© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 1/9

Mad Libs Style Cooking by Cook Smarts

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The cooking game that will up your cooking IQ, empower you to be less reliant on recipes, save money, and reduce your food waste.

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 2/9

A Note from Jess

Scenario:Your fridge and pantry: full of ingredients. (hooray!)

BUT the recipe you want to cook does not match the fridge and pantry full of ingredients you possess. (boo)

You end up making one of two choices:

1. Forget this cooking business! I’ll just go out. Fridge full of ingredients end up spoiling. (poor wallet and Mother Earth) OR

2. I guess I’ll have to make another trip to the grocery store so that I can make this recipe. (what a pain!)

This scenario has happened to all of us, but I’ve made up a new cooking game to ensure that this never happens to you again. It’s my cooking spin on Mad Libs. Even though it’s not as funny as the original game, it’ll up your cooking IQ, empower you to be less reliant on recipes, save money, and reduce your food waste.

Here’s how it works:

Every ‘Mad Lib’ we’ve created represents a specific cooking method and you can fill in the blanks however you want (don’t worry, we’ll give you some suggestions to get you started).

This first edition of Cook Smarts Mad Libs contains 3 fill-in-the-blank sheets featuring 3 of our most-used cooking formulas, and we’ll continue to add more over time.

And feel free to create your own! Next time you’re looking at a recipe, try to find the underlying cooking formula(s) and strip it down to your very own Mad Libs-esque cooking template.

Always your kitchen cheerleader,

Jess

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 3/9

Heat a sauté pan, skillet, or wok over medium-high to high heat.

Add .

Once is heated, add

with a dash of salt. Sauté for minutes. If the pan

ever looks too dry, feel free to add a splash of water, broth, or wine

(this can also speed up the cooking process for denser veggies).

Optional: Add minced garlic. Sauté for another minute.

Finish with . Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sautéing VeggiesSautéing is a super popular cooking formula, which combines high heat and some fat (usually oil or butter) to quickly cook veggies and proteins. The word sauté comes from the French and translates ‘to jump,’ which is basically what your ingredients will do when added to a hot pan and also because you want to be constantly tossing and moving the ingredients around with tongs or a wooden spoon.

You can sauté almost any vegetable, but it works better for quicker cooking ones. Next time you have some veggies in your fridge, ditch the recipe and just fill out this template for an easy side dish:

prep style

number

veggies

fat

fat

finishing flavor

1

2

3

4

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 4/9

Some hints

Fats� Butter� Avocado oil� Coconut oil� Grapeseed oil� Olive oil� Vegetable oil

Prep style� Whole� Trimmed� Halved� Sliced� Chopped

Finishing flavor� Pesto� Parmesan cheese� Soy sauce / Tamari / aminos� Lemon juice� Hot sauce

Vegetable Min Vegetable Min

Asparagus 4–8 Collard greens 5–8

Bell peppers 5–8 Corn kernels 4–6

Bok choy 6–8 Green beans 4–6

Broccoli 8–10 Kale 5–7

Cabbage 4–6 Mushrooms 5–7

Carrots 6–10 Snow peas 4–6

Cauliflower 6–10 Sugar snap peas 5–7

Chard 4–6 Zucchini / summer squash 6–8

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 5/9

Prep . Season with some salt and pepper (if land

roaming, tenderize with a fork).

Slice and .

Optional: Chop .

Chop , and as thinly and

similarly as possible so they cook quickly and evenly.

Mix together 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 cup chicken stock and

1 Tbsp cornstarch.

Heat a wok over medium-high to high heat. Add .

Stir-FryingWe love stir-fries because they allow for so much flexibility and creativity in the kitchen. You can combine any random assortment of proteins and veggies and transform them into a quick and delicious dinner. We’ve given you just a few starter fill-in-the-blanks for your aromatics and veggies, but feel free to add more (or use fewer) if you’d like.

Next time you’re at the end of the week with a random assortment of veggies leftover, ditch the recipe and just fill out this template for a quick and healthy meal:

protein

aromatic #1

herbs

veggies #1 veggies #2 veggies #3

high heat cooking oil

aromatic #2

1

2

3

4

5

6

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 6/9

Once is heated, add with a dash

of salt. Sauté until cooked through and remove from the pan.

Return wok to medium-high heat and add more . Add your

to heated oil and cook until fragrant.

Add veggies in batches. Separate each batch by 3 to 4 minutes, and

add based on cooking time order (i.e., the longer they take the cook, the

earlier they should go in). Good rule of thumb: the denser the veggie, the

longer it will take to cook.

When last batch of veggies are done, return back to pan.

Push everything to the side, give your cornstarch based sauce a stir (in

case any of it has sunken to the bottom) and pour it into the hole.

Wait until the sauce darkens and bubbles before tossing everything

through and coating all your ingredients in the sauce.

Remove from heat, and finish with and .

Taste and adjust seasonings until you’re happy with the final dish. Don’t

be afraid to experiment!

7

8

9

10

11

12

high heat cooking oil protein

protein

acid herbs

fat

aromatics

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 7/9

Proteins� Tofu� Tempeh� Seitan� Chicken breasts� Chicken thighs� Flank steak� Skirt steak� Sirloin steak� Pork tenderloin� Shrimp� Squid / Calamari� Tilapia

Herbs� Cilantro� Chives� Green onions� Thai basil

Aromatics� Chilies� Garlic� Green onions� Ginger� Onions� Lemongrass

Fat� Avocado oil� Coconut oil� Grapeseed oil� Olive oil (not extra-virgin)� Peanut oil� Vegetable oil

Veggies� Asparagus� Bean sprouts� Bell peppers� Bok choy� Broccoli� Cabbages (napa or regular)� Cauliflower� Carrots� Celery� Eggplant� Green beans� Mushrooms (any type)� Onions� Snow peas� Spinach� Sugar snap peas� Tomatoes� Zucchini (or other summer

squashes)� Frozen items like edamame,

peas, carrots, corn

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 8/9

Prep and .

Prep and .

Heat up a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add and then

aromatics to heated with a sprinkle of salt. Sauté until

fragrant and softening.

Add veggies and sauté for another 3 minutes.

Pour in enough to cover veggies. Cover and bring to a

boil. Then simmer covered until veggies are tender.

Puree with an immersion blender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want a richer soup, feel free to

add some . Enjoy!

Puréed SoupsPuréed soups are such a lovely treat and so easy to make. Forget paying $5 for a small container at the soup bar - you just need a few ingredients to make your own with this simple no-fail template:

aromatics #1

veggies #1

aromatics #2

veggies #2

fat

fat

liquid

dairy

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

© 2016 Cook Smarts, All Rights Reserved | Mad Libs Style Cooking | Page 9/9

Liquid� Water� Chicken stock� Vegetable broth

Dairy� Cream� Butter� Creme fraiche� Sour cream � Yogurt

Aromatics� Garlic� Green onions� Ginger� Onions� Leeks� Lemongrass

Fat� Butter� Coconut milk� Avocado oil� Coconut oil� Grapeseed oil� Olive oil

(not extra-virgin)� Vegetable oil

Veggies� Asparagus� Beets� Bell peppers� Broccoli� Cauliflower� Carrots� Peas� Potatoes� Sweet potatoes� Tomatoes� Winter squashes, like

butternut, kabocha� Zucchini (or other summer

squashes)

Every week, we help thousands of home cooks create delicious meals with these simple cooking formulas. Learn more about our meal plan service here.Cook Smarts | Helping home cooks live happier, simpler and smarter in the kitchen since 2012