Time Isn’t Infinite

There may be a nugget of eternity in every moment of time, as the old saying goes, but that does not mean that time is infinite. Most people have a pretty vivid experience of lacking time. For the luckiest people, they have enough time to accomplish big things, because there is an entire org of people taking care of the little things in life. But for the vast majority of the people on the face of the earth, their ability to accomplish big things is totally hamstrung by the fact that they drew the unlucky card.

I realize that going around chirping about the joys of cooking as a hobby, rather than cooking as a job, probably comes of as tone-deaf, unless I acknowledge the fact that many many people out there won’t ever have time for some of my recipes. That’s why I want to include a new category: Max Efficiency in my recipe section. Max Efficiency recipes are recipes that require minimal prep work, minimal doting, and nonetheless create a large amount of flexible food.

Max Efficiency recipes are recipes that require minimal prep work, minimal doting, and nonetheless create a large amount of flexible food.

I’m also attuned to the fact that responding to people’s desperate need for time by suggesting they become machines is also tone deaf. That’s what politicians have been doing for like forty years, and it really hasn’t helped the political ambiance at all. I do other things, which I will talk about too, to try to advance relief in that category. But I would be remiss if I didn’t share my max efficiency recipes. They have been a life-saver for me, and they’re just honestly delicious.

Dried beans are my favorite, because they can be so many things. Don’t get me wrong, I love meat too, but beans are just so versatile: Rice and beans, bean burrito, bean salad, bean soup. We know that for the Japanese, they figured out a way to turn bean paste into dessert. I have said it before and I’ll say it again: Once you get up and running with the pressure cooker, you will realize that with five minutes of labor, and within one hour, which is 90% just you setting a timer and walking away, you will have food for days.

Chicken nuggets are delicious, but expensive. Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, also delicious, also expensive. Do I buy chicken nuggets? Hell yes. We all know that kids will eat chicken nuggets, and that they are just generally delicious. But part of that is just all the sodium and grease. A lot of nights, food is food, and I feel literally zero guilt about feeding the kids chicken nuggets or french fries. But what if I told you that fresh unprocessed chicken can take just 10 minutes? My favorite dinner: Oven chicken and steamed broccoli.

Oven at 450°F, cast iron, salt, pepper, and stick it in the oven. Set a timer for 10 minutes and walk away (scrub a toilet and fold the laundry). Flip and set another timer for ten minutes (go take a shower). The cast iron is a time saver! That is what it’s all about. I’ve seen a lot of confusion about cast iron pans and skillets. In my view, they are really about saving time, because they get just as hot as your oven coils, and they radiate heat back into the food.

One reason I cook meat, even though I know that it’s probably terrible for the environment, is (I assume) the same reason that humans have been eating meat for tens of thousands of years: Survival. I would love to eat 100% plant-based, but there is really no substitute for meat, when it comes to cooking short on time. It’s really just salt and pepper when you think about it. I know there is fake meat nowadays, but again I find that expensive too, and if it isn’t better for the environment, I just don’t see the benefit.

Time, strictly speaking, isn’t anything at all. It is a state of mind, or an experience of the world, by a decentralized subject, central to individual experience. In other words, though each of us can think about the world from a god’s eye view, with a god-given language and miraculous talents, it still remains the case, as ever, that kitchen counters need scrubbing after every meal. Toilets need scrubbing, floors need dusting, objects need arranging, forms need filling out, parties need planning and so do trips.

The point is this: The *last thing* I ever want to do with my precious time is to add to the guilty feelings of any of my readers, the majority of whom may be women. Or not (dads-who-cook, I welcome you all with open arms!) There are a lot of recipes here that I would not recommend to try if you’re super strapped for time. But I promise you that if you pick up some of the tips I use, you really will have some good tools to fall back on.