’s a nightmare. Sharp knives help speed the process up, but it’s confidence in the long run, and for that you do have to develop skills, intuition and, above all else, an interest in your subject. Hmm…

This post captured my interest and the discussion it has inspired is equally fascinating. This is a topic I have been thinking about lately with a book called 30 Minute Vegetarian – am in the middle of a post on a recipe from it. I think recipes that have vegetables already chopped up can be misleading as one of the biggest parts of my preparation is chopping vegies. I also think that recipes which need a side are misleading too – especially as I like a variety of vegies in my meals but there are days (like this Melbourne heatwave) when I really wish for quicker meals and days I love to potter in the kitchen for as long as it takes. But I think leftovers are a great way to save me on nights I don’t have energy – much quicker and healthier than getting takeaway!

I cook nearly all the meals in our house – all from scratch – generally making it up as I go. Usually spending 30-60 min a meal. It ain’t hard!

However – I strongly disagree that it has had any noticeable benefits on my energy, well being, etc.

I’ve been doing this for over 3 years, mainly organic ingredients, etc. I feel just as sluggish, no energy etc – possibly even more so :[

I have a feeling fresh home cooked meals are a little over-rated as far as the supposed health benefits go – I know people /say/ they feel better but I’ve yet to see any evidence.

I’m giving until the end of the year – then it’s back to prepared meals and takeaway food with cooking only on the weekends!

Bec: you’re right about part of this being societal changes. As women have moved out to work, and work days have become longer, cooking has been pushed out.

In this though I’m not sure how much democratisation of cooking has actually happened. There are some fabulous male cooks, there are households where men do an equal share of the food prep and housework. But overall, on average across the population, food preparation is still mostly done by women. Certainly here in Australia. Research by the ABS and others estimates men spend 28 minutes a day on food prep, while women do more than double that.

So it’s little wonder food prep is being squeezed. But there is no reason why simpler cooking can’t equal a healthy meal. Taking the emphasis away from the family roast, or meat and potatoes onto salads and lighter dishes.

Gwyneth: your assessment and category system sounds like mine! I do tend to think in terms of every day, weekend and when we have people over. The latter group tends to be both the more complicated dishes, but also more luxurious stuff.

James: you’ve made an important point, which I should have highlighted earlier. Home cooked meals can and are more likely to be better than restaurant and take-away, because you have control over the quality of ingredients and the cooking methods. But it still depends on what you cook. If your meals are high in fat, meat-centred, heavy on the grain foods and light on the vegetables, you’re not going to notice a huge immediate difference in wellbeing and energy.

However, home-made meals are in my view superior because:

• You can choose the quantity and type of oil you use – emphasising mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. You don’t have this choice with take-away which is often cooked in poorer quality oils with higher saturates and trans-fats.
• You can reduce the sodium – again it’s often high in take-away foods
• You have control over the balance of meal elements. Whereas most take-aways are dominated by cheaper ingredients – such as noodles, pasta and rice.
• You can add more vegetables to home-cooked meals. Take-aways are usually centred around the meat/fish or carbohydrate (rice, pasta, noodles) components of the meal and vegies are an afterthought
• You have control over the quality of ingredients used and can select better foods.
• Home-cooked meals can be higher in fibre, if you choose vegetables, wholegrains and legumes.

To get the benefits you still need to make a good meal. For more on better meal proportions and how to balance out what you’re doing for better energy, then take a look at my 50/25/25 rule.

I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but there have certainly been times when it’s been tricky to fit the kind of cooking I enjoy into a day of things I have to do (like earn a living, care for a child, visit sick relatives in hospital or go to classes at uni). Eventually I learned that experimenting with recipes is best done when I’m not hungry or otherwise rushing. Like Saturday mornings. Experimental Saturday lunches or brunches are great. Experimental Wednesday night dinners that take hours or require concentration are not great. I’ve developed a better idea of what times of day I need to eat, and the times of day my son needs to eat, to keep us all happy. I know that quickly barbequeing a mixture of veggies in time for nursery tea at 6pm means chopping veggies after lunch, or after dinner the night before. I know that barbequeing twice as many veggies as we need on Monday means we can have a quick pasta with “roasted” veggies on Tuesday. I sometimes think that what recipe books are missing is the linking up of recipes, the instructions in meal planning that old fashioned housewives used to take for granted. Like risotto on Sunday night, followed by arancini on Monday. Saturday roast meat and veggies for lunch, with a pasta with roasted pumpkin, fetta and pinenuts on Sunday, and so on. It’s the sort of thing that makes cooking (and shopping) for one much easier for a start (although supermarkets selling single sticks of celery has helped too).

kathryn – I think that’s what’s annoying me – my food intake could be a poster for the ‘correct’ amounts of protein, fat, vegetables, etc, and all very lightly cooked (often with raw vegetables). What meat I do eat is all organic, and a fair proportion of my fruit and vegetables are organic.

The closest thing I come to processed food would be cans of tomatoes, cheese, pasta, soy milk, and oats.

The only thing I probably have a little too much of is fruit (3-4 portions a day)

I haven’t smoked tobacco for over 20 years, and well, anything else is a 2-3 times a year occasion. And alcohol is a glass of wine a fortnight.

My meals are spaced out during the day with the lightest in the evening.

While I’m nowhere near as fit as I could be I’m not really carrying any extra fat and my resting pulse is around 50.

I spoke with a doctor at work – her response “It’s age” – I’m 45 :[

When are we going to get quick grown clones? I could then have my brain shoved into a nice new 18 year old me… and I’d have hair.

Kate: you make some great points. A certain amount of cooking, making the most of your ingredients and eating well is just experience. Which doesn’t just magically happen, and is hard to garner from individual recipes. Sometimes you just have to do the thing – and be open to trying out new techniques, recipes and ingredients – in order to build up the experience.

But there is definitely a time for experimentation and a time for sticking to the standard favourites. I find Sunday is my best experimentation day. If the weather is rubbish and we don’t have any plans, I’ll quite happily spend a couple of hours pottering in the kitchen – making a meal for the freezer and some muffins. Which also means you get a head-start on the week.

James: a “poster boy” for good nutrition eh? The only other points I would make are a) consider what your health would be like if you didn’t eat well; and b) could the tiredness / lack of vitality be due to anything else.

I think tiredness is the most common health complaint I hear. And I always respond with the question are you more tired than you should be? Eating well and exercising regularly are fundamentals to feeling well. However if you’re working long hours, having problems sleeping; rushing about all weekend, taking on too many commitments and / or haven’t had a holiday in ten years – then you’re going to feel tired. And no amount of healthy eating and bracing walks is going to fix that.

If you are concerned then push your GP for more. Get some blood tests done and have a physical. Or alternatively – go and see a nutritionist or naturopath (!) to check up on what you’re actually doing.

And don’t you just hate the “it’s age” response. Nooooooo!