Leave room for the meal that tastes good without becoming a project.

Cooking drifts toward the ambitious version, where every meal is an occasion with several components and a sink full of consequences. Ambition is enjoyable when you have the appetite for it and punishing when you do not, and it tends to crowd out the simple food that would have fed you perfectly well on a Tuesday.

Keep a couple of meals that take twelve minutes and taste good, and use them without apology. Save the project for a weekend when the cooking itself is the thing you are looking forward to.