Free New Year's resolution idea: Learn to cook one new thing
New Year's resolutions are generally a scourge, but if you must make one it's best to choose something quantifiable.
You could dream up a super broad goal with multiple phases, micro-goals to achieve your desired end. That would be fine. Or you could do something extremely easy, with only one step. You could cook one (1) new recipe.
Even experienced cooks have kitchen hang-ups. Some people are afraid to cook fish. Some have never mustered up the patience for soft scrambled eggs. Others are always jealous of their coworker's expertly designed lunch salads but haven't taken the plunge themselves. (Who has time to chop all that stuff, anyway?) A New Year's resolution is the perfect opportunity to get rid of these hang-ups.
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Plus, making a food resolution that's fun — instead of restrictive, as food resolutions often are — is a nice way to eat delicious dishes and give a frosting-coated middle finger to the New Year's resolution industrial complex. You really can have it all in 2020!
Your New Year's recipe resolution can take several forms. One is "mastering a basic skill." Don't know how to poach an egg? Learning that skill is a great, low-stakes resolution. Same goes for roasting a chicken or making a pie crust.
Here are some other ideas:
Frying an egg with lacy edges
Roasting vegetables evenly
Julienning a carrot
Making a martini
Prepping homemade salad dressing
Having a smoothie for breakfast one time
Broiling a steak
If you're confident in the basics, you could also opt to cross a dream recipe off your wish list. Time-consuming recipes, viral recipes, or recipes with lots of ingredients are solid candidates here.
You could, for instance, tackle coq au vin. You could make Alison Roman's vinegar chicken with crushed olive dressing, which you have seen on Instagram approximately six thousand times. You could make the extremely nuanced green salad from Via Carota. You could buckle up and attempt a mole.
The world is your oyster — you could even grill oysters, if you want.
Chloe was the shopping editor at Mashable. She was also previously a culture reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @chloebryan.
