Wholesome Roots and Mindful Flavours

We're back at the kitchen table with Ann McCluskey, for an episode of savouring the hearty charm of wholesome cooking.

Ann proves that culinary genius and deep nourishment and can be found in the simplest of meals. Growing up in Scotland, she learned the value of uncomplicated, wholesome food early on, and she continues to keep it alive, experimenting with flavours and ingredients, turning leftovers into feasts, and, best of all, breaking free from the strict rules of recipes. It's all about the joy of nourishment, the thrill of creating something delicious from scratch, and the freedom to explore. So, pull up a chair and join us as Ann guides us through her delightful culinary journey, full of surprises and simple yet delicious meals.

tasty morsels

[00:00:43] Roots in the wholesome ingredients of traditional Scottish cooking.
[00:05:22] Jazzing up leftovers.
[00:08:52] Favourite foods and listening to your body.
[00:13:08] How coaching helps us create healthy patterns and natural rhythms.
[00:14:22] The seasonality of fresh produce.
[00:18:49] Simplify cooking with one-pot meals, and be experimental!
[00:22:05] Learning: Don't use too much raw garlic.
[00:23:30] Deconstructing recipes
[00:24:39] The importance of playfulness.

the best bit

"Intuition for me is...literally inner intuition. To listen to yourself from the inside. Rather being influenced by what's around you and outside of you, actually do what feels right for you. It's about really listening to your mind and and your body, observing and noticing what feels good for you and what would work for you."

get cooking

Three ideas for taking action in your own kitchen, inspired by the conversation.

🍅 Use what you have: Make an effort to use up leftovers creatively. Challenge yourself to jazz up leftovers by adding different ingredients, spices, or sauces to repurpose what's left into new and exciting variations.

🍅 Cook with intention: Shift your mindset from cooking out of necessity to cooking with intention. Approach cooking as a creative activity, giving yourself permission to experiment and play around with different ingredients and flavour combinations.

🍅 Embrace seasonal produce: Explore your local markets and greengrocer shops and tune into how produce changes with the seasons.

connect with Ann

website: Ann McCluskey - True North
linkedin: Ann McCluskey

connect with Katerina

community: Simply Good Food Collective
instagram: @intuitive.cook
youtube: @intuitivecook

additional links

Some of the things we talked about
An Everlasting Meal (Tamar Adler)
The Creative Act (Rick Rubin)

Original music by Colin Bass.

About your host

Katerina Pavlakis

Intuitive cook & irreverent kitchen coach
Growing up in Greece in the 70s, cooking, and eating, at home was simply normal. Shopping at farmers' markets, drooling over recipes, grinding spices, and animated conversation over dinner are some of my fondest memories. This is where I honed my cooking intuition. I'm here to help you find your way back to a simpler, more joyful way of cooking.

To bring intuition into your kitchen too, start here!

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