Happy Hump Day!
I am so excited to announce our new segment to Salt with Soul… drum roll, please……
An Exclusive for Paid Subscribers!
Raise your hand if you think cooking is a chore… now, put them down.
I get it!
I love to cook: it brings me joy, and I find solutions to problems I didn’t know I was facing in our kitchen. It’s one of my happy places. But that doesn’t mean I don’t hit a rut every once in a while, too. Other than sushi, I am wildly disappointed in the food every time we order in, which is why I always try to make my weeknight recipes simple and fun. Who wants to waste our hard-earned money on soggy fries and disappointing pasta in this economy?
But, to get out of the rut of cooking the same meals repeatedly, week to week, we need to challenge ourselves! We need to fall in love with cooking again. We need to put ourselves in a position to grow. Which is why I am so excited about “5 or Less”.
The idea is simple, and was inspired by my teenage years obsession with Top Chef “Quickfire Challenges.” I started cooking for myself at 13- my parents worked late, and my brother was in college, so I had to cook to eat. I would watch a re-run of Top Chef and then go into our kitchen, scour the cabinets, and create a dish. Our house didn’t have fruit roll-ups or microwaveable meals- but we always had staples like Pretzels or Ritz Crackers. I would take those and make pretzel-covered mac n cheese or Tuna salad on a Ritz cracker sprinkled with cheddar cheese. Stovetop quesadillas three ways- whatever it was, I had no recipe. I just did it. Not only was I making myself dinner, I was having fun. When my mom got home, I would present to her my dish, a tradition we continue now. Imagine me, with a bad French accent, saying, “Tonight, I’ve prepared for you pasta a la lea with crushed nuggets in a delicate cheese sauce.”
I’ve always said that I want to make cooking fun and this feels like a great extension to that.
Here’s how 5 or less works:
Every other Monday, I will release 5 ingredients (or less) to make a meal from. Every ingredient will be either affordable or already in your pantry—no cricket legs here (unless you’re into it). Your challenge will be to create a dish from them. It can be an appetizer, entrée, or dessert. You can add spices, baking soda/powder, or protein if it’s not listed. You can substitute anything that doesn’t work with your diet or restrictions. This is meant to inspire creativity and be fun- do not overthink it!
I will share the recipe I created at the top of the next one so there is no unintentional influence.
To kick off 5 or less, I’m inviting both free and paid subscribers to join in!
FIVE OR LESS INGREDIENTS, WEEK 1:
Cornflakes
Honey
Basil
Lemon
Fig
For this week’s challenge, you can add any protein you would like (HINT: I’m using chicken)
I’ll share my recipe and the next challenge on Monday, April 22nd. (Dan is definitely reading this, wondering what he will be fed this week!)
Remember: have fun, be creative, and DON’T OVERTHINK IT.
I’ll see you tomorrow for our weekly recipe. Paid Subscribers will be treated to another new feature: Video content! Instead of trying to make viral cooking videos on Instagram, I will bring YOU into the kitchen with me. Tomorrow’s video is some content I already had (full disclosure), but moving forward, I’ll do intros and take you step by step. These videos are EXCLUSIVE for you and will not be available on social media (just photos there because I can’t with the algorithm anymore, you know?)
It’s starting to get fun here, friends. I recently rewrote the “About” page to give you more of an idea of what I want to do with this newsletter. Themes and Martini Monologues were fun, but they were pushed too far away from the root of what I want Salt, with Soul to be. We’re going back to basics and adding a little spice.
If you enjoy my writing, perhaps you’ll consider joining my party in the corner and becoming a free or paid subscriber. Social media can be shut down instantly, but e-mail subscribers are more of a commitment. Being a free subscriber means you can access essays and recipes weekly. Upgrading to paid gives you access to monthly Recipe Books, and our weekly “5 Ingredients or less.” cooking challenge. Either way, your support means the world. Just know that if you become a subscriber, I take a screenshot and send it to Dan with the “eyes-welling” emoji because each new “like” is a glimmer of my dreams for the future.