How To Cook

First, consider- how do I feel?
This doesn't only mean what do I feel like eating, it means, how do I feel?

If you are feeling perfectly fine and normal, you do not have to consider food as medicine, only as tonic and sustainer and appetite satisfier. If, however, you are under the weather and suffering from one form of malaise or another, you need to consider what would be best for your body. Oftentimes, the things you crave are the things you need.
Not always, though.
Craving fried chicken and gravy or a hot, juicy hamburger is rarely representative of a true need. That's a WANT. Ignore that shit.

Next, think about what you have. For me, this means, what do I have as leftovers or in the garden or in the freezer? 

Do not forget to consider what it is that you need to cook. As in the verb of cooking. What can you cook which will help you to restore health in both mind and body and spirit? What sort of chopping and simmering and mixing and adding will satisfy everything that you need?

The answer to all of these questions is often soup.

So it is for me tonight.

The best things for all problems respiratory are garlic, citrus, and hot peppers. That's the facts, Jack. For sustenance, you need some protein and some carbs.

And so tonight I am making a soup of chicken and garlic. Lots and lots and lots of garlic. Lime juice will be added at the end. I had leftover stuffed peppers and I chopped all of that up and added it to the pot. Peppers and tomatoes and rice, mostly. A little bit of venison.

Venison and chicken together?

Oh yeah. Not too much of either. Think about our ancestors and how a handful of this and a few fingerfuls of this made up supper.

Mmmm. Spices. Chili powder and crushed red peppers. Some soy sauce and some chilies. I had banana peppers from the garden and added those. Onions. Oh my Lord. Always onions. Carrots and celery. 

Let it simmer. Let it all stew together. Did you know that carrots cooked with garlic turn out to be sweet? Oh. They do.

When it is all ready I will cut up corn tortillas into strips and heat them into crispness in an iron skillet. We'll add this to our bowls of soup. I will add lime juice, as I said, to the soup and also minced cilantro and chopped avocados. I will serve it up with hot sauce. The more heat, the better.

This is how I cook. I like recipes but mostly I use what I have with what I need.

I like to think this is the way of the Maya.
I could be wrong.

But it's the way of the me.