What I Learned From Cooking Through Half Baked Harvest’s Recipe Library
What I Learned From Cooking Through Half Baked Harvest’s Recipe Library
Breadth + Limitations = the perfect recipe for learning a new skill
Early in 2022, I was hit with a sudden desire to cook full-on meals from scratch every day. It kind of came out of nowhere, but around that time I knew I wanted to eat healthier and save a bit of money. It was also difficult to make art during the evenings (whether it be working late, lack of motivation, tiredness, or spending time with friends), and I needed a creative outlet. I was unsure where to start, but I vaguely remembered a YouTuber saying she loved Half Baked Harvest (Tieghan Gerard’s) recipes, so I looked at the website. It turned out that her library was perfect for my tastes, and I accidentally fell into cooking exclusively Half Baked Harvest recipes almost daily for four or so months.
In hindsight, making recipes from one source was a great idea and I now have valuable knowledge about how I like to cook. Here’s how I became a better cook and grew more confident in my ability to “whip something up”.
Breadth + Limitations
My main advice to someone who wants to learn a new skill is to limit your scope, make an achievable plan, and experiment as much as possible within the confines you’ve set up. You’ll probably hear a lot more about this in coming posts because it has been a recurring theme of mine in the past year.
I learned about this idea of limitations initially from a video about drawing. Looking back, the first time I actually implemented it and reaped the benefits was from this adventure in cooking. While it may seem counterintuitive, skill development can quickly be boosted by setting boundaries and rules. If presented with 100 options for an outfit, you might wish that someone would have just given you two or three to choose from. It can even be intimidating to say “I want to learn how to cook!” — maybe you can narrow it down to acing breakfast, or cooking a different Italian dish once or twice a week. You can get to mastering other elements another time, right now you need to focus.
Cookbook challenges have existed for quite some time (huge example: Julie and Julia (2009)), and I think that this is a great way to gain skills as a home chef. At the time, using a collection of online recipes was the better option for me, and Half Baked Harvest in particular because of the type of food she makes and her method. Her recipes don’t have any complicated techniques, are perfect for making after work, and have relatively limited ingredient lists. You’ll find that chefs and creators often figure out which ingredients they like to cook with, and they will stick to them in their recipes.
Once I found a great source of recipes, I was able to plan more effectively. The grocery list was key to my success, and I still plan my shopping each week using a similar method. On Saturday or Sunday mornings, I would take 30 minutes to an hour to sort through recipes on her site, look back on past recipes I’ve made, and figure out which recipes have similar ingredients (so I’m not throwing away a ton of celery every time I need it for one recipe). After I picked out 5-6 recipes, I wrote out the ingredients or added them to my cart on my HEB app. (This is a big brain move for my fellow HEB fans - even if you’re shopping in-store, it’ll group all of your items by section and you can shop more efficiently!)
In the early stages of cooking Half Baked Harvest recipes, I tried to follow her instructions exactly and repeat as little as possible. I produced some great meals, but I eventually started to make some adjustments to fit my needs.
Modifications
Like most things in life, everything does not always work for everyone. While trying to make the recipes perfectly, I found myself struggling in various areas. I solved these problems by incorporating modifications. Here are some examples:
Until I have enough space for a backyard garden (or even a balcony, at this point) to grow my own, I will not be buying fresh herbs. I don’t consistently use enough of them enough to justify it, so I stick to dried herbs.
I am a bean fiend. Unfortunately, Tieghan’s family is not, and beans are notably absent in her recipes. I experimented with adding beans for extra substance and protein in recipes like soups or casseroles.
This woman LOVES pesto. It’s in everything. While she is anti-bean, I am anti-pesto, so I’ve had to adjust recipes to work around it.
A common critique of Half Baked Harvest recipes is that they are high in fat, which I have observed to be true. For my taste, I usually cut the butter or oil in half and use nonfat or 2% milk instead of heavy whipping cream. Making recipes exactly as they were written at the beginning paid off, and I learned that some are best suited with or without the full-fat versions of the ingredients listed.
I also made substitutions for cost. Unless the recipe heavily relies on it, I rarely purchase alcohol (vodka, white wine) for use in recipes anymore. I use water or chicken broth instead.
Another huge area of improvement from this period of my life: trying these recipes opened me up to ingredients I hadn’t approached before or was hesitant about. I don’t eat kale (a relatively common Half Baked Harvest ingredient) but can tolerate spinach. I started adding more spinach to my diet as a whole as a result of using it in recipes. Brussels sprouts were a little scary at first, but now I eat them weekly!
Off on my own!
Nowadays, I have a weekly recipe lineup I stick to, but I still try to make a Half Baked Harvest recipe once a week. I’ve identified a list of ingredients that I should always have on hand: crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken, canned black beans, broth, hot sauce, high protein pasta, rice, pre-chopped garlic, onions, frozen broccoli, potatoes, eggs, milk, shredded cheddar cheese, and whipped cream cheese spread. With these, my spices, and whatever meat and other fresh veggies I pick up from the store, I know I can put a lot of meals together with or without a recipe.
Overall, this was one of the greatest, unexpected areas of growth I have experienced over the past few years and I am thankful for all the knowledge I’ve gained. I would highly encourage anyone to do this with any online creator who has a large bank of recipes that fit your needs.
Below you’ll find some of my favorite Half Baked Harvest recipes (along with my notes for substitutions and modifications). Thanks so much for reading!
French Wine Dijon Chicken: I always do the slow cooker version of this recipe, and instead of making mashed potatoes, I like to peel and cube potatoes and cook them with the chicken. I’d say the wine is an important component of this recipe and wouldn’t skip it. Also, instead of kale, I use spinach.
Crispy Jalapeño Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos: These are unbeatable. I don't personally add dill to mine.