Make more sauce

It is said that less is more but on the topic of sauce, I happen to disagree wholeheartedly — more is more, and more is better.

In addition to “Use up what you have,” my cooking motto in life should be “MAKE MORE SAUCE!” This is because I run into the same problem over and over again, and it goes a little like this:

I’m in the process of making dinner. I make a really delicious sauce for my stir fry or pasta dish (usually on a whim but inspired by a recipe I have come across). I think to myself, “this should be enough”. As I’m eating dinner, though, I realize well into my first portion and in anticipation of my second that the sauce to other ingredient ratio is not in fact sufficient, and all too late, I am wishing for more sauce. And then I’m left standing in the kitchen with a spatula scraping off every. last. bit. from said sauce pot or pan.

If you know anything about sauces, it can be a painstaking process to get it to the exact right consistency or taste profile — so it’s even more of a shame when the meal is over and you are left wanting more.

My recommendation to everyone is to double the recipe. Always.

Some of the good sauces and some of my personal favorites include:

• The random kitchen stir-fry sauce:
  Must-haves: soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce, gochujang, maple syrup or honey, hoisin, lime or lemon juice, chili oil, rice wine vinegar
• The random pasta pantry sauce:
  Must-haves: olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, pasta water to thicken it up, some type of cheese but preferably parmesan or nutritional yeast, white wine
• The all-purpose salad dressing:
  Must-haves: dijon mustard, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil
• I don’t have any actual sauce recipes to share because I rarely follow one (just use them for inspiration) but might I recommend the sauce edition from NY Times?

It’s been a while since I’ve written last but let me tell you, this summer has been a whirlwind. We bought a house in April, went to Utah in May, Greece in June, and now all of a sudden it’s August? Does anyone else feel like this summer is flying by way too quickly? And that their purse strings are crying out for some reprieve from the constant stream of activities, eating out, and drinking, and travel? All fun things but I won’t be too upset when winter rolls around and it’s back to cooking steaming buckets of soup and chili at home in sweatpants.

I just started doing Noom and while it’s been difficult to eat healthy every single day, I’ve discovered a new favorite breakfast that reminds me of the Icelandic breakfasts I had last October featuring slices of cucumber and a hard-boiled egg sprinkled with seasoning and some fruit on the side. Most recently, it’s been grapes or blueberries. There’s something about the crispness of cucumbers in summer paired with the savoriness of a perfect hard-boiled egg. Follow it up with a little sweet note from fruit and it’s a delicious and healthy way to start the day. If you’ve ever done Noom, you know they are a big advocate for breakfasts and as someone who is notorious for skipping breakfast, it’s been hard for me to get into this habit.

Other breakfast favorites of late: a glob of natural peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam swirled into plain Greek yogurt and topped with slivered almonds. It’s like PB&J if PB&J were to have a yogurt baby.

You could also try microwaved grits with a fried egg on top. Or, a scrambled egg with sauteed bokchoy and kimchi on the side. You also can’t go wrong with a bagel or slice of toast, too! Whatever you do, give breakfast a go.