Reid & Robie

Simple ingredients prepared in a simple way – the best way to take everyday cooking to a higher level.

– Jose Andres

In a post about budgeting for long-term travel in retirement, Robie and I mentioned how having a few items in the pantry along with a rolodex of quick and easy recipes helps us stay on track and underbudget. But we still have a lot to learn about cooking in this roving retirement.

Before leaving home, I studied Jamie Oliver’s Five Ingredient Meals to learn how to make Pork & Mash Gratin and Chicken in Puff Pastry with only five ingredients not including salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. But once we arrived in Europe, I quickly discovered that the simple meals I’d practiced weren’t always possible in a rental apartment.

In Liverpool we had no roasting tray for Jamie’s Comforting Sausage Bake. With beef and salmon unavailable on Ikaria we substituted pork for his Ginger Shakin’ Beef and used a local redfish that turned Sorta Salmon Niçoise into something completely different. But when we swapped olives for capers in Jamie’s Sicilian Tuna Pasta, it tasted as good as the original.

Moving every three months means learning to cook in a new kitchen, figuring out what’s available locally and buying in small quantities. Most apartments come with coffee and sugar but little else, so during the first few days we scout markets to stock up on non-perishables like rice, beans, pasta and canned tomatoes. Then we add eggs, butter and cheese as well as seasonal fruits and vegetables along with the onions, garlic and peppers that are always on hand.

We have access to the usual vegetables – eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, broccoli and potatoes – but have yet to find asparagus even in springtime. Where avocadoes used to be a daily snack, they’re now a special treat while cherry tomatoes, peaches and fresh blueberries get scooped up in summer because they’re cheap. Yet except for an ASDA supermarket in Liverpool, we’ve found frozen fruits and veggies hard to come by.

Herbs and spices are also a challenge. In Ikaria we didn’t have cumin or coriander. In Albania no one knew about allspice or turmeric, and for 10 months we haven’t seen fresh cilantro, tarragon or chives – only sprigs of parsley. When we found a basil plant, we nurtured it on the balcony to add fresh flavor to pizzas and pastas while picking the wild mint, oregano and rosemary that grew among the craggy rocks in the Balkans.

For protein, stores sell an array of sausages and fishermen provide the daily catch. The local butcher has fresh pork and chicken, but beef is practically unknown and often only available frozen.

Bread is a bright spot. It’s made daily, cheap and delicious. And it’s easy to pick up on the way home to make a tasty grilled cheese in winter or refreshing BLT in summer. Other dishes on heavy rotation include black beans and rice, tomato and feta pasta and quesadillas because despite our distance from Mexico every store offers tortillas. Occasionally we experiment with local dishes like toad in the hole, soufiko and Bekri meze. And every now and then Robie pulls out a favorite recipe from home like quiche or chicken, broccoli and rice casserole.

With each move we adapt to new appliances and learn to be creative with the limited cook wear. In Liverpool I burned everything in the convection oven until Robie found an online user manual. In Greece the kitchen was so small there wasn’t counter space to prep while in Albania we had Pyrex baking dishes and a hand mixer. And in one apartment in Spain the bread caught fire in the toaster rendering it useless – and dangerous.

But after 15 months on the road, we’re feeling uninspired in the kitchen and need help. We’re hoping our upcoming stint in North Africa will offer tasty new ideas with tangy spices, fragrant citrus and abundant grains. But we’re also interested in learning about the simple, delicious, go-to meals you swear by and hot tips to get the most flavor out of the fewest ingredients. Because after more than a year as white-collar refugees, Robie’s tired of eating the same old thing.

So here’s our latest lunchtime poll: What’s your best go-to meal in a snap? Share the recipe below and we’ll look forward to tasting it!