You don't need sauce for your food. Marinades, dressings, dips--these are all fine, but unnecessary. I like to cook on the primitive. All that I need is my trusty cast iron pan--coated with grease, spices and residue from meals gone by--and the desire to let things mingle.
Today, I threw down some steak, seasoned only with salt, garlic & pepper with a little bit of olive oil to start the cooking. I seared it on both sides but also let the juices sizzle out. Next came an assortment of green peppers, hot peppers and onions, all sizzling in the juices of the meat. Those came out of the pan and I replaced them with eggs.
I had a dinner of steak & eggs with a pile of peppers & onion, all with robust flavor. No expensive sauces or marinades full of additives. Just wonderful grilled flavor mixed all together--the steak flavored the vegetables which together flavored the eggs.
You don't need to add flavor, just learn how to use what you got. Cook it all together or consecutively, and don't be in such a hurry to wash out your pots & pans because you might be washing away the secret to a delicious meal!
Yes! I find this true for salads as well. A little dressing is nice sometimes, but I love lettuce, berries and nuts all mixed together even without it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I find this your best-titled blog posting yet!
Good to hear. For salads, I often just put in a small amount of olive oil, some crushed pepper (red or black) and maybe a dusting of parmesean cheese or salt.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily like plain tasting food--but usually just some olive oil, salt and pepper or other spices is enough to flavor just about anything.
Often, it is in the dressings, sauces and marinades where your food budget expands and where many of your additives and toxins are.
I also like using "foods" as sauces--so you can put salsa or hummus on your sandwich as a dressing.
I like your salad idea ~ I'll try it tonight :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know how it went. Sometimes it's a bit plain this way, but like you said, sometimes no sauce at all is just fine.
ReplyDeleteI figure Italian dressing is just oil, vinegar and some spices, right?
I like olive oil, cracked pepper and some goat chevre on salad. Simple and delicious.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm cooking up ground meat in my cast iron pan, I like to add fennel, garlic, onion, or leeks for flavor. And I never use soap on my cast iron. Just boil a little water in it after cooking and rinse, and then let it dry out on the stove.