Lucy Lord - Food for the Soul: Over 80 Delicious Recipes to Help You Fall Back in Love with Cooking

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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2021

FIRST EDITION

Text Lucy Lord 2021

Photography HarperCollinsPublishers 2021

Cover design HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2021

Cover photographs by Faith Mason HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2021

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Lucy Lord asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Photographer: Faith Mason

Food Stylist: Pippa Leon

Prop Stylist: Alexander Breeze

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Source ISBN: 9780008421083

Ebook Edition Apr 2021 ISBN: 9780008421106

Version 2021-03-12

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While I was writing this book, I thought a lot about what it is that I want to share. More than just pages of recipes sandwiched inside two covers, Id like to help build connections through food, both between ourselves and the food we choose to eat, and ourselves and the people with whom we share our food, and our lives. More than just another cookbook, Id like the recipes in this book to help you make changes in your day-today life for the better, from redefining your fridge leftovers to encouraging you to be creative by trying new recipes, learning new skills and gaining the confidence to break the recipe rules. Whether you are rediscovering a relationship with food and creativity in the kitchen or finding joy in something that used to be a frustration and an inconvenience, I hope that within these pages youll find recipes to support your chosen lifestyle.

There are very few things in life that bind human experience, but the common bond we all have as humans is the need for food to survive. For thousands of years, food has been at the centre of celebrations and communities and today food is still regarded as one of the most important factors in social gatherings, in everything from weddings and holidays to the office lunch meeting. Everybody needs to eat, but our perceptions of what we eat, how we eat and why we eat can be so drastically different. As the world, technology and the demands on our lives evolve, weve become much less connected to the ingredients that go into our food its become much more tied to convenience and ticking a box. What can I grab and go? What can I eat in the car on the way to work? What has the most protein? The fewest calories? What can stay in my bag all day? While theres nothing inherently wrong with food becoming more functional and fitting in around our busy days and lives or goals, what I began to notice in myself and what Ive noticed in the world around me, is that it can negatively impact our relationship with food and the relationship we have with our kitchens and ourselves.

We live in an ever-evolving world where convenience is king and your favourite takeaway can arrive at your door within the hour, without you even having to move. Time is becoming more scarce: we consume our breakfast in a frantic rush to get out the door, our lunch whilst hunched over a desktop or scrolling through a phone, only to look down at an empty plate and realise we paid absolutely no attention and took little or no joy from what we ate. Feeling unsatiated or low in energy, we might mindlessly snack throughout the afternoon and when we finally do get home, dinner feels like a huge effort to our already exhausted selves. The food we bought last week has gone off in the fridge and its so much easier to grab a takeaway or a ready meal than it is to have to think about what we want for dinner, let alone consider our partners or children. The meals that we prepped on Sunday will probably be soggy, unappetising and tasteless come Wednesday, gathering condensation in the back of the office fridge. The big-batch Bolognese recipe that we spent hours making will be great tonight and tomorrow but well probably be bored with it by day four, eating the same recipe in the same way.

Theres nothing wrong with a good takeaway and I cherish the evenings I choose to have them. No washing up and a meal I wouldnt usually cook, all washed down with a nice glass of wine winner. I dont think theres anything wrong with reading packaging labels and understanding whats in our food, and a grab-and-go breakfast (sometimes lunch too) from a shop is sometimes the best choice we can make that day. Life and our responsibilities can feel really overwhelming sometimes, and theres simply not always the opportunity to sit down cross-legged and savour each bite with our eyes closed like some mindful muses may lead us to believe, but that doesnt mean that our days, meals and good intentions need to slip into turmoil at the first road bump.

What Id like to help share in the pages of this book are options and tools for when we can and do have the opportunity and time for ourselves whether we have 15 minutes or an hour to spare to enjoy getting into the kitchen, or if its a two-minute-smoothie in the morning or catching up with friends over a coffee on the weekend with a thick slice of toasted banana bread. I wanted to create recipes that are simple but special, so that the idea of getting into the kitchen isnt something that will take hours out of your day and leave a pile of washing up, only to have to repeat the process again tomorrow.

In this book Im sharing recipes that I have created over the years; some for when Im in a hurry and need something easy and quick in under 15 minutes for dinner, others for when I have a long, lazy self-indulgent Sunday morning. Some that I know I can leave in a slow cooker so its ready when I get in and others that I can pull together from leftovers in the week to create a new meal that I can take with me when Im travelling for work and away from a fridge or oven. If in doubt, I can always fall back on my freezer, something that I used to completely take for granted. Ive created recipes that can be made one way and enjoyed several other ways to add variety so that you can love your leftovers whilst reducing food waste (not to mention time, energy and money!), whether its slow-cooked chicken stuffed into a bun as a slider with loads of lime-drenched guacamole, or piled on top of a thin, crispy pizza base with caramelised red onion and fresh, peppery rocket. Every ingredient and every recipe has a purpose behind it and, as much as possible, ingredients can be substituted, leaving you to create your own spin on recipes with a new-found confidence and creativity.