During this pandemic, we’re often shopping once every two weeks, then cooking in large batches, and leaning on rice, beans, and pasta like we never have before.
With so many people all over the world faced with COVID-19 quarantine orders during this uncertain time, there’s one thing we can all be sure of — home cooking has increased massively. It’s perhaps one of the only ways that we’ve been able to bring some sense of order, and a little bit of familiarity, back into our lives.
During this pandemic, we’re often shopping once every two weeks, then cooking in large batches, and leaning on rice, beans, and pasta like we never have before. There are people who have had enough home time for them to learn how to make pasta from scratch or bake their own sourdough bread, others are relying on food delivery and microwave dinners.
Some are even booking themselves a private chef to come to make dinner at your home using Gathar. Because all seem to be spending more time in the kitchen than ever before, below are some home cooking inspirations for lockdown food you may not have tried yet.
Shakshuka
Also known as “eggs in purgatory” or “eggs in hell,” Shakshuka is a famous Israeli dish with eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce. Though it’s quite popular as an easy-to-make breakfast meal, this healthy dish it’s also well-known as one of the heartiest, meat-free dinners or lunches that can also feed an entire family.
The red Shakshuka sauce should be much spicier than your Nona’s spaghetti. And as long as you don’t add the eggs to it at the beginning, the sauce can be used for both the traditional meal and for other dishes like pasta.
Butternut squash and chickpea curry
This Thai-inspired meal is chock a block full of healthy veggies and spices that are super-rich in antioxidants. The beauty of this dish is you can play around with ingredients until you can work out how you like it. Swap the butternut squash for sweet potatoes, white beans for chickpeas, or you can leave the beans out of it altogether. Go ahead and add in different vegetables, switch up the spices, or slip in some chopped up shrimp or chicken breast for a nice little protein boost.
Crockpot chicken tacos
While there’s a lot of Mexican food that’s heavy or cheesy, crockpot chicken tacos are pretty healthy, delicious, and so easy to make. Tortillas should be lightly toasted and for added nutritional value, the chicken tacos should be topped with fresh chopped or lightly sautéed vegetables. You can really get creative with the toppings too, with the obligatory salsa, avocado, and cheese, as well as like zucchini, mushrooms, and sour cream. Not only are slow-cooked chicken tacos easy to make, but they taste amazing, and they’re perfect if you need to feed a large group. If you don’t have time to slow cook, stick the chicken in an air fryer for a crispy texture that’s still healthy and delicious.
Kimchi
Kimchi is like the perfect quarantine food, because not only does it taste amazing with salad, fruit, single-bite potatoes, or sautéed onions, but it can mix with almost everything. Salsa is the standard for many kimchi lovers, but you can also blend it with cream cheese for a cracker spread or give your avocado toast a nice tang.
Other ideas are to stir it in with your eggs or mix it in with butter before spreading it all over some fresh salmon right before roasting it. Plus, this spicy, sour, and crunchy-cabbage condiment is also one of those unique foods that have a truly massive list of health benefits.
Moist chocolate cake
Decadent and moist chocolate cake can usually be made quite easily with ingredients in your pantry, and you can make it with half the sugar of a standard choc cake. Instead of adding ingredients full of saturated fats like oil, butter, and egg, to keep that rich moistness, you can simply use aquafaba.
Made using the reserved water from cooked lentils, aquafaba has no discernible flavor and adds a rich and moist texture while ensuring you still taste the cocoa powder and yummy dark chocolate.
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