IntroductionPicture this: It’s dinnertime. Your fridge is at least semi-stocked with produce. Your pantry contains a few cans of beans and maybe a bag of rice, quinoa, or farro. There’s a bookshelf somewhere nearby that’s lined with cookbooks, and those cookbooks are littered with Post-it notes flagging the recipes you’ve been wanting to try. If you were to open your phone, you might find a cooking app or two. You’ve saved more recipes in Instagram and TikTok than you can count.
In spite of this, and the growling of your stomach as you stare blankly at the kitchen countertop, you have no idea what to cook. Does this sound familiar? If it does, you’re not alone.
I’ve been cooking and writing about food for nearly fifteen years. I have an ample cookbook collection, including a few titles of my own, each filled with recipes I know and love. Like most home cooks nowadays, there’s no shortage of accounts I follow on social media for new ideas and inspiration. Even so, I find myself frequently stumped when I ask myself the question: What’s for dinner?
For better or for worse, I’m not the only one. Plenty of capable home cooks find themselves in the same scenario, with plenty of recipes at their fingertips and no dinner plan in sight. Given the multitude of cooking resources available to us online and in print, it shouldn’t be this hard, right?
Perhaps what’s needed isn’t another recipe (let alone a giant collection of random recipes) but rather, a formula. This formula can get you thinking strategically about using the ingredients and foods you already have at home to create a meal you’re excited to eat. If you’re a loyal recipe follower, as I am, then you can use the formula to help you narrow your choices and make selections from the many cookbooks at your disposal.
If you’re going to trust in a formula, then it ought to be one that promises good and balanced nutrition as well as a pleasing meal: a quality protein source, energy-sustaining carbohydrates, healthful fats, and plenty of vegetables. If this meal can be relatively complete on its own, sparing you the effort of whipping up a bunch of additional side dishes or accompaniments, so much the better.
Years of feeding myself through times of busyness and times of stillness, periods of culinary inspiration and dreaded food ruts, have helped me to settle on a formula I love and want to share. Ready for it?
A grain, a green, and a bean.
Copyright © 2025 by Gena Hamshaw. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
