{"id":2651,"date":"2022-03-07T02:39:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T07:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/?p=2651"},"modified":"2022-03-07T12:39:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T17:39:29","slug":"when-you-or-othersare-stressed-and-in-need-of-clarity-and-comfort-try-cooking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/?p=2651","title":{"rendered":"When You (Or Others)Are Stressed And In Need Of Clarity and Comfort, Try Cooking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kitchari, tortilla, cornbread, baked beans (clockwise)<\/span>
Melissa Weiss<\/a>, Jen Allen<\/a>, Wendy Goldsmith<\/a>, Paul Eshelman<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the things I love about cooking, beyond the edible results, is the ability the process has to get me out of my head. Like making art or exercise or a good conversation, preparing food takes planning, mental concentration and some physical exertion. So when I am worrying about an ailing parent or ill siblings or a struggling friend, I cook. I look through recipes, make lists, procure ingredients, measure, chop, grate and mix in order to prepare something for my family or friends to eat. The process requires focus to do well, thereby getting me off the worry wheel.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Curried cabbage with cashews<\/span>
Porcelain bowl by Jim Makins<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Simple roasted potatoes<\/span>
Bowl by Michael Connelly<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cooking not only relieves mental stress but gives me the satisfaction of a job well done while providing nourishment and, hopefully, pleasure to those I love. Soup is my go-to but sometimes a salad<\/a> is needed, especially when people have been too busy to cook healthfully for themselves. The bean soup<\/a> mix I posted a couple of months ago is a good example of a gift for someone with limited time and ability. But if someone is ill or mourning, bringing a prepared\u00a0<\/span>pot of soup<\/a> or a big roast veggie platter or a long lasting salad, like carrot<\/a> or fennel<\/a>, is a better gift. When a new baby is born, I love to prepare a complete dinner (rice and beans<\/a>, a batch of pesto<\/a>, soup and cornbread<\/a>, or roast chicken) because who can think about cooking with a newborn?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Miso soup<\/span>
Lidded Jar by Gay Smith<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Black beans and rice<\/span>
Square bowl by Joe Pintz<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes I make a frittata\/tortilla<\/a> when I feel frazzled and don\u2019t know what else to cook. The chopping of the vegetables is soothing and the resulting meal is satisfying, not too heavy and can provide leftovers. Other comfort food favorites are kitchari<\/a>, a simple pasta with peas or greens, curried cabbage with cashews<\/a>, miso soup<\/a> and lava bread<\/a>. They are all easy, soothing and tasty, the winning triumvirate of stress cooking. And when even simple cooking is too much, there is always avocado toast!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Avocado toast on lava bread<\/span>
Plate by Aysha Peltz<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the things I love about cooking, beyond the edible results, is the ability the process has to get me out of my head. Like making art or exercise or a good conversation, preparing food takes planning, mental concentration and some physical exertion. So when I am worrying about an ailing parent or ill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[117,90,14,17,18],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bOe4-GL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2651"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2657,"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651\/revisions\/2657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}